QUEENS TO DOCK SATURDAY

Now you see them, now you don't.

Observers viewing the American Queen paddle wheeler may wonder where the smokestacks go from time to time.

The American Queen, one of the largest boats on the inland waterways -- more than 400 feet long. weighing 3,707 tons, with capacity for more than 400 passengers and 200 crew members -- has to lower its stacks to clear the Mississippi River bridge here.

Sometimes you see them, sometimes you don't!

The American Queen is one of two giant paddle wheelers that will crunch to a stop and drop the drawbridges along the Mississippi River bank in downtown Cape Girardeau Saturday.

The American Queen, headed north, is scheduled for docking here about noon to 12:30.

That's about the time a second paddle wheeler, the Mississippi Queen, will be ready to depart.

The Mississippi Queen, heading South, can accommodate about 300 passengers and will arrive here about 8 a.m.