The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1881-01-15
The First Steamboats, on tine Elk River

The following Interesting sketch, which
we clip from the Baltimore Sun, vii! he read
with interest by all who recall til" bu,tle
and life of that now deserted ,lepnt-French
toWn-and the palmy days of the Union
Line. Of the old captains of thar once popu
lar route, Capt. Matthew pearct, now reSid.
ing in w Wilmington, Del, is, we believe, the
sole survivor Elk River is a melancholy
highway now, To what il WAS when the old
Cacsapcakc, the Edgle and, in later years, ths
.iidryiuad, Constitution, and General NcDoH-
att, pluughed its waters. Business, with H.
exacting demands, has stripped modern
travelling Of all its romance and sentiment.
Still ii is pleasant to recall he olden time
courtesy and conviviality that characterized
the officers of those earlier vessels. In their
cabins frequently sat the great men of the
nation. Although passengers, still they
We're he quasi guests of the Captain to whom
in saloon and in cabin We're due all the social
amenities of the drawing room. Probably
the statesmen of those days never sat down
To better dinners, better served, than those
over which the ideGi Captains of the old
Union Line once so deCorously presided over.
Mr.. Andrew G. Trippe read an interesting
paper before the Mary land Historical Sreiet Y
iast night on ..Tne First Steamboat Bull; in
BaiIinor-.' which occurred soon after Full
tons success at that time. Mr.. Trippc
said: In 1S06-7 VIM Mcdonald and Andrew
Henderson started the first line of packets
from Baltimore TO Philadelphia. IL consist
ed of four SlonpS, which ran To Frenchtown
whence freight wis carried by wagons IL
New Castle and to Philadelphia by water.
Edward Trippe. OF Dorchester county, John
Ferguson. .Dunas Owens. of Cecil county,
and Capt. Taylor, started new line To
Courthouse Point, on Elk river, whence
passenger and freight We're con veyed across
the peninsula TO II point Il E!lle below the
present Delaware City, and thence by sloop
10 Philadelphia.
This lire WAS from the first successful, SO
that MessrS. Mcdonald and Henderson, keen
merchants as they were. proposed Il cOnsol-
dation, which was effected under the name
OF the Union Line. In 1872, SO great was
the success of ih. line. it was determined to
build - steamboat, the tir>t built in Balti-
more or that was seen in Maryland waters.
The superintendent of its construction was
committed to Edward Trippr, a gentleman
of extensive scientific attalninentS and
thoroughly competent, and who was eSpec-
tally successful! i'll applying theory 10 prac-
ticai results. The builder was WIN. Flani-
gan, who for many years hai Shipyard on
the size Of the Boston steamers wharf The
novelty of the construction, the IueXperi-
ence of the worknen in such work WAS a
heavy draft on the patience and ski! of the
superintendenr When completed her
length was 100 feet. width 20 feet, and depth
of hold Z feet Her WHEELS 10 feet in diane
ter aud H. ,!eufh. Her engine was II cross.
head, which revolved Il C"gwherl that work
I'd in teeth upon the shaft, which WAS of
caSt-iron. To the engine Il tlywheel was
connected to enable it 10 pass its centre. The
SmukesIaci5 was a.nidships, behind the en-
CINE. Extending about 20 feet, and raised
feet above the deck, WAS the boiler She
had a mast forward. with spar and sail,
which was spread whenever the wind was
fair. There were 70 chairs on deck but =
bench extended arc. nd the rail on he quar-
;e:-tecl for seats There was no upper deck
but i'll hot weather an awning WAS extended
over the quarter deck, which was taken
down, StanrhiouS and all in. i'll the Fail.
There WAS no pilot house or wheel, but a
tilIrr The ladies' cabin, with brrri.>, occll-
pied the stern, and the gen:iemen> cabin,
with hertliS, was between it and the ina
c!liutry. IL WAS Used also as the dining
saloon In front was the forward cabin.
The cabins were all furnished III tirat-cla>s
style, as then understood. There were no
Sccond-clas> passengers: >E'h took passage
in the slonps. Windows gave light and air
in the cabins. Tile kitchen was amid,i;p>.
The steamer was painted white, with green
r.lilS and on her whec!hnU>A You could read
the name of the steamer Chesapeake, i. MON
Line.
Thus constructed and equipped, the (hpS-
dpeGie, on Sunday, June y, 1913, matte an
excursion "trip 10 Annapolis, followed by
another tn Rock Hail the next week. Mon
day, June y, 1919, She took her place on
the line and made regular trips. The FEEDER
al Gazette of the next day contained an adj
verti>c,nent stating hat the ;ln,hoat will
leave the lower end of BowiyS wharf every
Muu.iiy, "Wednesday and Friday ut \. NJ.
for Freurhtown. The :. i. (mraning Il lie
steamboat Delaware, douhtleS>) 1T New
Ca>tl. awaits the arrival of her passengers
to proceed To Phi!adelpiiii. y. B.-She has
performed her first trip to-day to French
town and back, 40 mills. in "a hours The
appliances fox her navigation Were simple
and crude. a plur stood III the bow who
called out the course TO Il mau amidshpS
and he to the hen>man. There We're no
bells TO signal the engine, but the captain
e, nveytd his commands by word OF mouth
or by stamping with his heels on the wood
work over the engine. The boat had been
running six months when the engineer
named Zeager. (afterwards blown up, be
lieve on the Medora,) accidentally found
out he could reverse the engine and back
her. Her speed WAS five miles an hour, the
distance to Frenthtewn being only 40 miles
and made in n hours. Dnring the hazard.
ou. times when Il British admiral WAS in
The Che>apeakeand Commodore Barney WAS
cole ting li, fiotilla, the Steamboat CheSa-
prakr continued her trips, and August s,
1915, she advertised an excursion 10 the
tiotilln. and as far as the Rocks sit safe"
The trip was accomplished, but WIS lie end
OF her daring. She was the only steamboat
for two years in Baltimore waters. Her
profits We're 10 per cent. The fare was ST
IN the TO II and $40 on the packets. The
departure of the ChcSaj.caL" from her wharf
was announced by the firing of Il swivel Oh
he forward gangway.
In July, 1915. the steamboat EdJlc Cant
Moses Rogers, came IL Baltimore from the
Delaware by the way OF the capes, and was
secured Ivy IL rival line for the run 10 Elkron,
MeSSrS. Briscos X Partridge, who had :. line
of packets 10 Philadel phia, via Eikton and
Wilmington. In 1921. April Is, she rNplod.
ed her boiler, by which Henry NJ. Murray,
States Attorney 1T Annapolis, was fatally
wounded. The Chesapeake made :, charita-
BILE excursion to Annapolis in 1915, and the
money was handed TO The mayor for the >ut-
fererS by Il disastrous fire ut Petersburg: In
1916 two new STEAMBOATS, We're built by the
owners of the Union Line. In their al YER
tiSement, with the confidence success hegets,
we first hear of the expression, "All bag
gage at the risk of the owner, an expires
sion now common to Il long-sutfering travel
ing public. 1t was mtny years before an
upper deck was introduced. These boats
were furnished Sumptuousy for The comfort
4. fltgg. II.
gance III their intercourse which is not
known to-day. The plate was solid silver,
and the table service made in China express
" for it. In the long evenings in the bril-
liantly lighted cabins the time passed social
", and the captain extended his hospitality
10 the passengers with the same dignity
and courtesy as If they were guests at his
home.
There are those now living who remember
with un"liowed delight these evenings on
the Union Line None of the founders of
tb linz. LIVING Cam