The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1912-02-19
CITY Of 0CALA LAUNCHED
A Pleasant and Important Event a,
silver Springs Sunday

Yesterday afternoon was big event
at Silver Springs The fact that the
City Of Ocala, Messrs. Carmichael and
Smoak's handsome new pleasure boat,
would be launched, was the drawing
card for the crowd. There were nearly
thousand people at the Springs dur
ing the afternoon, and all Of the pleas
ure boats were kept busy taking
parties out over the Springs and down
the run. The Wenona, Louie Warren
and other of the larger boats were
down the run with excursionists and
| did not get back in time TO witness the
! launching.
The people from Ocala went out in
buggies. automobiles, motor and bicy-
/ cles, the big auto truck and several
took advantage Of the fine day and
walked out. OF course. all of the peo-
! pie living near the Springs were there.
| The preliminaries of the launching
took several hours. II was no small
job to work the boat down to the
waters edge. on the ways, and quite
a force Of men, superintended by Mr.
Frank Mathews. the builder. with his
I1ieutenants, Messrs. Smoak. Carmi-
chael, Sam Fosnot, Ed Tucker and
Others and the crowd. during the last
hour of this work. was patient and
found amusements about the Springs.
! The launching and the beautiful day.
one of the first in several weeks, com
bined to send the crowd to the Springs,
and no one who attended regretted it.
AS the boat neared the point on the
ways. where the last squirt into the wa
ter would be made. Mrs. Ed Carmi-
,chael, the sponsor and Miss Lorayne
Kemp, the maid of honor, with Mr..
Carmichael, Mr.. John Spencer CommO-
dore Goodwin of the Lake Weir Yacht
Club and his son, special guests Of the
Occasion, went aboard, and the vessel
glided gracefully into the water, Mrs.
Carmichael swung a bottle Of cham
pafgn, tied with ribbons. over the bow
into the water, and exclaimed, i
christen thee City of Ocala,'" The bot
tie was captured, brought aboard and
thrown out into the crowd, where the
one who caught it supposed to
open it and share the contents with
those standing near. Commodore Good
win announced that this would be the
procedure, instead of the usual custom
of breaking the bottle over the bow, as
the vessel glded into the water. When
the bottle was thrown. Mr. D. w
Tompkins, an out and out temperance
advocate, caught it by the neck in g
deft manner. as it fell. and passed il
around until its contents were exhaust
ed.
The boat floated like a swan, grace
fully and on perfectly even keel. Aft
er some little delay in getting the ways
. fioated out from beneath her keel, the
l vessel was tied up to the wharf anj
the crowd to the number of ia were
taken aboard and down the run on hel
! maiden voyage. The boat worked like
a charm, is easily handled and make!
very fast time. She made several trip:
and all who remained and cared to 81
: were taken for a ride. With ia OF
board there was still a good deal o
standing room in the lower portion O
: the boat, although, of course. she il
not licensed to carry so many pas
:. sengers.
!. The City of Ocala is a very hand
l some boat and is the prettiest as wei
l. as the largest ever built at the Spring
n or owned and operated there. In room
V and carrying capacity she is thre
. times as large as the Wenona and ha
two decks, the upper one being so ar
$ ranged that it can be entirely covered
= top and sides, with canvas, when tn
weather necessitates it.
The first or lower deck has a sub
stantial cover and can be closed in
There is a nice little cabin amidship
. that is closed in with permanent
), wood work, so that passengers cal
q have the accommodations afforde
n when desired.
f The boat is a pure white, finished in
@ side with yellow pine and cypress, il
: hard oil or natural finishes. The work
O manship is very superior and the line
: of the boat are very graceful. She i
steered by wheel on the upper dec
: in front, and a bell commune ates wit
a the engine room below.
The City of Ocala is equipped wit
: the very best engines and machinery
q The engine is a 40-horsepower four
cylinder Palmer marine motor, sup
piled by Mr.. Edward Tucker, the loca
: agent. 1t is as noiseless as any auto
mobile motor, which is a great i'm
provement over the noise and vibratio
of the average marine engine.
Mr.. Carmichael and Mr.. Smoak, to
gether with the builder, Mr.. Mathew:
are very proud of the handsome yes
sci. 1t has cost a great deal OF none
and will be another step towards max
ing the Springs the popular resort tina
Mr.. Carmichael is determined that
shall be, and will supply a boat tina
| pleasure parties have been long desir
/