Los Angeles herald., 1908-06-26
B0AT-H0USE TAKES
TRIP ON THE RIVER
CURIOUS CRAFT Is CAUSE OF
MUCH COMMENT
Is Towed from Newark, Via the Pas
sale, Up the North River, to
the Noise Of Many
Toots

NEW YORK, June 25.-Shortly after
2 o'clock this afternoon shippers of
North river ferryboats and other pass
ing vessels beheld strange and weird
craft lurching around the bend In the
Jersey shore behind Ellis island.
In structure she seemed to be some-
thing between Noah's ark and an an
cient three-decker line-of-battie ship.
Three rows of frowning portfolios
lowered upward. beginning well above
the water line. and single stubbly
mast projected near the stern. Be-
fore her waddled three painting tug
boats all pulling for dear life.
Repeated halls brought no response
from the men who leaned over a bal
cony arrangement, a few stories In air.
Closer inspection revealed several
stacks of red brick. but no traces of
smoke
odd" said the pilot of the tug
Maria j. Livingston, as he steered up
alongside the prodigy. Wonder why
she amt usin' her own power?'
Happening to recognize an acquaint-
ance aboard one of the towing fiotilla,
he ran up to him and applied for infor-
nation.
Boat" contemptuously snorted the
acquaintance. "Gwan. What dyer
This Is a club house--a honest, self re-
spectin,' stay-at-home club house.
G'wan."
Whereupon the pilot of the Maria j.
Livingston. as was natural, steered off
and took another tack. He even whis-
tied.
A great many other people who saw
the queer sight whistled, too. In fact,
people and boats and yachts and war
ships all the way up the river as far as
One Hundred and Sixty-seventh street
whistled. And before she entered the
harbor the strange craft had been SINH
larly saluted by railroad trains. bridge
tenders, cows and other things during
the voyage down the Passaic river
from North Yonkers.
AS a matter of fact, the boathouse
was--as the scornful tugboatman told
his friend-only a boathouse. For a
long time 1t was the property Of the
second division, first battalion, New
Jersey naval reserves, to give them
their whole title. But recently they
tired of 1t and it was sold to another
boat club, which had Its headquarters
uptown.
At first the Manhattan club was
somewhat puzzled what to do with its
considerable distance from New York.
and the members did not like the idea
OF travelling so far to get to their club
house. So towing firm downtown
was appealed to.
Yesterday morning the engineers of
this firm got to work. First, they
lacked up the boathouse upon creased
timbers. Then, when they had elevated
her some distance, they ran a large
lighter, one of the kind carrying
derrick. up to the wharf, passed a
couple of cables around drums ON the
derrick engine and the house.
When the derrick engine started the
cables frightened. The house trembled
a minute, shook. and then slid an inch.
The creased timbers gave it no hold,
and 1t slid another inch. Soon, 1t was
sliding along, a foot at time. and In
from the wharf to the lighter, and was
comfortably settled in its new position.
There was not a crack in its walls
and not a broken pane In it's three tiers
OF windows. The stone fireplaces were
In first-class condition and the CHM
news had oyery brick in place, although
the boat house weighed 200 tons.
At 7 o'clock three tugboats were
hitched to the lighter and started on
the Journey to One Hundred and sixty
seventh street and North river. The
voyage was long, because OF the many
bridges to be passed In the Passaic.
Then. too, the load was a heavy and q
bulky one. Precautions had to be OBJ
served against humping into some In
offensive tug or lumber schooner, which
would have been crushed In like card
hoard The boat house itself Is ninety
four feet long and forty feet wide.