Sunday, October 17, 1999
'River water in our veins'
Folks stream to riverfront to see history
BY KRISTINA GOETZ
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The Delta Queen is still Cincinnati's pride and joy.
(Ernest Coleman photo)
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The lure of the river, dotted with steamboats full of history and nostalgia, have kept people streaming to the shores of the Ohio all week for Tall Stacks '99.
Although crowd estimates wouldn't be available until after the event, Saturday's crowd was said to be the biggest yet, with one day to go.
Across the bridge from the big boats on the Cincinnati side, visitors walked through a pioneer village in Newport and a Civil War reencampment. At the encampment, which represented the Newport barracks as they were in 1862, a man dressed as Abe Lincoln gave orders to Union soldiers and assured them they would be victors.
A fife-and-drum corps played a tune while camp fires burned and ladies in elegant period dress made their way through the camp.
''Good afternoon,'' one said from beneath her parasol to Leon Drake of Finneytown, a first sergeant of the 6th Ohio volunteer infantry.
He gently nodded in her direction and went on telling his stories as ''My Old Kentucky Home'' played somewhere far out on the river.
''I just think it has to do with the history of Cincinnati,'' said Nikki Lehman of North Avondale on why people are drawn to the Ohio River. "Everyone is attracted to the water."
“When I was coming across the river on the taxi boat, I listened to the calliope and closed my eyes. And if you didn't open your eyes, you were there 150 years ago.”
She and some friends in traditional costume discussed what others were wearing. One woman, Mary Endress of Florence, wore red.
People in period clothing wave to passengers.
(Saed Hindash photo)
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“It really wasn't done by proper ladies,” Ms. Lehman said. “Remember when Rhett made Scarlet wear that red dress and what kind of stir she caused at the ball? Red was for "those' women.”
Mrs. Endress and her husband, Rick Endress, were dressed as Diamond Jim Brady, a riverboat gambler with aces in his hat, and Diamond Lil.
“She's the only person I know of in that era that would have had the chutzpah to wear it,” Mrs. Endress laughed.
Ms. Lehman talked about the sense of courtliness during that era.
“Men were men and ladies were on pedestals,” she said. “There's the difference from today. You feel more and act more feminine when you dress like this. You kind of radiate, and men respond to that.”
Stephen Denham of Bellevue uses a magnifying glass and sun power to light his pipe.
(Yoni Pozner photo)
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Some visitors went across the mouth of the Licking River from Newport to Covington on Boone No. 7, a boat in the Anderson Ferry fleet.
Along the riverbank there, a group called the Dodworth Saxhorn Band of Ann Arbor played “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” and “Dixieland.” The group dresses in period costumes and plays only songs from the 19th century with original instruments. A couple in period costumes led the singing and pretended to play a game of baseball as the song went on. Watching, the crowd ate brats and metts and caramel apples.
Others were more interested in the boats themselves. They walked on the different decks of the steamboats and took tours of some smaller ones.
Jim Hendricks told visitors stories of the African Queen and how the boat had been in the movie with Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn. It was made the same year the Titanic was finished and sunk in 1912, he said.
Others wanted to know how the large paddle wheels work and which boats were really powered by them.
“I'm impressed with it,” said Bill Nutt of Marietta, Ga., who came with his wife to visit friends for the weekend. “It's a pretty neat way to spend a day. “I can see how much work has gone into it.
“Whoever put this thing on deserves a pat on the back.”
Tom Sawyer leads Saturday's riverboat race.
(Yoni Pozner photo)
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On Covington's shore was the J.S. Lewis, a vessel that was once a steamship named the Vesta. Today, though, it's a towboat and is powered by a pair of softly rumbling diesel Enterprise engines instead of the original steam machinery.
“I grew up at the mouth of the river,” said Virginia Bennett of Covington, who was managing the boat for Tall Stacks. “I've been on the river all my life. I used to see this boat take coal from the West Virginia coal mines. It used to tow right into Cincinnati here.”
The original bell bearing the name “Vesta” still hangs on the second deck.
Ms. Bennett said it's hard to explain why she loves the river.
“It's like the old saying of river water in your veins,” she said. “That's me, river water in my veins. Now I'm trying to preserve its history.
“It just seems like the tranquillity, the ever-changing scenery and the changing days. I've never had the same day on the river.”
She wears a gold ship's wheel on a chain around her neck with a diamond in the middle.
“That's kind of my trademark,” she said.
Those who want one last look at the steamboats will have their chance today. Festivities are from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Organizers say they hope the late-day rain that's forecast will hold off a little so people can enjoy the boats' grand departure.
“Cincinnati is a river city,” said Mike Maul, a Tall Stacks spokesman.
Before the event, the city lost some of its river identity.
“Anybody can come down to the river to watch a baseball or football game,” he said. “You can do that in any city. It took Cincinnati to do this.”
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