The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1886-10-06
THE PLYMOUTH ROCK SOLD.
Merry Lille on the Old Boat During Jim Fisks
Time.

The famous old steamboat Plymoutlr
Rock, nadolent with memories Of Colonel
! Jim FISK IN his palmiost hours, of the
! great r,ggn Of shoddy at Long Branch
! i'll 1871 of the famous coaching rivalry
of Fisk and Helmbold, of Jay Gould and
Black Friday, chaml agne, and oysters,
Jarrett nd Palmer, and mysterious
petits sou. ,ers in gilt-edged state rooms,
has been aatcnccd to death. She was
sold ut auc ton on September % to But
lcr Clancy aud Co., of Boston, for the
sum of 3d. uD. They sent Captain Riley,
Il crack st, .amboat skipper, and their
Junior partn er, Mr.. Ii. Fitzgerald, here
with a crew - take charge of her. This
morning at o'clock, in tow of the big
tug Cyclops, she will move out to the
farewell to tn , Bay of Now York forever;
for when she reaches Boston she will be
broken up anoL sold for old junk.
She ran tft, 'el years on the Sound be-
fore Colonel j am3es Fisk, Jr., saw her
and fell in love, with her. 1t was at the
time when Fis k was III his glory us n
railroad and s. cam boat manager and the
proprietor Of the Grand Opera House.
lie was also Colonel of the Ninth Rcgi-
mcnt at the II me he formed the idea of
becoming II c ommodore, and he engaged
the regiment al band to play on board !
the steamer. He himself used to ap-
pear III her saloon wearing a yachting
cap heavily trimmed with gold bullion,
Il Diue rectir u jacket with black buttons, |
ana wnltc II rilsers. Just before reach
ing the city or Sandy Hook he would
disappear lot his stateroom and pres
entity emerge clad in his street costume.
On the same boat travelled DIR. Helm
frr -
for display.
On arriving at the Branch the Doctor
was always m, It by his coach, drawn bv
SIX bay horses and whirled to his splen-
dld mansion j II Chelsea avenue. Fisk
had three co ttages on Ocean avenue,
near Bath av enuc. He occupied one
himself, while the other two were ten
a9tcd by sever al beautiful young women
VINO appeared to be very we.1 acquainted
with Fisk. TlcSe enchantin creatures
used to meet t ne gallant Colo mel ut the |
train, whittier they went in handsome
landau with gcld trimmings, ,'rawn by
bay horses with gold mounted harness.
FISK himself used to ride in an cl ,ormous
dray drawn by crossed team of six
blacks and grays. He had Goa Gilman
and tiger on the box and two 70 otmen
on the rumble behind.
All the wealth and fashion OF the
branch, from John lIocy and CharI IS j.
Osborn to old jeremiah Curtis, the +. ath-
er OF Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syr up,
and Russell Sage, the grandfather of
puts, calls and straddlcs, used to ira, 'el
on the Plymouth Rock in those da, S;
and with the music and the champaign, :, |
and the Sllt-edged statcrooms with sprin, : |
locks, every trip was a picnic, menage-
Tie and IL SlucShOW thrown in
After Il checkered career stories got |
aioat that the vessel was unscawortIy,
and Scoiield, who then owned her, lost
money on her as an excursion boat
Then he built a great platform on top
OF hcr, put an awning over it, called her e.,
Il floating skating rink, and ran her ND
the Hudson. But she failed to draw, {
and on November II, last year, she was : :
put. up at anction. Scofoid bought her 7
IN .or 5 $40, and owned her until she
WAS sold last week. Her career has :
ended but 10 boat ever had a mcrrier
lie of tn. Y. Star, Sept. 20.