Evening journal., 1913-09-01
NEW NEWS OF YESTERDAY
Commodore Van SdntvOOrd
and His PaddIewheeI Yacht
By Holland.

In the latter part OF June. 1901. Com
modore Alfred Van Stantvoord died IN
the luxuriously-fltte saloon state
room of his private yacht. the Cler-
mont He was then in his S2d year.
He was a man of imposing physical
pesence, about six feet four inches
tall. well proportioned. of such per-
feet vision that he did not have to
use eyeglasses, and the only impair
mcnt OF his physical qualities was a
slight deafness.
He was called commodore because
he was the master of much of the
steamboat navigation on the Hudson
river He was the successor of Com
modore Vanderbilt In that vocation
and he was on good terms with the
commodore and in most intimate per-
sonal relations with the commodores
son. William II. Vanderbilt His adj
vent into steamboating was a per-
fectly logival evolution from his early
employment upon the Erie canal
where his father operated a consider.
able line of canal boats.
Commodore Vanderbilt accumulated
a fortune of about six million dollars
and might have added a million to II
had he cared to take advantage of an
opportunity which arose at the time
when b. II. Hartman on the one hanc
and James j. Hill and J. Pierponi
Morgan on the other were carrying
on their stupendous battle for the
control of railroad systems in the fal
northwest. Had Commodore Wander.
bilt deemed II expedient, he could
have sold a large block of railway
stock at the time when, by reason
of this struggle, prices had abnormally
advanced, and his profit upon sucf
sale would have amounted to about
a million dollars.
IL was about that time that / had a
chat with Commodore Van Santvoord
whom knew we'll for some ten OF
twelve years. He said, 81 am going to
take a cruise on my steamboat yacht
the Clermont i am going to sit down
and think over my recent experience
and decide whether / was foolish or not
in letting the opportunity to make a
million dollars in few moments slip
by"
/ asked the commodore why he alone
Of all the owners and builders of private
yachts had caused one to be construct
ed upon the sidewhee principle instead
of adopting the screw propeller with
which every other private yacht in the
United States operated by steam was
equipped.
"Well I suppose for sentimental rea-
sons the commodore replied. "All my
business as a steamboat operator has
been with paddle-wheel boats. l like
them. I think for inland waters or for
II. Ia.
wheel boat is far superior to the pro-
peller When ! decided | would be jus
titled in being eXtravagant enough to
build and operate a private yacht Tor
the exclusive enjoyment Of myself, my
family and my friends. l told the boat
builders that / wanted sidewheeler.
They looked at me as though they
thought l was doing foolish thing But
/ told them | was building the boat and
paving for it and not they
"T have been with her as far nortf
as Nova Scotia and as far eouth as
Washington In my opinion she Z
the best private Yacht in America
although / know that people say that
Commodore Van Santvoord was very
cranky when he had a private yacht
built with paddle wheels. / named hel
the Clermont because that was th'
name of the first steamboat that eve
sailed the Hudson river, the one Rob
ert Fulton built, I am going of on {
long excursion on her now"
He did start upon that excursion
and it was a long one, for it was th'
last trip he ever made.
A few days ago met one of th'
officers of the steamboat line formerly
owned by Commodore Van Santvoor'
and asked him what had become o
Commodore Van Santvoord's yacht, th'
Clermont.
well she has had a queer expert
ence.r was the reply. "Charles Gate
bought her. and he was about the onll
man ready to invest money in a pri
vate yacht of the paddle-wheel type
He named her the Charmary. Tha
was a combination of Charles and Mary
although very few people knew wha
the word meant when Mr. Gates had i
painted upon the boat He sold her
and the present owner, out of respec
for the memory of Commodore Nal
Santvoord. rechristened her the Cler
mont. and as the Clermont she is still
the only private yacht OF large dimen