The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1867-02-14

TEE RrvER--Ths river was at
stand, last evening, with about twelve
and half feet Of water in the channel.
The regular packets arrived and de-
parted as usual. l....-5 q.
The Edinburg LEFT on time with fair
load of freight. ans.
The Pittsburgh and Parkersburg
packet, Bayard, was at the landing In
the forenoon.
General business is still dull, but
shipments of nails, and other manutac-
tured goods, are as active as usual at
this season of the year. All our manu-
facturers anticipate a large spring |
trade
We take the following very interest |
ing chapter of Pittsburgh history from
the st. Louis Dispatch:
The first vessel ever built on the wa
tiers of the west was the brig Dean,
which derived her name from her
builder and original proprietor. She
was launched at the present site OF AL
llegheny City, near Pittsburgh, in 1906.
She afterwards made a voyage from
Pittsburgh to the Mediterranean
When making her entry at the Custom
House at Leghorn, in 1907, the officer
such port as Pittsburgh did not exist
in the United Statesl A map was pro-
: duced, and the Captain guided the
l.. finger OF the officer along the courses of
a the Mississippi and Ohio by Cincinnati
to Pittsburgh, when the location OF
this new city in the wilderness was
pointed out.
= After the purchase of Louisiana from
If Napoleon in 1903, some eastern CAPT
- talists sent out mechanics and built
I ~. ~
IS Jonas Spoir built the ship "Scott" on
% the Kentucky river, some twenty miles
~ from Frankfort. This ship was the
first that ever made n successful trip to
% the Falls of the Ohio. She remained
:, there tor several months before the &C.
70 currence of a rise in the river sufficient
to float her over. In the meantime two
other vessels from Pittsburgh, built
l. by James Berthone 81 Co., had arrived
/ at the Falls, and in the attempt to get
over, the largest one was sunk and soon
W after torn to pieces by the violence OF
* the current. This accident was SO dis
lie couraging that no further attempts at
shipbuilding were made on the Ohio.
II In 1911 Messrs. Fulton & Livingston,
~ having established a ship yard at Pitts
& steam navigation on the Western wa
tiers, built an experimental boat for this
Or service; and this was the first steam
le boat that ever hoated on the western
al rivers. 1t was 1urnlSheu Win u pro-
:, polling wheel behind, similar to the
stern-wheelers OF the present day, and
y in addition, had two masts; for MT
IN Fulton believed at that time the occa
% sionaI use of sails would be indispensa'
BILE. This first Western steamboat waI
III called the Orleans. Her capacity wa:
one hundred tons. In the winter o
1872 she made her first trip from Pitts
MT burgh to New Orleans in fourteen days
re She continued to make regular trips be
l., tween New Orleans and Natchez, unit
ne the 18th of July, 1911, when she wa
re wrecked near Baton Rouge on her up
mt ward bound passage by striking snag
20 The firstappearance ofthis steamer nat
urally produced considerable eX
Gu element and admiration. A steamboa
he at that day was to common observer
re- almost as great a wonder as flynn
"a, angel would be at present. The bank
~ OF the river in some places were throng
le- ed with spectators gazing in speeches
ate establishment at the putting and smok
ne ing phenomenon. The average spec
of this boat was only about three mile
per hour. Before her ability to NOV
oil through the water without the assist
On- ance of sails or oars had been fully e1
,olr emplitied, comparatively few person
believed that she could possibly b
made to answer any purpose o. ref
will utility. In fact she had made severl
|, trials before the general prejudice b'
gan to subside, and for some month
"a many of the river merchants preferre
!, 20 the old mode OF transportation, with a
- its risks, delays and extra expense
the rather than make use of such u cor
or trivance as u steamboat, which to the
md apprehension appeared too mnrvelloC
- and miraculous for the business
leu every day life.