they could."

"When the boat was nearing Hickman, Kentucky, we smelled fire, and by
the time we were in the harbor passengers were being held to keep them
from jumping overboard. Then the Captain told us boys to jump into the
water and save ourselves. Two of us launched a bale of cotton overboard
and jumped onto it. As we paddled away we had to often go under to put
out the fires as our clothing would blaze up under the flying brands
that fell upon our bodies."

"The burning boat was docked at Hickman. The passengers were put ashore
but none of the freight was saved, and from a nearby willow thicket my
matey and I watched the Gold Dust burn to the water's edge."

"Always heed the warnings of nature," said Uncle George, "If you see
rats leaving a ship or a house prepare for a fire."

George W. Arnold said that Evansville was quite a nice place and a
steamboat port even in the early days of his boating experiences and he
decided to make his home here. He located in the town in 1880. "The
Court House was located at Third and Main streets. Street cars were mule
drawn and people thought it great fun to ride them." He recalls the
first shovel full of dirt being lifted when the new Courthouse was being
erected, and when it was finished two white men finishing the slate
roof, fell to their death in the Court House yard.

George W. Arnold procured a job as porter in a wholesale feed store on
May 10, 1880. John Hubbard and Company did business at the place, at
this place he worked thirty seven years. F.W. Griese, former mayor of
Evansville has often befriended the negro man and is ready to speak a