Historic Highways of America Volume IX Part 4

In the year 1792 the company of shipbuilders previously mentioned, Tarascon, Berthoud, and Company, who put the first keel-boats into business on the Ohio, built the schooner "Amity" of one hundred and twenty tons, and the "Pittsburgh," a ship of two hundred and fifty tons.

In 1793 the schooner "was sent to St. Thomas, and the ship to Philadelphia, both laden with Flour. The second summer, they built the brig 'Nanina,' of two hundred, and the ship 'Louisiana,' of 350 tons.

The brig was sent direct to Ma.r.s.eilles; the ship was sent out ballasted with our _stone coal_, which was sold at _Philadelphia_, for 37 1-2 cents per bushel. The year after they built the ship 'Western Trader'

of 400 tons."[65] By 1800, therefore, cargoes of flour, iron, beef, pork, gla.s.s-ware, furniture of black walnut, wild cherry, and yellow birch, and beverages of varying character were awaiting the great hulls of these new ships of several hundred tons. In 1803 Thaddeus Harris found several of these ships on the stocks at Pittsburg; three had been launched before April, "from 160 to 275 tons burden."[66] On May 4 he wrote at Marietta: "the schooner 'Dorcas and Sally,' of 70 tons, built at Wheeling and rigged at Marietta, dropped down the river. The following day there there pa.s.sed down the schooner 'Amity,' of 103 tons, from Pittsburg, and the ship 'Pittsburg,' of 275 tons burden, from the same place, laden with seventeen hundred barrels of flour, with the rest of her cargo in flat-bottomed boats. In the evening the brig 'Mary Avery,' of 130 tons, built at Marietta, set sail. These afforded an interesting spectacle to the inhabitants of this place, who saluted the vessels as they pa.s.sed with three cheers, and by firing a small piece of ordnance from the banks."[67] "The building and lading of ships is now considered as an enterprize of the greatest importance in this part of the country. The last (1802) there were launched from the ship-yard of Captain Devol, on the Muskingum river, five miles above its mouth, the ship 'MUSKINGUM,' of 204 tons, owned by Benjamin Ives Gilman, Esq. and the brigantine 'ELIZA GREENE,' of 115 tons, owned by Charles Greene, Esq. merchants at Marietta. At the spring flood of the present year, the schooner 'Indiana,' of 100 tons, the brig 'Marietta,' of 130 tons, and another of 150 tons, also built here, were launched and descended the river for New Orleans and the trade to the West Indies. Good judges of naval architecture have p.r.o.nounced these vessels equal, in point of workmanship and materials, to the best that have been built in America.

The firmness and great length of their planks, and the excellency of their timbers, (their frames being almost wholly composed of black walnut, a wood which, if properly selected, has nearly the strength of white oak, and the durability of the live oak of the south without its weight) it is believed will give these vessels the preference over any built of the timber commonly made use of, in any market where there are competent judges. This part of the country owes much to those gentlemen, who, in a new and experimental line, have set this example of enterprize and perseverance."[68] One ship from Marietta is said to have had the existence of her port of clearance questioned in Italy.

In 1811 we learn that ship-building was not prospering as might be supposed; misfortunes and accidents "have given a damp to ships building at present."[69] On an inland river, where the winds and the amount of rainfall at any time were very uncertain, it must have been a most difficult thing to cope successfully with low water and shifting sand bars and other innumerable obstacles to navigation in the Ohio. The times were ripe for another power, one which did not require that the vessels have deep draught, as was the case with sailing vessels.

The dawning of the new era of steam navigation cannot be introduced better than by quoting a unique paragraph from _The Navigator_ of 1811:

"There is now on foot a new mode of navigating our western waters, particularly the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. This is with boats propelled by the power of steam. This plan has been carried into successful operation on the Hudson river at New York, and on the Delaware between New Castle and Burlington.--It has been stated that the one on the Hudson goes at the rate of four miles an hour against wind and tide on her route between New York and Albany, and frequently with 500 pa.s.sengers on board. From these successful experiments there can be but little doubt of the plan succeeding on our western waters, and proving of immense advantage to the commerce of our country. A Mr.

Rosewalt, a gentleman of enterprise, and who is acting it is said in conjunction with Messrs. Fulton and Livingston of New York, has a boat of this kind now on the stocks at Pittsburgh, of 138 feet keel, calculated for 300 or 400 tons burden. And there is one building at Frankfort, Kentucky, by citizens who no doubt will push the enterprise.

It will be a novel sight, and as pleasing as novel to see a huge boat working her way up the windings of the Ohio, without the appearance of sail, oar, pole, or any manual labour about her--moving within the secrets of her own wonderful mechanism, and propelled by power undiscoverable!--This plan if it succeeds, must open to view flattering prospects to an immense country, an interior of not less than two thousand miles of as fine a soil and climate, as the world can produce, and to a people worthy of all the advantages that nature and art can give them, a people the more meritorious because they know how to sustain peace and live independent, among the crushing of empires, the falling of kings, the slaughter and bloodshed of millions, and the tumult, corruption and tyranny of all the world beside. The immensity of country we have yet to settle, the vast riches of the bowels of the earth, the unexampled advantages of our water courses, which wind without interruption for thousands of miles, the numerous sources of trade and wealth opening to the enterprising and industrious citizens, are reflections that must rouse the most dull and stupid.... From the canoe, we now see ships of two or three hundred tons burden, masted and rigged, descending the same Ohio, laden with the products of the country, bound to New Orleans,--thence to any part of the world.--Thus the rise and progress of the trade and the trader on the western waters, thus the progress of our country from infancy to manhood, and thus the flattering prospects of its future greatness through the channels of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers."[70]

These words came true in a miraculously short s.p.a.ce of time. Previous to the adoption of the steamboat navigation, say in 1817, the whole commerce from New Orleans to the upper country was carried in about twenty barges, averaging one hundred tons each, and making but one trip a year. The number of keel-boats employed on the Upper Ohio could not have exceeded one hundred and fifty, carrying thirty tons each, and making one trip from Pittsburg to Louisville and back in two months, or about three voyages in the season. The tonnage of all the boats ascending the Ohio and Lower Mississippi was then about sixty-five hundred.

In 1811 the first steamboat was constructed at Brownsville, Pennsylvania, on the Monongahela. Several others were built soon after, but it was probably fifteen years before steamboats came into such general use as to cause any diminution in the flat-and keel-boat navigation. These first boats were built after models of ships, with deep holds. They also were constructed with low pressure engines and heavy machinery. Hence they were useless in low water, very hard to propel against the current, and their carrying capacity was greatly reduced. In order to attain greater speed, the builders soon made the boats long and narrow but it was not until they came to the decision that boats would run faster on the water than in it, and began making them flat and broad, that they finally got a boat capable of carrying a thousand tons, when drawing only four feet, and when empty only two and one-half feet. Then with a high pressure engine at each wheel they could make unprecedented speed; and these boats afforded traveling and freight accommodations equal to any. Although the prices of pa.s.sages did not exceed hotel rates, yet more bountifully filled tables were not to be found on land and the boats were marvels of splendor in their appointments. The chief improvement made in the river steamboats was placing one large wheel at the stern of the boat entirely behind the hulk and with long paddles the full length of the beam, operated by double engines and quartering cranks. This had the advantage of allowing the wheel to fly in the eddy water of the boat, while it cleared the boat of the afterdraft. With these improvements rapid currents and shallow waters could be conquered.

In 1832 it was calculated that the whole number of persons deriving subsistence on the Ohio, including the crews of steam- and flat-boats, mechanics and laborers employed in building and repairing boats, woodcutters, and persons employed in furnishing, supplying, loading and unloading these boats, was ninety thousand. At this time, 1832, the boats numbered four hundred and fifty and their burden ninety thousand tons. In 1843 the whole number of steamboats constructed at Cincinnati alone was forty-five; the aggregate amount of their tonnage was twelve thousand and thirty-five tons, and their cost $705,000. This gives an average of two hundred and sixty-seven tons for each boat and about $16,000 for the cost of each.

The models of these 1843 boats, as well as their finish and accommodations, evinced a progressive improvement upon earlier boats.

They had more length and less draught, and were faster than those of the last generation, while the hulls were more staunch, though they contained less weight of timber. The cabins were not so gaudy and expensive as those of former years but were greatly superior in comfort and convenience.

In 1844 the number of steamboats employed in navigating the Mississippi and its tributaries was four hundred and fifty. The average burden of these boats was 200 tons each, making an aggregate of 90,000 tons and their aggregate value, at $80 per ton, was $7,200,000. Many of these were fine vessels, affording most comfortable accommodations for pa.s.sengers, and compared favorably in all particulars with the best packets in any part of the world. The number of persons engaged in navigating the steam-boats at this time varied from twenty-five to fifty for each boat, or an average of about thirty-five persons, which gives a total of 15,750 persons employed.

It appears from the reports of the Louisville and Portland Ca.n.a.l at this time that more than seven hundred flat-boats pa.s.sed that ca.n.a.l in one year. There were, therefore, probably four thousand descending the Mississippi, and counting five men to a boat there were 20,000 persons employed in flat-boating. The cost of these boats was in the neighborhood of $400,000, which, as they did not return, was an annual expense; the cost of loading, navigating, and unloading them approximated $900,000, making a total annual expenditure upon this cla.s.s of boats $1,300,000.

If, in 1834, the number of steamboats on western waters was two hundred and thirty, and they carried 39,000 tons, the expense of running them could be estimated as follows:[71]

60 boats, over 200 tons, 108 running days, at $140. per day-- $1,512,000.

70 boats, 120-200 tons, 240 running days, at $90. per day-- 1,512,000.

100 boats, under 120 tons, 270 running days, at $60. per day-- 1,620,000.

----------- Total yearly expenses $4,645,000.

In 1844 the calculation was:

110 boats, over 200 tons, 180 running days, at $140 per day-- $2,772,000.

140 boats, 120-200 tons, 240 running days, at $90 per day-- 3,024,000.

200 boats, under 120 tons, 280 running days, at $60-- 3,240,000.

----------- Total yearly expenses $9,036,000.

This sum, reduced to the different items producing it, would be apportioned as follows:

For wages, 36% $3,252,960.

For wood, 30% 2,710,800.

For provisions, 18% 1,626,480.

For contingencies, 16% 1,445,760.

----------- Total $9,036,000.

To this should be added:

Insurance, 15% on $7,200,000 $1,080,000.

Louisville and Portland Ca.n.a.l tolls-- 250,000.

Interest on $7,200,000. Investment at 6% 432,000.

Wear and tear of boats, 20% 1,440,000.

------------ Total $12,238,000.

Add for flat-boats, as above, 1,380,000.

------------ Total annual cost of transportation $13,618,000.

There were steadily employed at the Cincinnati shipyards, during the year 1843, in the heavier portions of the work, 320 hands at the boatyards, 200 joiners, 200 engine- and foundry-men, 50 painters, making the total number of persons employed 770.

Within the same year, there were built at Louisville, New Albany, and Jeffersonville, 35 boats, of 7,406 tons, which cost $700,000. These boats cost $20,000 each, averaged 211 tons, and cost about $95 per ton.

At Pittsburg, the same year, there were built 25 boats, of 4347 tons; the average tonnage of these boats was about 173 tons.

The aggregate number of boats built in 1843, is about as follows:

Cincinnati, 45 boats, 12,035 tons Louisville, New Albany, and Jeffersonville 35 boats, 7,406 "

Pittsburg, 25 boats, 4,347 "

Add for all other places, 15 boats, 3,000 "

------ Total. 26,788 tons

The whole tonnage of western boats previous to 1843, being 90,000 tons, and the annual loss by destruction and superannuation being twenty per cent, the decrease by the latter cause for 1843, was 18,000 tons, and the increase 26,788 tons, making a net increase of 8,788 tons.

By the official returns in 1842 it appears that the whole steamboat tonnage of the United States was 218,994 tons; this was divided as follows:

_Southwest_

New Orleans, 80,993 tons St. Louis, 14,725 "

Cincinnati, 12,025 "

Pittsburg, 10,107 "

Louisville, 4,618 "

Nashville, 3,810 "

------- Total 126,278 tons.

_Northwest_

Buffalo, 8,212 tons Detroit, 3,296 "

Presque Isle, 2,315 "

Oswego, 1,970 "

Cuyahoga, 1,859 "

------ Total 17,652 tons.

_Seaboard_