The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1909-06-24

which the erglne could be thrown out of
connection with the paddles.
| The Chancellor Livingston, in which
Commodore Vanderbilt had an interest.
was the next steamer of any Importance
! to be placed on the Boston and Bangor
line. She was built in New York in 1916
and was considered to be the masterpiece
OF Fulton. She had three smokestacks,
three masts. bowsprit and a iibboom.
and carried huge squaresail on the
foremost, with fore and aft sails on the
main. The Livingston lost money be-
cause she was too much of a boat for
the amount of business, and Commodore
| Vanderbilt soon disposed of his interest,
the owners who held on to their shares
being eventually ruined. The Victory,
the McDonough and the Portland We're
also among the early boats, but the Ban
| gor, built in New York, was the first
new boat as we'll as the fastest, that
had ever come to Maine. She was about
400 tons, we'll fitted for her time, and did
| profitable business, generally carrying
| about 12O passengers on trip, at the
rate of Sc each, between Bangor and
Boston.
The Bangor ran on the Boston and
Bangor route until the fall of 1S4l, and
in 1912 she was taken to the Mediter-
ranean, where for some time she was
engaged in carrying pilgrims from Alex
andrla on their way to Mecca. When
she arrived over there, being painted
white, not Musssulman would step foot
on her, white being their mourning color,
so she was then painted black and bust
ness afterwards hourished in the pilgrim
trade. The Bangor was bought by the
Sultan of Turkey and added to his navy.
Another steamer named Bangor, a pro-
pellor, made few trips between Bangor
and Boston, and was then bought by the
United States government and sent out
to take part in the attack on Vera Cruz,
where she won lasting fame. She was
the first iron steamer ever built in Amer
lea.
From 1885 to 1845 numerous steamers
ran on the line between Boston and Ban
gor, including the Charter Oak, Hun
tress, Sandusky, Express, Portland and
Admiral. The Charter Oak was fine
boat, originally intended for the New
York and New Haven line, where her
owners Capt. Memnemon Sanford and
Mr. Cunningham, found the competition
of Commodore Vanderbilt so sharp that
they sent the boat east. Vanderbilt fol-
lowed them to Maine with the steamer
Telegraph, and for several years there
was such brisk rivalry between the two
lines that the fare between Boston and
Bangor, which had been as high as 81,
was reduced to 81.
In 1S45 Capt. Sanford put the steamer
Penobscot on the Boston and Bangor
route, and that boat, on the night of
June II, 1S45, made the first trip to Ban
gor by what is known as the outside
route-going across directly from Cape
Ann to Monhegan. 1t was on this occa-
sion, also, that time courses were first
used. The method was then adopted by
Capt. Sanford for his New York and
Philadelphia line, and soon came into gen.
eral use.
The IS years preceding the Civil War
was harvest time for steamboats, on
the Penobscot There was no railroad
Bangor until 1857, and so the steamboats,
had all the business Some famous boats
ran between Boston and Bangor In those
days, including the Senator, built by
Daniel Drew of New York; the Daniel
Webster, named for the statesman, a
large and handsome steamer, afterward
sold to run on the St. Lawrence and re-
named the Saguenay; the Governor, T.
F. Secor, w. j. Pease and Kennebec
1t was on the steamer Kennebec, in
August, 1S49, that the cholera made its
first appearance in Bangor.
In 1851 was formed the company
known for many years as Sanford's In
dependent line. Its originator, Capt
Memnemon Sanford, died in New York
in the following year, and the business
was continued by other members of the
Sanford family. During the war nearly
all the down-east steamboats, were char
tered by the government for transpor-
service, and some of them, including the
Memnemon Sanford, a fine new boat,
day history of the Boston and Bangor
line (now operated by the Eastern Steam
ship Coz began with the coming on this
route in 1868 of the steamer Katahdin,
which was joined in 1867 by the Cam
bridge and in 1882 by the Penobsoot
The Katahdin was in many respects
the most remark able side-wheel steam
boat ever produced in the United States.
She was as good a sea boat as most of
the propeller steamers, fast in her day,
and was followed by the most surprising
good fortune. Other boats were wreck
ed in storms that she went through with
out the least trouble, and other boats |
would strike on rocks along the danger
GUS coast of Maine that the Katahdin |
always lodged. She never lost passen-
ger nor any freight, and, in short, such |
was her '1uck' that down-east people,
especially sailor-men, came to regard her
as bearing charmed existence. She
continued to run between Boston and
Bangor, with the exception of few win
tiers on Long Island sound, until the sum-
mer of 1894, when the steamer City of
Bangor came on the route, and the
Katahdin was then broken up for her
metal.
The Cambridge, which was the fastest
steamer that ever came to Bangor, was
lost on Old Man ledge, February 10, 1886.
She was a very popular boat, but had
more than her share of bad luck, having
been ashore several times and once, j