The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

.or that were prominently connected with some of the lines that: 1903.] MARINE REVIEW AND MARINE RECORD. 23 NAVIGATION ON LAKES ERIE AND ONTARIO, A Highly Interesting Chapter in Mr. Morrison's "'History of American Steam Navigation"--First Screw and Compound Engines on the Lakes--Early Experiences in Running the Canadian Rapids. Especially interesting to men along the great lakes is a book entitled "History of American Steam Navigation," which Mr. John H. Morrison of New York has produced after twenty.years of effort. He has gone very thoroughly into the history of navi; gation on Lake Erie and Lake Ontario and this chapter is excerpt- ed below. It will be noted that he says the first fore-and-aft com- pound engine on the lakes was placed by the Globe Iron Works of Cleveland in the propeller Egyptian, built at Black river (now Lorain) in 1873. This statement was shown to Mr. Robert Wal- lace of the American Ship Building Co. who verified it, adding that the first steeple compound on the gteat lakes was placed in the steamer Susquehanna. in 1867 under the Petry & Lay patent. This work was done by the King Iron Works at Buffalo, The Susquehanna was built by Luther Moses at Cleveland and was originally equipped with a high-pressure engine with a cylinder of 24 by 36 in. Later steeple-compounds were placed in the Buf- falo and Chicago of the Western Transit Co.'s fleet, Quayle of Cleveland supplying the engines. " It is quite clear that Mr. Morrison has been at much pains to obtain accurate information for his work and has, wherever possible, examined original documents. Indeed it is only through the examination of private papers that history can be accurately traced and he has exhibited commendable zeal in the pursuit of.a subject which is evidently very fascinating to him. He has not, attempted to trace the history of every steamer ever built in the: United States, for that would be as obviously impossible as it). would be uninteresting, but he has endeavored to go fully into types. The vessels named or historically noted are those that were in their day a radical change, either in hull or machinery, have come into notice during the development of American steam navigation interests. The chapter on the history of navigation on Lakes Erie and Ontario is as follows: Steam navigation on the lakes dates from the year 1818, when the steamboat Walk-in-the-Water was built to ply on Lake Erie. The hull of this vessel was built at Black Rock, N. Y., by Noah Brown of New York city for James B. Stuart of Albany, Robert McQueen of New York city, and others. The vessel was 135 ft. long, 32 ft. beam and 8 ft. 3 in. depth of hold, and was brig-rigged. The engine was a low-pressure of the square-engine type, having a cylinder of 40 in. diameter and 4 ft. stroke, built | by Robert McQueen. This engine was transported by sloops to Albany from New York, and from there to Buffalo by six and eight-horse wagons, taking from fifteen to twenty-five days for the delivery. The materials for the boiler were sent to Black Rock, and the boiler built near where the hull was constructed. It was of copper, 24 ft. long and 9 ft. diameter, with one "kidney" flue. The engineer of the vessel was James Calhoun of New: York city, «3 Pie The first trip of the vessel was from Buffalo to Detroit, leav- ing the former port on Aug. 20, 1818, under Capt. Job Fish. The»: "' time consumed in the trip was usually thirty-six to forty hours in' :..> good weather, and using thirty-six to forty cords of wood in the: «: boiler during the same period. The passenger fare in the main. cabin was $18 between Buffalo and Detroit; between Buffalo and Sandusky, $15; between Buffalo and Cleveland, $12; and between Buffalo and Erie, $6.00. The strength of the rapids at the head of the Niagara river between Buffalo and Black Rock was so great that, besides the power of the engine, the steamer had to have the aid of eight yoke of oxen to get her up on the lake, a distance of about 24 miles. In those days the passenger and © _ freight traffic was so limited on the lakes that one dividend only ~ was made to the owners for three years from the earnings of the vessel. Mr. Calhoun, the engineer of the vessel, said in latter ee years of his experience in those early days: "Every two years I. used to return to New York from Buffalo in the fall; and in the spring return to Buffalo. I have been three or four days by stage to Albany, never less than three days, and sometimes near five days. The stage fare was $10 to Albany. From Albany to Buf- falo I have been ten days getting through--the shortest time was eight days. The stage fare through was $21. My usual expenses in going from Albany to Buffalo were $30, including hotel ex- penses." After doing service a little over three years this vessel was wrecked in Buffalo bay during a heavy gale on Nov. I,. 1821: No lives lost. aes ao In 1822 Noah Brown also built the Superior for the same owners at Buffalo, as a successor to the Walk-in-the-Water. This vessel was of different proportions in the hull from her prede- cessor While but 9 ft. shorter, she was over 11 ft. less beam, with over 2 ft. greater depth of hold. The dimensions were 126 ft. by 20 ft. 8 in. by 10 ft 6 in. The machinery was recovered ' from the wrecked vessel and placed in the Superior. This engine - was subsequently fitted in the steambdéat Charles Townsend, built in 1835, at Buffalo. by Carrick & E'dwell, after the Superior had been altered into a sailing vessel by the removal of her machinery, and used in the lumber trade on the upper end of Lake Erie, and was lost in 1843. fe igs In 1824 the Chiepewe of roo tons, and in 1825 the Henry Clay of 348 tons were built, but both were broken up after short service. In the latter year the Pioneer was built by Benj. Win- slow for A. S. & P. T. Porter, Sheldon Thompson and nineteen. others; at Black Rock. Her length was 93 ft.; beam, 16 ft. 9 in.; and 8 feet depth. This vessel was twice wrecked--once at Grand Se eee. river, O.; in November, 1825, and was finally beached in a gale of wind near Chicago in July, 1834. In 1829 there was built at Portland harbor, Chautauqua county, New York, the William Peacock, by Asa Standart, for Eliphalet Tinker, Joseph White -and thirty others. Length, 102 ft, 19 ft. beam and 7 ft. 6 in. depth of hold. The vessel was originally fitted with a low-pressure engine, built at Troy, N. Y., but after running one season this was removed and one on the high-pressure principle, built by Stackhouse & Tomlinson at Pittsburg, Pa., was erected in its place, with four boilers under the deck. On September 16 of the same year, as the vessel was leaving Buffalo harbor for Detroit with a heavy head sea running, her steam pipe broke, there being no slip joint in the pipe, result- ing in the loss of fourteen lives--all passengers. She finally went ashore near Erie, Pa., in 1832 and became a total loss. In 1834 there was built at Perrysburg, O., by Augustus Jones, for the Perrysburg Steamboat Co., the Commodore Perry. This vessel was 146 ft. 2 in. long, 26 ft. 4 in. beam, and 9 ft. 9 in. depth | of hold; was fitted with one horizontal high-pressure engine, built by P. B. Andrews of Cleveland, with boilers below deck. These boilers were the subject of two accidents during the first season by the collapsing of the flues, due to defective iron of which they were made, and resulting in the loss of four lives. There was running from Buffalo, a few years later, the But- falo of 613 tons; the De Witt Clinton of 413 tons; the Wisconsin of 490 tons, built at Conneaut, O., and having an engine that was taken from the Ohio on the Hudson river; Robert Fulton of 368 tons; Milwaukee of 4o1 tons, built at Grand island in 1837, and -- fitted with a beam engine from the West Point Foundry, New York city (this vessel was 172 ft. by 24 ft. by 10 ft., and was wrecked on Lake Michigan in 1842); Charles Townsend of 312 tons; Daniel Webster of 358 tons; Constellation of 438 tons; Fairport of 259 tons; Red Jacket of 158 tons, a small boat of 110 ft. by 16 ft. by 8 ft, built at Grand island in 1838 for Niagara river service, with a beam engine taken from steamboat Victory on the Hudson river. Eight of these vessels had low-pressure engines, all being built at New York, either by the Allaire Works, West Point Foundry, or Birbeck & Co., and four had high-pres- sure engines, built by Ward & Benne of Pittsburg, Pa. The Caroline, which was brought into such prominence in 1837 by being burned by a body of Canadian militia during an at- tempted invasion of the province, was a small vessel of 46 tons and was built at Charleston, S.-C., in 1824. She was on the Hud- son river between Albany and Troy about 1834, after which she was taken through the Erie canal to Buffalo, which was accom- plished by taking off her wheel guards. A short time after she was rebuilt at' Ogdensburg, N. Y:, and subsequently went to the Niagara river, where she was burned as previously mentioned. Among the largest steam vessels on the lakes prior to 1840 was the James Madison, which was 178 ft. long, 30 ft. 9 in. beam - and 12 ft. 6 in. deep; draught of water 10 ft. She was fitted ~~ with a high-pressure engine of 28 in. cylinder and 8 ft. stroke, built at Erie, Pa. The passenger accommodations were the best of her day, and the service covered the route between Buffalo and» Chicago, a distance of nearly 1,000 miles. Another fine vessel was the Cleveland, built in 1837 at Huron city for Griffith, Beebe, Allen & Co., with a beam engine, built by the West Point Foundry, of 50 in. cylinder by 10 ft. stroke. The hull dimen- sions were 180 ft. by 29 ft. by 11 ft. 8 in. She was destroyed by fire at Tonawanda, N. Y., in 1854. _FIRST STEAMER TO HAVE STATEROOMS., | The most radical departure in steamboat design and con- struction in the early days was that made in the building of the Great Western. This vessel was built at Huron, O.,.in 1838, and was 186 ft. by 34 ft. by 13 ft., with a high-pressure erigine, 29 in. ' cylinder by to ft. stroke, and seven boilers. During the two years in which this vessel was building, and also after her ap- earance upon Lake Erie in service, those who were supposed to te judges in lake navigation expressed grave doubts of the sea-: worthiness of that type of vessel. But in a few trips she became a favorite with the traveling public, notwithstanding the opinions and prejudices of a few. This was the means of making great changes in the construction of steam vessels on the lakes, con- -- verting the lower cabins into steerage quarters and freight com- partments, and adding the upper cabin with staterooms. The ves- sel-was designed and modeled by Capt. A. Walker, her owner. She was partially destroyed by fire in 1830, but was rebuilt and continued in service until 1855, when broken up. The Anthony _ Wayne and the James Madison had, previous to this, on the upper deck between the wheel houses, each a few rooms used for smok- ing rooms and card playing, but the houses on the Great Western were the first with staterooms for passengers on the lakes. State- rooms had many years before this been in use on some of the Mississippi river steamboats. The want of safe harbors, and the means of easy communi- cation with the interior of the neighboring states, was the reason of the slow progress of lake navigation until the year 1832, when, - by the completion of the Welland canal and the Ohio canals, and the iniprovement of the harbors on the shore of Lake Erie, further communication was opened with the outer world, both to the south through the state of Ohio. and to the east from Lake On- tario. The Erie canal had been opened through New York state since 1825. In 1836 there were on the lakes forty-five passenger steam vessels. In 1839 the number had increased to sixty-one steam vessels. The largest at this time was the Illinois, built in 1838, whose dimensions were 205 ft. by 29 ft. by 13 ft., with an engine of 56 in. by 10 ft. stroke, and running from Buffalo to Chicago. The largest then running to Detroit was the Erie, oa 4 1 eae a