SHIT-BUILDIXG. 



schooner, with auxiliary steam-power for use on 

 rivers. 



Up to 1818 the fastest trip from New Orleans to 

 Louisville wu made by the Shelley, the time being 

 1'J days. She carried 51 passengers, a cargo of 

 groceries and dry goods, and stopped at ten places rn 

 route. The usual time was from 25 to 30 days. The 

 fast steamer Cincinnati made the round trip in about 

 40 days. After 1830 determined efforts were made 

 to improve the speed, and in 1838 the Diana ran 

 from New Orleans to Louisville in less than ('< d:iy>, 

 winning a premium of 8500 from the Post Office De- 

 partment for doing so. 



The passenger boats were side-wheelers, built of 

 oak, framed and planked much the same as sea-going 

 vessels. They had flat floors and sharp bows, and 

 drew from 4 to 6 feet, and were from 400 to 600 tons 

 register. The cabin was between the engines, the 

 npper cabin becoming popular later. 



\Vhen fast boats became the rage there was a 

 fierce rivalry, and racing was very common. Boats 

 were sent over the course stripped of every possible 

 weight that could be dispensed with, and without 

 cargo of any kind, driven at the full power of the 

 engines, simply to beat previous records and estab- 

 lish a reputation for speed. Until legislation regu- 

 lated the strength and pressure of boilers, this pas- 

 sion for fast time led to great loss of life and property 

 on account of explosions. 



From 1830 to 1840 the favorite size was about 150 

 tons, but after 1840 larger boats began to make their 

 appearance, and a departure was made in the use of 

 lighter scantling and different construction from sea- 

 going vessels. The Sultana, built in 1843, was 250 

 feet long, 35 feet beam, and 8 feet hold. There 

 were seven boilers, 32 feet long and 42 inches in di- 

 ameter. The engines were 30 inches by 10 feet 

 stroke, the paddle-wheels 30 feet in diameter, with 14 

 feet buckets. She developed a speed of 15} miles 

 an hour, and made one trip from New Orleans to 

 Louisville in 4 days 22 hours. 



In 1852 the Eclipse, one of the largest boats built 

 in the West, was built at New Albany just below the 

 falls. She cost 8300,000 and was sumptuously fitted 

 up with a richly furnished saloon, with a steerage 

 cabin on top. There were 8 boilers, 321 feet long by I 

 42 inches in diameter, and two engines : cylinders, 36 | 

 inches by 11 feet stroke. The paddles were 41 feet 

 in diameter. Her light construction will be seen 

 from the size of her scantlings. The frames were 

 single, and were cut from 4 and 4} inch flitch-oak, 

 moulded 13 inches on the floor, 10 inches at tlio 

 bilge, and 54 inches at thn head. The main keelson 

 was 12 l>y 16 inches, the bilge log 7 by 11 J i.iehes, 

 and there were 18 floor keelsons, ranging from ,'H by 

 10 inches to 4 by 11 inches. Fore and aft wooden 

 bulkheuls were put in to strengthen her. She was 

 planked with 31 to 4} inch oak. She was for many 

 rears the most popular and fashionable boat of the 

 Went. Her greatest speed up the river was 10 miles 

 an hour, and she often made 25 miles an hour down 

 stream. 



The Shotwell was built in the same year. She 

 was a sharp boat, built for racing, and in 1853 she 

 raced the Eclipse. Both vessels were stripped for 

 the race and carried neither passengers nor freight. 

 Furniture, landing stages, and fenders were left be- 

 hind, and even the bulkheads in the wheel-houses 

 and parts of the decks were removed. The Shotwell, 

 on account of being shorter, could turn the bends 



more quickly, but she ventured too close and got 

 aground, losing 2} hours, and thereby the race. Thn 

 I'.elipso made the trip from New Oi leans to Louis- 

 ville in 4 days 9 hours and 30 minutes, having lost 

 35 minutes d'nring the race by blowing out the pack- 

 ing of a piston. A number of large, swift steameis 

 followed those boats, ranging from 250 to 300 feet in 

 length, fitted up in the most comfortable and beauti- 

 ful manner. These boats were usually owned in 

 Pittsbnrg, Cincinnati, and Louisville. 



The civil war interrupted the river traffic, and a 

 good many of the older vessels disappeared. But 

 after the war new steamers appeared, superior even 

 to the old. Two of these were the B. K. Lee, built 

 in 1866, and the Natchez, in 1869. The Lee was 300 

 feet long, 44 feet beam, and 10 feet deep, with en- 

 gines 40 inches by 10 feet stroke, the {Middle-wheels 

 lieing 38 feet in diameter, with 16| feet paddles. 

 The Natchez was 301} feet long, 42} feet beam, and !U 

 feet in the hold. Her engines were 34 inches by 10 

 feet stroke, paddle-wheels 42 feet in diameter, with 

 16 feet paddles. In 1870 these two boats raced 

 from New Orleans to St. Louis, 1200 miles. They 

 were stripped for the race and ran at about 17 miles 

 an hour, were in sight of one another most of the 

 way, and only an hour apart at Memphis and Cairo. 

 The Lee arrived at St. Louis in 3 days 18 hours and 

 14 minntes, and the Natchez arrived" 6 hours and 33 

 minutes later. 



A great number of boots have been built of late 

 years. A description of the City of New Orleans 

 will give a vei-y good idea of the construction gener- 

 ally in use. S'he is 300 feet long, 48 feet beam, 83 

 feet over the guards, and 9 feet hold. Her draught, 

 with machinery, coal, and water on board, is : 

 inches forward and 42 inches aft. The flames ate 

 single, 9 by 4 inches, spaced 15 inches ; main keelson, 

 21 by 9 inches ; eight floor keelsons, 9 by 4 inches ; 

 four wing keelsons, 7 by 12 inches, to leceive the 

 heels of the stanchions and the hog chain braces ; 

 bilge keelson, 6 by 12 inches ; planking, 4 inel 

 the bottom, and 4, 3}, and 3 inches on the sides. 

 The beams are 4 by 6 inches, spared 21 inches, witli 

 heavier beams 12 by inches at the end of the boiler 

 deck 7 stanchions, eveiy other beam 6 inches sqnnie, 

 ill seven rows, with thirty extra stanchions 10 by 3} 

 inches under the cylinder timbers and paddle-shaft. 

 There are three stringei* on the top timbers, ench 

 side. 9 by 21 inches. The clumps are 13 bv 3} and 

 12 by 3 inches. The five boilers are on deck, for- 

 ward, and nre 30 feet long, 44 inches in diameter, 

 with five flues each. 1 here, are two engines, one i n 

 each side amidships, 26 inches in dinmeter by 10 

 leet stroke. The paddle-wheels are JT> feet in d'imn- 

 eter, with 15 feet paddles. The cabins and pilot- 

 house stand up to a great he'ght above the water. 

 The saloon is 220 feet long, 17 feet wide, and 13 f< et 

 high. There are forty-five staterooms, 12 feet long 

 by 10 feet wide. This boat is for the passenger and 

 cotton trade of the Mississippi, and on 9 feet draught 

 will carry 250 passengers and 2300 tons of freight. 



With a light-dranght boat of this sort the girder 

 formed by the structure is a shallow, and there being 

 but little buoyancy at the sharp ends, a most elnl>- 

 orate system of hog and cross chains is earned out. 

 These are long iron rods stretching from end to end 

 and from side to side of the boat. A hog frame, 

 such as is seen on so many of the boats around New 

 York, is hardly ever seen in the West. The fore and 

 aft arrangement of these hog chains is shown in the 



\ 



7 



\ 



Hog Chains of the City of New Orleans. 



