Evening star., 1893-09-09
STEAMBOATING ON THE OHIO.
IL was at the Height of It's PrOsperity
Half u Century Ago.
From the Pittsburg Pos

From the Pittsburg Post
IT was from 1SiO to 1856 that steamboating
was at its height. Fortunes were made In
those days by men who owned and ran
Doats. There were lots of steamers on the
river then. The embryo Industries of that
period depended on the river entirely. for
railroads had only been proposed not buiIt
About one hundred steamboats, were buiI,
at Plttsburg annually to run on the Obic
ana mississippi rivers. This city was noted
lot the trim crafts it placed on the water
as some or the biggest and best runnine
steamers were built at the headwaters of
the Ohio. VI
The boats of the early steamboatine davs
were all side-wheelers 1t was NOT untiI
iate that the advent OF the stern-wheel
ooats occurred and when it did they were
not looked upon with favor by the denizens
OF the side-wheel crafts. The river mon
Regarded them as an inferior kind of boat
on waose decks 1t was beneath the dicnitv
OF nrSt-claSs steamboat man to tread
The packets We're of good size and stout,x
built. They were not supplied with SWIM
ING stages and steam capstans and their
movement as engines now, and eiectric
lights for steamboats, were not even dream.
ed or But they served their purpose in
making big money for their owners
There was but one organized pack Of cor,-
pany running boats down the river from
Pittsburg. 1t was the old Pittsburg and
twenty-five steamboats,, some OF which iert
the Pittsburg wharf daily Among them
were the Buckeye State, the Hibernia
Pittsburg, Crystal Palace and Pennsylya'
MA; These boats were all stoutly built
and especially adapted for fast running.
Inc laws relating to racing were not 81
stringent then as now. and exciting con.
tests or speed on the river occurred daily.
one OF the swiftest of the packets wa.
.ne Pennsyivania She was the largest
OF the Cincinnati boats and made some
splendid records on the Ohio. She was
~ leet long and 81 feet beam. Another
Iast steamer was the Allegheny. She was
NOT SO large as the Pennsylvania, but was
almost as speedy. Some of these old Gin
clnnati packet line boats were sunk a few
burned ana the others wore out in the river
service. 80 s Ai'ei
Besides the Cincinnati Cornpanv.s nack-
ets there were several steamers most OF
them owned by Pittsburgers which ran
down the river and which had no regular
Iraues, put made trips whenever and
Wherever there was occasion for their
services. They Were chiefly to ST I,ouis
ana New orleans, the trip to the last
named point being completed in about
twenty Gays ihere We're a few boats run
ming up the Monongahela and Allegheny
rivers. brownsville was as far up as the
slackwater improvements extended on the
Monongahela and Franklin was the head
of navigation on the ALLEGHENY
The men running on the early steam
boats were well paid for their work being
paid usually a stated sum per trip They
were not very thrifty as class, and but
few of them saved much from their fire.
Quently large earnings. Gambling formed
a part of the excitement of the river mans
life, and pilot or captains first night
after landing in New Orleans was usually
spent in the magnificent gambling halls fol
which the crescent city was famous at that
time. Faro and poker had peculiar fas
cination for the steamboat man, and he
gratified 1T to Its fullest limits