ECONOMIC SOCIAL 111 



United States" for the frigate of that name 

 and the "River God" for the East India 

 ship "Ganges." These figureheads were 

 nine feet high and could be removed for 

 repair or in action. 



Sea-going vessels were also built on the 

 Ohio and Monongahela rivers and sent 

 down the Mississippi for sale at New Or- 

 leans. Their frames were made of black 

 walnut and said to be very durable. 1 



The superiority of American vessels in 

 the early part of the nineteenth century 

 was largely due to our master builders. 

 They were of a different class in society 

 and better educated than their English 

 competitors, and this fact was recognized 

 in England. "The present builders in the 

 different dock yards of this country," says 

 an editorial in the English "Navy Chron- 



1 Some twenty vessels were built from 1800 to 1807 

 at Marietta and Pittsburg and sold for ocean service. 

 The largest vessel launched was the "Western Trader" 

 of four hundred tons. The business had assumed consid- 

 erable importance by 1807, but was ruined by the em- 

 bargo. Naval Chronicles, 1806, p. 299. 



