#fun fact - my great great great grandfather was F.E. Allison a river pilot for Collins Lumber when it operated out of Forest County

[duamuteffe]

Snide river pilot.

""Old Guy" Conspicuous.

Among the lumberman [sic] of conspicuous figure was Guy C. Irvine, of Irvineburg, on the Conewango. "Old Guy" as his familiars called him was one of the largest operators on the river, "rough and tough" like Joey B. but in his roughness and toughness he was much more dangerous than Dicken's amiable old soldier. The old residents are full of men and the river. It was James Olney, the noted Allegheny pilot, who after examination with the eye of an expert the hull of the steamboat which Jerome W. Wetmore built near Warren to test his idea of a walking boat, gave his opinion to this effect: "With a good ingine, 'n a good starn-wheel 'n a good pilot 'n a plenty of beech wood, she-may-go-down the river, but she'll never come back, never."

I ended up down a rabbit hole of 1890's newspapers from a town near where I grew up and they really get snide.

--Harry Isarcs took down the charred remains of his Fourth of July fire, this morning and put up a brand new awning. Everything is now ready for another firecracker to be thrown on it.

There were many visitors from nearby towns and from the country districts in Warren yesterday. The fellow who always comes to town on holidays and gets loaded up with booze was very much in evidence, as usual.

--Dr. H. E. Barnhart and Harry Reed went down to the brickyard this afternoon where Mr. Highhouse told them they might fish for bull heads if they brought their own bait. Although the pond is a small one, the anglers are novices and it is not at all unlikely that Mr. Highhouse will have to provide them with a dip net if they are to bring home a catch.