The Olneyville tribune. (Providence, R.I.) 1893-189?, 1893-12-30
STEAMsOATlNG ON THE OHIO.
~ Was at the Height of Its Prosperity
Half q Century Ago.

uAii sehtufs hSo.
II was from 1910 TO 1855 that
steam boating was at its height For
tunes were made in those days by
men who owned and ran boats
There we're lots OF steamers on the
rivers then. The EN- bryo industries
OF that period depended on the river
entirely, for railroad, had only been
proposed, not built About one
hundred steamboats, were built AZ
Pittsburgh annually TO run on the
Ohio and Mississippi rivers. This
city was noted for the trim crafts IL
placed ON the water, as some Of the
b ggest and best running steamers
were built at the headwaters OF the
Ohio.
The boats OF the early steamboat
ing days were all side-wheelers. II
was not until late that the advent OF
the stern-wheel boat occurred and
when il did they were not looked upon
with favor by the denizens of the
side-whcel crafts. The river men re-
garded them as an inferior kind OF
boat, on whose decks it was beneath
the dignity Of a irst-class steamboat
man to tread.
The packets we're OF good size and
stOutly built They were not sup
piled with swinging stages and steam
capstans, and their engines were Of
sure but not so graceful movement as
engines now, and electric lights for
steam oats were not even dreamed
#. But they served their purpose in
making big money for their owners
There was but one organized packet
company running boats down the
river from Pittsburgh. 1t was the old
Pittsburgh and Cincinnati packet
line, and it owned about twenty
steamboats,, some Of which left the
Pittsburgh wharf daily. Among
them were the Buckeye State, the
Hibernia, Pittsburgh, Crystal Palace,
and PENNSYLVANIA. These boats were
all stoutly built and especially
adapted for fast running. The laws
relating To racing were not so string
ent then as now, and exciting con-
tests OF speed on the river occurred
daily.
One OF the swiftest Of the packets
was the Pennsylvania She was the
largest OF the Cincinnati boats and
made some splendid records on che
Ohio. She was 2l0 feet long and
thirty-One feet Team. Another fast
steamer was the Allegheny. She was
not so large as the Pennsylvania, but
was almost as speedy. Some of these
old Cincinnati packet line boats were
sunk, a few burned and the others
AAt -. - 49,, 4. ~ ,n.A
Besides the Cincinnati Company's
packets there we G several steamers,
most OF them owned by Pittsburghers,
which ran down the river and which
had no regular trades. but made trips
whenever and wherever there was
occasion for their services. They
were chiefly to st. Louis and New
Orleans, the trip to the last named
point being completed in about
twenty days. There were "a few boats
running up the MOnongahela and
Allegheny rivers. Brownsville Was az
far up as the slackwater improve
mcnts extended on the M~onongahela
and Franklin was the head OF navi-
galion on the Allegheny.
The men running on the early
steamboats, were well paid for their
work. Icing paid usually a stated
sum per trip. They were not very
thrifty as a class, and but few OF
them saved much from their fire.
uuently large earnings. Gambling
formed a part Of the excitement Of
the river mans life, and a pilot or
captains first night after landing in
New Orleans was usually spent in
the magnifc mt gamblings halls for
which the Crescent City was famous
at that time. Faro and poker had a
peculiar fascination for the steam
boat man, and he gratifed it to its