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472 THE WILDEST STEAMBOAT RIDE ON RECORD. It is safe to say that a simple an- nouncement that on a given date a steamer would leave the boat landing at the foot of Niagara Falls for Lew- iston would bring more people to Niagara than New York held during the recent Hudson-Fulton celebration, yet the account of the actual occur- rence as printed in the Buffalo Express of June 7 and 8, 1861, is told in a few lines and the trip was probably witnessed by comparatively few people. Tue Marine REVIEW, in endeavoring to 'collect some information regarding the old Maid of the Mist and her spectac- ular trip through the tormented wa- ters of the Whirlpool rapids discover- ed that those who performed the ex- ploit had passed away. Knowing that the late Charles Eckliff of Detroit had been her engineer, the Review soli- cited information from his son, Charles C. Eckliff, United States inspector of steam vessels, Grand Haven, Mich., who in turn suggested applying to H. G. Trout, Buffalo, who had (been an old-time friend and shop-mate of his father. in reproducing Mr. Trout's letter here- with: "In reply to your favor of the 16th, I would say that I have but a general remembrance of the steamer Maid of the Mist's thrilling trip from her land- ing on the American side of the gorge, just below the Falls, through the Whirlpool rapids. and rapids of the lower river to Lewiston, N. Y., but through the courtesy of the Gros- venor Library I have secured the fol- lowing information: "The Maid of the Mist eee proven a failure as a passenger steamer at the foot of the Niagara Falls. Her owners had an offer for the boat if she could ibe delivered on Lake Ontario. A crew of three volunteered; the pilot, Noel R. Robinson, and an engineer and his fireman. On the morning of June 6, 1861, the lines were cast off and the . little ship started on ther stormy voy- age. She arrived at Lewiston, minus her smoke stack, fifteen minutes after, but in that fifteen minutes, the pilot had aged fifty years.' "The above is substance of articles printed in the Buffalo Morning Ex- press on June 7 and 8, 1861. "TI well remember the first trip of the Maid of the Mist from the Ameri- can landing just below the falls to the Canadian landing. were present Vincent Bidwell, the pi- lot, H. O. Perry, the engine builder, and C. M. Farrar, of Farrar & Treffts, and myself, the machinists. We were _the We take particular pleasure - On this trip there TAE Marine REVIEW all amateurs at navigation in those waters but the trip was made success- fully." Anyone who has watched and stud- ied the Whirlpool rapids at close range can have nothing but unbounded ad- miration for the pluck of those who undertook the trip. We have been unable to discover any particulars of the boat but she was probably even smaller than those which succeeded her. The engineer as stated above was Charles Eckliff, who died in 1906. An interesting fact, not brought out by Mr. Trout, is that H. O: Perry was senior member of the~- firm of Perry & Lay, who operated the shops which later, as the King Iron Works, passed to the possession of Mr. Trout and which the Trout company operate. The name Maid of the Mist has been perpetuated in two subse- quent steamers which are familiar to most tourists, one an American boat and the other a Canadian. Improved transportation facilities, greater popu- lation And consequent and increased travel have doubtless made their opera~ tion. profitable where the first of the name failed. COMMERCE OF SAULT CANALS. The commerce through the canals at Sault Ste. Marie passed the .9,000,- 000-ton ma@tk<sin, October, almost equaling September's record. Dur- ing October 9,127,240 tons passed thorugh the canals as against 9,227,192 tons for September. The Canadian canal moved a greater portion of east bound freight and the American canal the west bound. The Amer- ican. canal carried 4,619,993 tons and the. Canadian canal 4,507.247': tons. The total movement through the ca- nals to Noy. 1 was 48,166,688. Fol- lowing is the summary: EAST BOUND. To Nov. 1, To Nov. 1, 1908. 1909. Copper. net-tons..... 65 ¢ 75,708 94,230 Grain, other than wheat, Ue ie ee ee 24,825,027 26,311,621 Building stone, net tons. 1,019 - 1,674 WOM DUIS, ewes cs sles 4,090,459 5,162,355 Iron ore, net tons.......20,953,638 34,395,380 Pron, "pie... net tons...) . 15,696 30.663 Eumber, . M; ft.,B. Me... 384502 484,412 Wheaten DW eres cc es 66,018,755 69,048,988 Unclassified freight, net ; POISE eo em ee 84,227 128,797 Passengers, number 25,578 29,011 WEST BOUND. Coal, anthracite, net tons 1,124,014 1,106,097 Coal, bituminous, met tons 7.310;721 - 7;210'733 Flour, Bbisc2) oo oie eho 890 3,700 Grain, OM ee 5,400 5,750 Manufactured' iron net CONS Se ae eee 219,911 376,931 dren ore, net), tons: sos... 135573 Salt. barrels). ic. cece « 467,777 531,065 Unclassified freight, net SONGS eee oe ka 617,130 771,169 Passengers, number 25,841 29,823 SUMMARY OF TOTAL MOVEMENT East bound, net tons ..24,734,614 38,606,780 West bound, net tons .. 9,341 730 9,559. 908 Total 34,076,344 48,166,688 still . November, 1909 SOME NEW SCHERZER ROLL- ING -LIFT BRIDGES. With the resumption of improved financial conditions the railroad com- panies are inaugurating many improve- ments in roadway, especially double and multip!e tracking to secure in- creased facilities, economy and safety for handling traffic. Among other im- provements a number of obstructive center pier swing bridges are being replaced by modern Scherzer rolling lift bridges. One of the most promi- nent improvements of this nature is the removal of the single track center pier swing bridge of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad over the Cuyahoga river at Cleveland and its replacement by a double track Scherzer rolling lift ibridge having a movable span of 200 ft. from center to center of bearings. This 'bridge will be the longest double track single leaf bascule bridge yet constructed. Last year a single track Scherzer rolling lift bridge having a movable span of 230 ft. was completed for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Co., replacing a center pier swing bridge on the west channel of the Cuyahoga river, effecting a great im- provement for the interchange of traf- fic 'between the railroad company and the large modern vessels navigating this channel to the docks of the rail- road company. ' The Seaboard Air Line has recently completed a single track Scherzer roll- ing lift bridge having a movable span of 196 ft., across the navigable water- way to their new wharfs and docks at Tampa, Florida. Another Scherzer rolling lift 'bridge is being constructed by this railroad company across the Savannah river, replacing an obstruect- ive center pier swing bridge. The San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake railway have recently completed and placed into service a single track Scherzer rolling lift bridge across the San Gabriel river at San Pedro harbor, California, this being the longest span 'bascule bridge on the Pacific coast. A Scherzer rolling lift bridge was recently selected and placed under contract for construction as the mova- ble portion of a long causeway being built to connect Galveston with the mainland. The railroads using this bridge will be the Southern Pacific, the Santa Fe and the Gould systems, and the Galveston & Houston electric rail- way. This 'bridge is designed to also accommodate highway traffic. Other American orders for railroad and elec- tric railway bridges are too numerous to mention here. Among the prominent foreign ord- ers are a bridge for the Buenos Ayres