Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1912-02-22
A CENTURY ON THE LAKE
d. A. LOOMS Gives Mems Brotherhood
History Of Transportation
on the waterway.

D. A. Loomis delivered Sunday be
fore the Mems Brotherhood Of the Flrs
lChurch an exceedingly interesting tai,
on transportation on Lake Champlain.
Tho subject was developed in such ,
way as to show the development. de
cline, and renewed activity OF traffj,
upon this great inland waterway.
The four eras OF travel on Lake Cham
plain were strikingly set forth by tn,
account " four Journeys from Mon,
rehi 10 New YORK. tho first tn,
traveller made his way little by little
now riding twenty miles In stage
COACH now creeping up the lake IN q
hired boat with two men TO row il
which cost him 70 shilllngs, now by sail,
ing boat and again By stage. until afte,
10 Jays or adventure and hardship, he
al length arrived In New York. Tina,
was In the year 1880. The second tr1r
described occurred in $50 BY that time
tho steamboat Vermont was in opera.
tion--not the present Vermont, but a 1T.
tie craft which appeared on this lake
soon after Fulton made his invention
This time the journey was made with
greater ease than ever before and con.
sumed only seven days The third trir
occurred in 1863 and took only q hours
| THO fourth and last was the trim that
may be taken any Gay In the proper
season now which lands the traveller I'm
New York after 70 hours on the road
IN the last half of the 18th century,
there was busy traffic of salboats of
the lake and considerable money wa,
made Whether this wealth was arnasscd
in legitimate trade or in smuggling is a
question which may we'll go IN
answered. Among the very first to build
SHIPS and sail them on Lake Chanplain
was Gideon King. who built a house OF,
what is now King street IN ,nis city.
lis son. Gideon King, Jr,' for many
years controlled a great part of the traf-
fic on the lake. In 1899 Gideon. Jr, built
the sloop Marie, where Spaulding &,
kimbalfs warehouse Is now located
There was 10 wharf in Burlington then,
and the woods extended from Rock
: Point to Red Rocks in an unbroken line
Between 1872 and 1918 thirty ships were
built. From 1895 to 1s45 navigation was
most active.
In 1871 came the sloop-rigged canal
boat type. which is still occasionally
seen In 1859 the Central Vermont and
Rutland railroads brought competition,
which meant a steady decline to the
| shipping industry on Lake Champlain.
| Lake Champlain was the second body
OF water in the world on which a steam
boat travelled. In 1907 Fulton launched
his Ciermont on the Hudson. and in lS,,,
tho Vermont was launched on Lake
| Champlain In 1915 the driving shaft of
the Vermont broke loose and was thrust
| through the bottom of the boat caus-
ing it to sink From that time on to the
middle Of the century the ira fife on
he lake was exceedingly busy. In 1887
the Burlington was launched. This boat
became as famous as any in the world
Charles Dickens described it as super
ior to any other in the world.
MIR. l.oomis went on to describe in de-
tail the fights for supremacy between
different companies and the fortunes of
individuals in the steam boat service on
the lake from the first half Of tho last
century down to the present day.