The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1886-07-10
OLD TINE STEAMBOAT.
wnEnLINo,s EInsT srEAMHR
The Washington, Capt, shrove's boat = a
Flag Presented by the Ladies' of Wheel
lpg-A Terrible Accident on Board,
Her Famous Fast Trlp-LogBoOk.

~ HN AHNHAs y Nv
SlR:-For some years l have been
gathering information in reference to the
irst steamboats, that ~navigRted the Ohio
md Mississippi rivers, and from time to
lime have given the results to the news
papers, that they might publish them for
Information Of the present and use Of
Iuturs generations,
This collection in reference to the steam
boat Washington has never been publish.
cd by me, and | send them to your paper
because the subject Ia OF a local character,
interesting TO your citizens,
The Washington was q remarkable boat
in her day, and was the sixth boat that
was built to run on the Western waters,
Shs had a high pressure engine and
four single-llue boilers. From all the in
formation obtained, 1t appears that Capt,
Shrevs designed the engine and boilers,
He ia supposed to be tho inventor Of the
cutoff cam, aud was also the inventor oil
the apparatus for removing snags from the
channel Of the river, In 1884 he built
the suag boat that removed the celebrated
raft on the Red River, hencs the name
Shreveport, called for him,
The steamboat Washington was huiltGt
Wheeling, w, Va, In 1916, Captain Henry
NJ, Shreva; owners, Nilos Gillespie, Robert
Clark, Of Brownsville, Pa, Noah Zane and
George White, OF Wheeling, W, Va, and
Henry NJ. ,ShTeve. First enrolment at
port Of New Orleans, 1915 ;.second enroll,
ment January ~, 1921, She was altered
in dimensions and tonnage at Louisville,
KY, in lS%2O-length 1870 feet s inches,
breadth "a feet 0 inches, depth 9 feet s
inches; tons, 2ll 81 O5, She then chang
ed owners, William Fowler, David Fowler,
OF New Orleans, James Gray, OF Louis
vile, II. W. Conway, Of Arkansas, VIII
liam Taylor, OF Baltimore, Md, and Capt,
Henry NJ, Shreve being the new pro-
prietors.
The Louisiana Gase0e Of July 8, 1916,
says; "0n Monday last the steamboat
Washington sailed from Wheeling for New
Orleans under command OF Captain II, NJ.
shreve. She got under way at 5 O'Clock,
and In iorty,fVe minutes made ninemileH,
since which time she has not been heard
from. The steamboat Washington was
built at Wheeling by George White; her
keel was laid on the tenth OF September
last. In August all her timbers were
growing in the woods, Her main cabin is
sixty feet; she has three handsome private
rooms besides a bar-rOoln. Her steam
power is applied upon an entirely new
principal and Is exceedingly simple. She
has no fly wheel, and ner engine possesses
q power Of 100 horses, weighing only
0 600 pounds. 1t is the invention Of II.
NJ. Shreve.
APRRsENT FRoM THE WHEELING LADIRs.
"Ihe ladies OF Wheeling presented to
Captain Shrsve a handsome flag, on which
was embroidered the figure OF Fame, hold
ing in her right hand q trumpet, in her
left q scroll on the side Of which was this
motto: Our friends shall not withhold
what We have wrested from u enemies
IA good motto for West Virginia at the
present datel, on the other Don't
up the ship This motto al
ludes to Livingstone yexatious claim
to the exclusive right Of navl-
cation on the Mississippi River within
tho Stats Of Louisiana. The forfeiture Of
other vessels Is the penalty for attempts
ing TO navigate incurred under the law OF
the Louisiana Territory comforting this
extraordinary privilege. The company
has q very good legal opinion from I.
Doddridge, Esq, against the validity Of
LivingstOn's claim.
"The citizens Of Wheeling wished Capt.
Shreve to call her the Andrew, Jackson,
but he preferred the name Of Washing.
ton"
The Louisiana Gazette OF July 8, 1916,
says: "a letter dated Wheeling, the 18th
ult., gives au account OF the steamboat
Washington'a bUiler bursting. She left
Wheeling on the third with twenty-one
passengers on board. On that or the next
day, at or near the town OF Marietta, Ohio,
the boiler burst, and seventeen out OF the
twenty.one were either killed or wounded,
the Captain only slightly. 1t is strange
boat Is not injured, except the loss Of
boiler. We shall probably soon hear
more Of this truly melancholy accident"
From the old Wharfage Book, New
Orleans, the fact is learned that the Wash.
Inglon arrived for the first time at the
port Of New Orleans, October Z, 1915; she
Is registered only twice during 1916.
CHR CELEBRATED QulcK TRIP OF TdE WASH.
INGToN.
The Louisiana Ga.etc, Of Tuesday, May
1917, says: "The steamboat Washing.
on, commanded by the indefatigable Gap.
ain Ii. NJ. Shreve, arrived at the lsvee
asst Saturday night, only seven days from
he Falls Of the Ohio, but six OF which she
vas under way. The Washington made
.he trip up in t%wenty-iour days, so that in
,oing and coming she was thirty-one days
n running 5000 miles. We have been
'ayored with . Louisyllle paper Of the 10Th
lit, received by the Washington"
Extract frotn a Louisville paper, April
70, 1917: 1.-THE citizens gave Captain
Shreve a grand dinner on Wednesday at
he Union Hall, In honor OF the quick trip
10 made with the steamboat Washington,
rom New Orleans to this port, In the un.
,%recedented time Of twenty.four days.
The address Of the citizens was al follows:
Captain II. N. Shreve.
SiR:-The undersigned, in behalf Of
heir fellow citizens OF Louisville, avail
themselves oil this occasion to express
heir sincere qualification at your speedy
etutn to this place, and beg you to &C.
iept their congratulations ut the very
expeditions voyage you have performed
rom Louisville 10 New Orleans and back.
While they view with the l~iveliGst utter.
'st the revolution that the application OF
team to the navigation OF our rivers Is
,tIeCtinR in the commercial relations Of
his country, they fully appreciate yonrl
,xertions for the success Of an undeftak.
ng onC heard by many to be OF doubtful
Bsue, but whose praCtiCability they deem
" you in particular to be established In
certainty, and felicitate themselves In
icing the organ through which Is made
inown the esteem In which your under.
are held by their fellow citizens.
[SIgned] LEVI TAYLOR,
JAMES A. PEARCE,
LOuiSriNe, Aprii q, 1917.
Capk Il. M. Shreye returned thanks 10
he citizens Of Louisville and predicted
hat the trip from New Orleansto Louis.
lille would yet be made In ten days-a
that was regarded as visionary.
he trip has been made In less than six