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The venerable old paddle-wheeler Borealis Rex was steaming as hard as it could to get from Cameron to Lake Charles when the big hurricane of 1918 caught up to it.

Forty passengers were on board, plus two engineers, the pilot, a cook, and two deck hands. One of the passengers was Ned McCain, the 10-year-old son of Tom McCain, one of three brothers who owned the boat. (The other two were James Medd McCain and Angus Bouie McCain.)

The passengers had no other way to flee. There were no roads then.

The Rex was the only way to get out. It normally made three runs each week; to Cameron on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, then back to Lake Charles on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

The boat carried mail, freight, groceries, bales of cotton, cattle, firewood, and even automobiles to Cameron, returning to Lake Charles with oranges, grapefruit, cotton, rice, garden vegetables, seafood and livestock.

Archie Hollister, a columnist for the Cameron Pilot, wrote in 1960, “Her passenger list was always large; on any trip there were likely to be a dozen or two, and often seventy-five or a hundred people would engage passage. The river was the highway to the world, and the Rex was the means whereby they came and went. … She was their one link with the outside world, and her coming and departure were moments of importance.”

The trip on Aug. 6, 1918, was of more than ordinary importance. A major hurricane was sweeping in from the Gulf.

According to Ned’s recollection many years later, the Rex made it to Prien Lake, just down the Calcasieu River from Lake Charles, before it was blown ashore — tossed one way and then the other as the storm’s eye passed over it.

“All forty passengers, plus the six crew members … got off safely,” Ned remembered. “All of us were … sheltered in the George M. King summer home. When the hurricane reversed direction … the Rex was blown about a mile downstream, up against another shore. Ten-foot waves washed over her and sank her.”

When Angus McCain talked about “how the storm used his tried and trusty boat, it was as though he was speaking of a human being whom he greatly loved,” according to a newspaper report.

“He told of the fight the Rex made, struggling along at seven miles an hour in the teeth of the mighty wind; striving so hard to reach port and, finally, after all the passengers were safely off, giving up and lying down in defeat, a good old soul bested.”

A diver from Galveston looked at the wreck and found the hull and machinery intact, so the McCains decided to refloat the good old soul.
The battered boat was towed up the Calcasieu to the Clooney shipyard for repairs.

When the $15,000 job was finished, the Rex was “handsomer and more commodious than ever,” according to reports of the day. It was painted white with green trim and the kitchen was described as “the completest thing of its kind outside a large city apartment house.

"There [is] a huge range, the top of which [can] hold 5 or 6 steaming kettles of good things, and the oven [is] large enough to hold a turkey, a johnny cake, and a pan of yams.”

The first round trip after the refurbishment was on April 29, 1919. The Rex left Lake Charles with 40 tons of miscellaneous freight, including lumber, farm implements, groceries, and the mail.

But things were changing. In the 1920s, the Rex lost one of its primary sources of income, the mail contract, to a faster, gasoline powered boat.

Then, in 1930, sparks from the boiler caught some wood on fire. The fire was contained but, while the crew devoted its attention to fighting the fire, the Rex struck a mud bank and was stranded and damaged.

She was fixed and put afloat again, but it was no longer a paying proposition to spend a lot of money on repairs and maintenance.

The final blow came in 1931, when the first road connecting Calcasieu and Cameron parishes brought quicker and cheaper travel. The old boat was tied up at its wharf at the foot of Pujo Street, near the Lake Charles business district, and never steamed again.

By 1935, the stately old Rex was an eyesore hulk, its superstructure gone, and its “wide, flat-bottomed hull [buried] deep in the mud,” according to a newspaper report.

“Only her once-proud bow, now a battered, broken shell is still thrust above the waters among the gaunt pilings, rotted remnants of the wharf that has slowly
died with her.”

can contact Jim Bradshaw at jimbradshaw4321@gmail.com or P.O. Box 1121, Washington LA 70589.

On July 27, the Food and Drug Administration announced its approval of a supplement to the biologics license for the JYNNEOS Vaccine, which is manufactured by Bavarian Nordic and approved to prevent smallpox and monkeypox.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra issued the following statement:
“This action by the FDA is a critical step forward in our plans to strengthen and accelerate our monkeypox response, which includes distributing a safe and effective vaccine to those at highest risk of exposure to monkeypox. The expedited inspection and approval by FDA of Bavarian Nordic’s fill-and-finish capabilities means that an additional 786,000 doses of vaccine are now available for use in the U.S. HHS is working to make these doses available to states and jurisdictions as soon as possible to fulfill their needs and will announce allocations tomorrow.
“Aggressively responding to the monkeypox outbreak is a critical priority for HHS. Within days of the first U.S. case, we activated a multi-pronged response, significantly increasing vaccine supply and distribution, expanding access to tests, making treatments available for free, and educating the public on steps to reduce risk of infection. We will continue to accelerate and strengthen our response in the coming days, and will work with partners on the ground, in the community, and internationally to combat this virus and protect those at risk. I applaud the entire FDA team for their tireless work in making this additional vaccine available as quickly as possible while ensuring it meets the highest standards of quality and safety.”

The following are the radio dispatch logs from the Morgan City Police Department. To report unlawful or suspicious activity, call the Police Department at 985-380-4605.
Friday, Aug. 5
6:09 p.m. 1300 block of Nebraska Street; Mental patient.
7:52 p.m. 6800 block of La. 182; Alarm.
9:34 p.m. Railroad Avenue/Dixie Homes; Complaint.
10:16 p.m. 500 block of Front Street; Frequent patrols.
10:35 p.m. Youngs Road; Frequent patrols.
10:36 p.m. 700 block of Justa Street; Animal complaint.
11:38 p.m. 600 block of Brashear Avenue; Medical.
Saturday, Aug. 6
12:04 a.m. 300 block of Patton Street; Loud music.
12:40 a.m. 600 block of Brashear Avenue; Fight.
1:59 a.m. 7400 block of La. 182; Loud music.
3:26 a.m. 7300 block of La. 182; Complaint.
3:40 a.m. Freret Street between Sixth and Seventh streets; Complaint.
6:16 a.m. 3000 block of Roderick Street; Complaint.
7:20 a.m. 500 block of Roderick Street; Medical.
9:13 a.m. 500 block of Brashear Avenue; Com-plaint.
9:54 a.m. Canary and Wren streets; Crash.
10:04 a.m. 200 block of Federal Avenue; Stand by.
10:19 a.m. 200 block of Glenwood Street; Removal of subject.
11:08 a.m. 2300 block of La. 70; Alarm.
11:29 a.m. 7400 block of La. 182; Warrant.
11:30 a.m. 6800 block of La. 182; Alarm
12:05 p.m. Federal and Railroad avenues; Crash.
1:03 p.m. 300 block of Egle Street; Complaint.
1:33 p.m. 6000 block of La. 182; Hit and run.
2:23 p.m. 600 block of Kentucky Street; Complaint.
2:41 p.m. 200 block of Patton Street; Complaint.
2:43 p.m. Greenwood Street; Crash.
2:52 p.m. 1000 block of Greenwood Street; Disturbance.
3:17 p.m. 8100 block of La. 182; Theft.
3:51 p.m. 1000 block of La. 70; Hit and run.
4:11 p.m. Federal Avenue and Greenwood Street; Complaint.
4:15 p.m. 500 block of Terrebonne Street; Complaint.
4:18 p.m. Greenwood and Arkansas streets; Suspicious subject.
4:56 p.m. 1200 block of Victor II Boulevard; Complaint.
8:31 p.m. 300 block of Chennault Street; Animal complaint.
10:10 p.m. 400 block of Louisa Street; Traffic complaint.
11:46 p.m. 300 block of Patton Street; Loud music.
Sunday, Aug. 7
1 a.m. 500 block of Front Street; Frequent patrols.
1 a.m. Youngs Road; Frequent patrols.
2 a.m. Fourth Street/Drackett Alley; Suspicious persons.
3:30 a.m. 400 block of Louisa Street; Open door.
3:44 a.m. 200 block of S Railroad; Alarm.
4:30 a.m. 1000 block of Third Street; Loud music.
7:43 a.m. 1100 block of Marguerite Street; Assistance.
9:19 a.m. 1400 block of Bernice Street; Welfare concern.
9:43 a.m. 300 block of Egle Street; Arrest.
11:14 a.m. 1000 block of Third Street; Arrest.
Noon 500 block of Justa Street; Complaint.
12:22 p.m. 900 block of Fig Street; Alarm.
1:36 p.m. 600 block of Arizona Street; Medical.
5:01 p.m. 1000 block of Victor II Boulevard; Arrest.
7:07 p.m. 200 block of Florida Street; Open door.
7:45 p.m. 3000 block of Catherine Street; Complaint.
8:13 p.m. 300 block of Kidd Street; Suspicious vehicle.
9:54 p.m. 600 block of General Patton Street; Subject removal.
Monday, Aug. 8
5:11 a.m. 2300 block of La. 70; Alarm.

BERWICK — Raymond Beadle Sr. was wounded in a far-off World War II battlefield. Six decades later, Brandon Lee Teeters died in a tank attack in the second Iraq war.

They were among the local people honored Sunday in a Purple Heart Day observance at the Berwick riverfront. Veterans of Foreign Wars Memorial Post 12182.

A crowd of 20 or so people braved the stormy present Sunday to honor those who suffered in the stormy past. Five recipients of the Purple Heart, the medal given to members of the military wounded or killed in combat.

“It’s the one medal no one wants to earn,” said Claudia Boudreaux of the Post 12182 Auxiliary.

Purple Heart recipients and surviving family members were asked to submit the recipients’ names for the ceremony. The five honored Sunday:

—Beadle, a Marine who was wounded during World War II. He is deceased.

—Allen Pellerin, a Vietnam vet awarded three Purple Heart medals.

—Joseph Boesma, who sustained shrapnel wounds while on patrol during the Vietnam war.

—Michael Leger, a Marine who survived wounds sustained in Vietnam and died of cancer at age 66.

“He suffered the rest of his life from his injuries and PTSD,” said wife Merinda Leger after Sunday’s ceremony.

—Teeters, who was 22 when he was killed during Operation Iraqi Freedom. His father, Glen Richard, accepted the Purple Heart certificate Sunday.

“I fought alongside some of these guys,” said James Prestenback of VFW Post 3665 in Raceland, who also serves as District 3 commander. “They’re my heroes.”

The Purple Heart was first awarded by Gen. George Washington late in the American Revolution, according to the National World War II Museum website. But the common soldier had to wait for 150 years before a system of honors would be developed to recognize his, and later her, sacrifice.

Military luminaries including Gen. Black Jack Pershing and Gen. Douglas MacArthur pushed for the return of the Purple Heart before it was officially authorized in 1932. Medals were award retroactively to people wounded as far back as the Civil War.

From 1942 to 1997, civilians wounded in specified forms of service to the United States — war correspondents, Red Cross workers and civilian employees at military installations among them — were eligible for the Purple Heart. Since 1997, those civilians are eligible for the Defense of Freedom Medal, and the Purple Heart goes exclusively to members of the military.

Aug. 7 is observed each year as National Purple Heart Day.

“When we see [a Purple Heart recipient],” Berwick Mayor Duval Arthur said, “we should thank them for what they’ve done.”