96 A RAFT PILOT'S LOG 



than the "LeClaire Belle" and very hard to steer. Like 

 most boats at that time she had two skeg rudders and 

 only one balance rudder. 



About this time someone in building a new boat gave 

 her a basket stern with three balance rudders, and she 

 was such a fine handler that no more skeg sterns were 

 built and when hauled out for repairs all the old boats 

 had their skegs removed and were given all balance 

 rudders. When this change was later made on the 

 "Silver Wave" it helped her greatly both in steering 

 and backing. 



When I joined her early in the spring of 1879, Henry 

 Whitmore of Galena, Illinois, was chief engineer and 

 James Davenport of LeClaire, his assistant. Dan Han- 

 ley, still living in Davenport, was our fireman and his 

 younger brother James was cabin-boy and assistant to 

 Joe Gallenor the cook, where he learned all kinds of 

 mischief and devilment. "Jimmy" as we called him 

 then, is now a dignified and successful lawyer in Daven- 

 port, Iowa, and he has not lost any of that spirit of 

 devilment that kept the crew of the "Silver Wave" 

 alternating between fun and fear while he and Joe Gal- 

 lenor lost sleep in studying up some new trick or joke 

 to put over on us. 



Mr. Whitmore was not only an excellent engineer, 

 but a fine mechanic. When a young man he spent four 

 winters in the Broadway Machine Shop in Saint Louis, 

 learning blacksmithing and machine work and he held 

 the best jobs in the Galena and Minnesota Packet Com- 

 pany during its successful career. 



During the first half of the season I stood watch with 

 Mr. Davenport and had little to do with Mr. Whit- 

 more as he did not seem very friendly. During late 

 July and August we laid up three or four weeks as the 



