The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1895-04-04

"huoiihS Whuripoat, yostoruhy morn.
Ing nj o'clock. Tho speedy Iron
Queen, tho queen OF tho upper river,
was making very fast trip up tho river,
and FROM thia telegram 1t was thought
aho would DO hero ut al early hour this
morning. About IN hour lator Wesl.
orn Union messenger boy brought tho
frat nova OF tho burning OF tho biz
packet at Racine, nino miles above
pomcroy, whore an hour bOioro Captain
Calhoun had sont that IAN vol" lauh.
Ing over tho wiroa. To say tho least, Il
was shock 10 tho local agent Of tho
Pittsburgh & Cincinnati line, and until
he had reached General Manager Hon.
dorson by telephone at Pittsburgh, no
could hardly bring himself TO believe
tho nowa. But II was too truo, Captain
henderson confirming tho news. and
stating that tho Queen was insured
only about onc.hali hor Value.
Tho Iron Queen was. tho iinost boat
eyor operated between Cincinnati and
Pittsburgh by the limo OF which sh0 was
n part, and throughout her brief career
(she was a new boat has been FREQ from
ill.luck OF any character. She has tho
record, possessed by no other packet on
tho river, OF novcr having turned n
loalng wheel" a torn In rivor parlanco
meaning that she mover made trip
that onded with balance on tho wrong
sido OF the ledger. AZ uiual, on this
trip, she had Gno trip. in freight par.
ticularly, bcing loaded to tho guards.
considerable Of her cargo bolnc destined
for merchants In Wheeling Much OF
tho cargo, IL IL learned, was transferred
FROM tho Memphis and Now Orleans
boats at Cincinnati.
iIor commander was Capt. 7. S. Cal.
houn, until recently tho master OF tho
Keystone State, another packet of the
same line. Before this she was com.
mauded by Capt. John N. Phillips, who
has just entered upon his duties ia in.
spcc.or Of hulIs at Pittsburgh. Captain
Calhoun's stait was com posed OF the fol.
lowing: Mates. Hod Knowles aud
James Shrivor: pilots, James Riley and
Dayton Randolph; clerks, first, Robert
II. Korr; second. George Mccullough.
Captain Calhoun 10 n veteran steam.
boa,man and Is known as very caro-.
full navigator; tho fact that there was
no loss Of lie III yesterday MORNINGS
disaster is testimonial to tho coolncas
with which he faced the emergency.
He lives near Pittsburgh. and did some
OF his first steamboa.iug before tho war
on the Missouri river. During tho war
he commanded river packet and ran
the blockade OF the Mississippi before
Vicksburg. After the war ho came back
to the upper Ohio and was master OF
the old Katie Stockdale and wore her
out. This boat, by the way. was
equipped with ono OF the frat iron
wheels seen on tho Ohio, which shc lost
in the leo at Huntington. and where the
wreck Of i. still lies half buried in the
sand on the Ohio shore. Tho StockdaIe
made her last trip in September. 1870,
and .hon Captain Calhoun took COM
maud OF the fine new packet Keystone
State, on which he remained until traus.
ierred to tho Iron Queen three weeks
ago. This was the boats third trip IN.
der his command.
The Queen was built in the Knox
ship ward at Marietta, Ohio. in the win.
ter OF 1892, and in March abe made her
first trip between Pittsburgh and Gin
cinna.s. with Captain Phillips on the
roof. In October. 1898, tho Pittsburgh
and Cincinnati boats combined into a
corporation. organized under the laws OF
West Virginia. anu Captain Calhoun
was the vice president. The Queen was
equipped with the Mcconnell ma
chinery, made at Marietta. She was
237 feet long (the longes, boat on the
upper riYerl; had beam OF % feet;
depth OF hold, feet inches; and hcr
carrying capacity was 1000 tons. She
had two engines Isl inch cylinders, with
u seven.foot stroke. Her battery Of
boilers was composed OF three six.fluo
boilers. IS feet long. She mad tina finest
furnished cabin OF any boat ever seen
n these waters, and bad Sc elegantly
furnished staterooms. She was equipped
throughout with electric lights, even
he. hold being fitted with incandcs.
cents. The boat cost 100000, and was
worth fully that figure.
The Iron Queen WAS the prototype
OF tho Natchcz on the Mississippi and
OF tho City OF Louisyil!e on tho lower
Ohio. When other boats were behind
schedule time tho Queens whistle
would generally be heard on time or
anead OF it. The other packets OF the
Pittsburgh line seldom got to Wheeling
on the up trip before S o'clock, but tine
Queen often arrived here at n. III. and
on several occasions was in at in the
morning. On her last trip she left Gin.
cinna,i on Monday evening at O'Clock
and was making good time up the river.
But for her burning she would probably
have arrived hero ut or 1 O'Clock this
morning.
a Noted Artist.