The Paducah sun. [volume] (Paducah, Ky.) 1898-1906, 1903-03-21
A FLOATING MONSTER
The Sprague Has Six Acres OF
Barges.
1t Would Require Twenty-Five Trains
of Forty Cars Each to Garry
Her Load.
HER POWER is IMMENSE

A great many people in Paducah are
waiting eagerly for the great trial
trip of the towboat Sprague, which
leaves Louisville as soon as she can
pass under the bridge, with the largest
tow ever handled by ore towboat.
In her up trip the Sprsgue passed in
the night, and with the exception of a
few who saw her at other places, no
one in Paducah mas had the pleasure
Of viewing this monster towboat.
In regard to the tow she VIII have
when she passes Paducah, the Louis
Vile Herald says:
Over six acres of space is covered by
the thirty-s,x coal boats, ten barges.
Eve fuel boats and four large barges Of
merchandise which compose the tow.
If the coal alone were to be shipped by
rail it would take 25 trains of 40 cars
each to handle it. And yet this is,
for the sprague, a small tow. This
is her maiden trip" said W. M. Van
Horn, the chief engineer OF the boat,
yesterday, land we are merely testing
her. We expect her to handle tows al
most twice as large is this when she
gets down to business in earnest. The
size Of the river won't permit larger
tows than that, or she would handle
even more. She will ply between
this city and New Orleans.
Every time the huge 40 foot wheel
of the Sprague revolves, power is
xerted greater than the united
strength OF all the troops, American
and British, who fought in the war Of
the Revolution. The entire army Of
Great Britain today, including officers
and rrivates, does not possess the po-
tential energy OF the Sprague. And
this power is more than twice as great
as that Of ali the United States troops
who have been sent TO tine Philip
pines"
Over five miles of chains, wire ropes
and hempen lines are kept, IL is told,
on the Sprague. In mooring her tow
at the foot of Market street. nearly
two miles of two and one-half inch
lines were used. The sprsgue is built
of steel throughout, and equipped with
compound condensing tandem engines,
and has an indicated power Of $500
horse power. She is $40 feet over all
in length and 60 feet in beam. She
has two cylinders So inches in diane
ter, and two 2s inches in diameter
with stroke OF 10 feet. The huge
steel shaft lie AZ feet and two inches
over all, with an outside diameter Of
81 inches, and weighs s0,220 pounds.
The wheel is 40 feet long and 80 feet
in diameter. About 80 deckhands are
required to handle her, and she carries
a total crew Of over 80 men. To feed
them a steward and six cooks are en-
ployed. The chief engineer has five
assistants, and ten fremen are necessa-
ry to feed the monsters furnaces.
Among the party who left Pittsburg
on the Sprague were; Daniel Ash
worth, the engineering expert for the
Carnegie interests at Pittsburg, who
is in short time to read paper de-
scribing the boat before the Mechani-
cal Engine ers' association Of Pennsyl-
vania; F.F. Richardson, the superin.
tendent of engineers at New Orleans;
Captain Gus lutte, director of the
Monongahela River Coal and Coke
company, and one of the designers of
the boat; Charles N. Bailey, retired
coal dealer, formerly connected with
the old Pittsburg transportation COM
psny and others.
The boat is in charge of Captain
Walter Carol. The pilots are John
Dippold and Frank Culp, and W. NJ.
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