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EW-B2 JEFFERSON RLPURltR, Wednesday, March 12. 1975On auto trekPathfinders braved danger\ mt u __; machinist's vie*; two *e« ofmud hook* compare, typewrit*!.and emergency food in » waled hoe.The war correspondent. assistant club secretary W. H. Argabnto, who telegraphed daily report! tea louUvile newspaper, took the trip pictures with hi* Kodak, later expanded his stories into a lively narrative, part of which is excerpted here Member* of the party were; fcugene Straui, pre*idenl of the Louisville Automobile Hub, Hcwett Brown, chairman of the roule committee, Fred liaupt. contest committee, and Aigihriie, who wa* also clerk for the tnp.The foUowinis w excerpted from Aisabrite'i long narrative ‘*W# arrived in Sheplrenixvllte, s distamc gf 20.9 miles ftwn home, over a (food riMcadarn and grewl pike, with a few hogbacks (te«p met in the center of the road) near the Bullitt county end . (past ShsphefdsvtUe luwsid West faint). We encountered some very bed culverts, deep furCIi and steep iiiils We got two plcluici of some very heavy grades, and aiming to * roid which branched off from the one we were on, the party divided in two* and walked half a mile in each direction to inquire the way to Weal Point.We found a farm house on the skit of a hill, neat the read. We went In, Informed the farmer we were louring in an auto and inquired of him the way to Weal fatal.Pmming 'Down thiu' and said mat’s yet wagon?' When asked how the road was front there In West Point, lie said. Tilt* here am a One road.' We would certainly like 10 see what that farmer would call a bad rood,(Toward KUiabnthlown) a farmer utid the best way for u» Us go to Munifbtdlvttk was by way of Sonora, and lie give us directiona for leaving the main mad a little farther on to take lit f* route We found that our informant certainly had never been over that road, for it he had, he must have walked, for li was positively the worst kind of road that could be picked out fur a machine and besides on account of the heavy rains. It was in the worst possible condition. The one tiling lhai we are thankful lor about dial slum detour was that If that road is the be*!, we owe out lives to our informant.'*We found rocks two feel high and three feet through, landing up tn the noddle of the road and the car continually had to be driven on the Mir luftlg hi keep from striking Ihe rocks In the center of the loadGOT TERMITES?CALLLINDSEY-NATIONAL447 6333 867 6060 988 60006201 Don* Hwv. 4140 IhatbwiHa HQ.GARAGES... Wl SPECIALIZE!GARAGES.. . CUSTOM DESIGNED!GARAGESa . a ANT SIZE!GARAGESa a a ANT STELE!CAR PORTSRoom AdditionsaweIM'CONSTRUCTION, CO.636-2583with the a ales, and. In fad. am* we gave the nan a very bad drag.(On another leg of the Journey from Cave City to Bowling Gieenl Aa we neared Qaiguw Junction, we took * picture of the cm standing beside an ox team, which wai truly « sight and well marks the pro##* of a century, when you ron.tdei Ihe nature of the roads In that vicinity. The last three miles uf the trip was almost fair, v*i, dw rain* had made it w slippery rhat even with chains it waa iwpoeribfc to keep die ear iiralghi In Ihe road. ■Outng into Cave City we had to pare a broken down wagon, which wa* in the canter of the mad and we were obliged to go mhi a deep pond on the roaddde to get pas.. We nearly taprired whUe negotiating ihe pond .(From HodgenvUlc to Burette* Green) “Striking a lair pike a short distance out, we were enabled to make a moderate ipeed- We were struck with the scenery tn this part of the slate and aim with the number of pond* lhai ware counted on (tie roadside At Ihiee and one-half miles nut, we were struck with the longest ford that we had had on the whole trip and the wru -cuerespondent” wni so desirous of getting a picture of Ihe car In ill* muddy, swollen stream, that he waded out from ihe ear. through the mud and water, fully one bundled yards in order to get It . and 10 mlks from Bowling Green, while we were burning up tire road on mu rust speeding, ws had another blowout, which stopped us twenty minutes . .We noticed the absence of churches along this road too, but almost evciy wagon we parses) had painted in targe icttetion he ode Bible Wagon. We sped on to Bowling Green, giving full vent to Ihe throltk, although we realised It was a hill# hit risky, and just as we arrived within the city UmiU, we again heard ihe old familiar sound and wearily climbed out to tlx a blow-outWe had been to by our Bowling Green friends that the intended road to Glasgow was tine, l ot ten miles out we found ibat this was the case, and we had a good pike for about lull Die Way However, before covering all the dnlanre. it was quite evident that our Bowling Green (fiends had mil Men all Ihe way lu Glasgow. When we were within ren miles of Glasgow, we slopped a man on he road, who was riding a mule, and asked him how far ti was lu Glasgow. ’WhaiT1 We replied, to Glasgow. ’Whar’i (hat'he said.The road si this point become very had, (Med with dunkimlea, sleep hiUa, heavy bottom*, and we were constantly on the lookout tor treacherous places. Just before getting to Glasgow, when the car had rolled onto a small wooden bridge, which spanned a ravine about six feet deep, the passenger* fell the front wheels sinking and wo were all sure we would soon Iw In the bottom of the deep, bur before this happened, Ihe driver (Straus) had realised the extreme danger and hi* quickness together with the enormous reserve power of the engine saved us from what wuutd have been a nasty spill, He threw on second spwd and the throttle wirh full power and the car fairly leaped out o( the broken limber i to wl'ety on the other Side. .Three miles from Glasgow, we struck a storm which came up over s high hill without any warning. The tup waa hastily raked and the cur Hint put on, and mines* ha I we r end hungry we fought our way in ihe leeth of the norm (lemsindat uf section obliterated by 1937 flood damage).We passed through Canraer, and just on tile other side we mot one of Kentucky's most stately ashes, fifteen inches through anil fully eighty-five feet high It had been blown completely antes the road by the storm, We icalKod ’why’ we had brought art ax, and since the driver was the only farmer in the crew, he was ail lt;**«) to teke a little exert i*e with the ax . .lie soon waded through the trunk of the tree.We had nut gone far from this obstruction until we encountered tire worst work of the storm, Wa came down a long rocky hill, saw rlral lire ro*d in front was washed out on lire right. We tried to pass the land-slide on he left, with Ihe result that we got Stuck fust in quick sand. We all piledHoward (shipyard*built large*! tern boatTowbereU, barges and' steamboats were built by the Howard Shipyards in Indiana lire largest (owbogt ever built, Sprague, dubbed Big Mama was 3IB feet long by 62 feet wide when built In 1901 (not at Howard yards), and set a tow record of 60 barge* in 1907In operation of the thcn-faxt current of the Ohio River, a downstream towboal had to back its puddle wheel all the way tn keep Ihe barges from slipping away from (he tow Upriver, the paddlewheeled barge had to puili as done today.out, took • look at out iiaed. saw tkil It was rail risking tn the sand - th» rear whealswoe turned half way in one direction, while the front wheel*, buried In Ire rand, were lurried completely In fire other diioctton. creating a terrible main on Ire running gem of the car,She wai sinking bites all ihe lime; we worked hard with the shovel, tried uut mud hook*, which we tatoughi for )u*l such an mcaiIon, but all to no avail. Finally, part of the craw hanky unmapped the block and tackle and the others fastened a tow Une . lu a telephone pole further on in the rued. Alter taking a lew inapihole of the predicament, three of the crew heaved to on the rope* while the Pilot sat it the wheel and coaxed the blthful engine, We finally gut out after much effort end Hilled again..., . . Indeed a fitting climax to right days’ journey wet the roughest roads tn he State of Kentucky. After we had 1 riveted through mud and sand, up hill and down, met rocks and through creeks and had exposed our cm to almost every cuncchable danger, tlwn to break a spring after we ware inude of Jefferson County on ihe home stretch. We searched in the car and found a robber bumper With some wire and a wooden block, we pul thia lubber bumper under the broken spring and came on Into Uiuitville ai«slow pace. . . The party had traveled over 1,000 mlks tn KentuckySteamboats1 heydayPuaengen return to The America after a Fern Grove outingPhoto courtesy C, W, StagRiver is source of fond memoriesBY ANNE CALVERTThe broad, once (hallow Ohio River, lifeline of commerce in the prut two centuries ti today, is the source of a flood of memories from her fnendi.As children, today’s old-timers played on its banks, rode packets up and down the river to picnics, traveled to distant cities and facilitated farm to market trade. Now, most of those experiences live on only in the aging memories, supplemented by a handful of furry photographs and yellowing news dipping* of the era that once was.Canaliiatlon his relieved the river of centuries of rill and and deposits which stowed river traffic during drought, when its waters were lest than five feet deep Conatruction of over SO dims end lock* in the early decades of thri century pooled a minimum of nine feet of water to enable commerce to continue during the dryest months.Now sophisticated dams end lock* such si McAlpirusend Cannallonplay a significant role in relieving water prereure when It appears the river will creel above Ihe flood alage to spare its resident* the torment of a 100-year flood u occurred In 1937In its heyday, heivlly laden packets loft the Louisville dock* nearly every half hour with passengers and cargo for cities from Pittsburgh to Cairo and southward, said C. W. Stoll, secretary of the Belle of Louisville board,Stoll began hit river career a* a clerk on one of the Greene Line packets Purears and clerks like Stoll would handle the business of rural farmer* who'd ship their produce and livestock lo market on the river packets Such boat* were either steam or gasoline driven, but each had a regular schedule of iripi that enabled river commerce to thrive,Farmers could lie livestock lo a tree and signal us to stop on our way upriver. We’d take the animal on board and gel Ihe best price for It and settle accounts with the farmer on our next trip by, Stoll explained.There were also mallboata, ferry boali and barges plying the waters around the turn of Ihe century. The Louisville and Jeffersonville Ferry Company ferried passengers and vehicle* from Louisville to Spring Street in Jeffersonville on such boat* as The Sunshine which doubted as an excursion vessel to Fern Grove (Now 14-mile Island)The Greene family waa much admired by Stoll who delight* in telling id story.Cspt. Mary B. Greene hid her master pilot license when alie and Gordon married in the 1890s. They were childhood sweethearts and after lheir marriage, moved onto a steamboai. later, while she was captain and pilot of the Aland he hecatne captain of another picket Their flntborn son, bom tn 1898, died at age nine. Chris was bom In 1901 and Tom in 1904, right on the boat hi* mother was piloting. Ice had clogged Ihe river and they had to tie up to a concrete ice pier on their way upriwr to Marietta, and that's when Tom wa* horn.While hirdmcre ti * trait of many who plied the river in its early 20th century era, memories cenier around excunioni to Fen Grove Park, now part or the Indiana Ordnance st l-l mile Island.Irene Von Stilll recall* early childhood excursions when aha waa about 10, playing on the upper deck* while women of her church peeled pol aloes (or potato aalad on the lower deck.It was about 1905, and the women made the salad on board every year. I believe they alio sliced thi hgm and did aoma other cooking on board,When we got to Fern Grove the children would play games and they'd be races before the big dinner wai roned. Mil Von SHUi said.Photographs show the entrance to the park outlined In tidy whitewaihed fences, and vlritori would paaa under * wooden arch Miring the name PwhGrove Park, From tha island to shore, there wen* wooden footbridge* over the chute of fail-moving river current that separated the island from shore,In Fern Grove's heyday it hosted 4,000 visitors a day to it* picnic areas, cottages. swimming pool and dance pavilionAbout 30 years ago, a Jeffersonville newspaper republished the report of geologist li. T, Cox who studied ihe island extensively In 1873. A* a result, persons were then discouraged from further destruction of the early Indian fortress. But by the time ol the news itory. the ravages of Ihe 1937 flood had not been repaired, enjoyment of it earn bo it excursion* to the park had been replaced by automobile Iripi elsewhere, and (here is lit Hr left to the oncc-flouriihing park,It was discovered Dial « race of Indians, who are said to precede our known American Indians, built wills and mound* on Hie natural peak of 14*mile Wind known ai Devil's Bock bom.Three Indians used atone aacs, arrow* end spear points, totems andchannel’' which were uncovered by Cox, He described the area a* 280 feet above the level of the rivet and slopes gently to Ihe south. The Ohio side of the promontory ia too steep to scale.Early settlers carried off Ihe cut stone of the fortreaa wails.Artificial waUi, tome ISO feel above the river have been made by piling stones, mason fashion, but without mortar Within ihe walls are stone mounds, evidently for lookout poiti, wrote Cox.Cox made some other geological observations which aided (he popularity of Fern Grove. Sufficient seepage from an underground oil pool spread a thin layer of oil over surrounding water so there were no mnsijuitoe* to annoy visitors.A hidden sulphur spring wai laid to be of medicinal value and there was a suggestion by Cox of illver ore, but no mention has Men made of that since.Sadly, the Jefferaonville writer noted In he 1940 that thi* once gay dance floor Is warped and unpolished. In coiners, leave* are gathering alongwith rotting chairs. The picnic tables are overgrown with weeds and ground squirrels scamper where children once played. Birds have made nests in electric lign*.Before the island succumbed in ihe 1937 flood, ti* ownership had changed hands, In 1926. David G, B. Rose formed the Roie Island Company and attraction* at Fern Grove, which he renamed Rose Island,The LouhrvUle and Cincinnati Packet Company hid been operating excursion boils lo Fern Grove leaving Fourth Street nearly every day, but went broke in 1930. So Roae chartered the Idelwylde (now the Belle of Uiulavllle) lo make the run.With ihe closing of the excuralon boat era m il had been, river travel was entering i new era on he Ohio River.The long-time canalisation of the Ohio which look from 1910 to 1929 to complete its first phase enabled steel ihippers in PBtiburgh to begin shipping nearly year round assured of a 9-fool river level, in 1927 Standard Oil began upstream lowing operation* which waa to increase with World War II,the biblicalmasterpieceof our timeHighly reeommanded and endorsed by ministers, scholars arid layman. 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Newspaper Details
Louisville Jefferson Reporter
Louisville, Kentucky, US
Wed, Mar 12, 1975
Page 8
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 13 Aug 2024
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