The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-02-13
ISIS, OLDEST OF TUCB0ATS, WEARS 33D YEAR Familiar Craft Brought Here by Green as Captain, Ferritt
 as Engineer. PUNY CRAFT OFTEN
 HAS SHOWN KETTLE Many Interesting Stories of Maritime Happenings Gen.
 ter About Her.


 Tied up under the windows of the Bridgeport Towing Line, the tug Isis, pioneer in Bridseport's steamboat circles, will soon add another twelve month to her burden when she be- comes thirty-two years of age on the 1Tth day of March Built in the Riley & Crowley Shipyard at the foot of Court street, South Brooklyn, N. sY., in 1883, the little tugboat has had one Of the most interesting careers in the maritime history of the city.
 While her construction was still in- complete the Isis was purchased as she stood braced up on the ways and with Captain "Joes' Green in com nand and Chief Engineer John Fer rett, now manager of the towboat line, in charge of the engineroom, she came down the Sound-to Bridge port on her initial voyage in a rous- ing gale of wind on St. Patrick's Day, thirty-two years ago next month In those days, the little giant being new and her timbers full of life, she stood we'll out of the water and immediate 1y pitched in and established a. rec ord that made her famous. So we'll did she perform her various duties that the owners, A. J. Beardsley & Son, who later sold out to Captain John McNeil and the Barnum* estate, never regretted their investment and she was kept here while other tugs came and went at brief intervals. ::
 Among the various tugs that were bought and sold were the Kate Mill Ter, the Annie R. Wood. John McDer- mott, Confidence, WethereIl, and the Arthur. Later ons the Stephen B. Bab- cock was added to the fleet and did creditab1e service until she was de- stroyed by fire in Black Rock harbor. The Kate Miller was sold to a New
 
 now steams around the metropolis under the name of James Kay. The Annie R. Wood, which was sold to the James McWiIlians Blue Line, of New York, was burned to the waters edge in Providence about three years ago.
 For years Captain Green and En- g1neer F'errett worked together on the Isis and when the Confidence was ad- ded to the list both men were shift ed to that boat and continued in their respective positions until the engineer quit the domain of cIanking machin- cry
 Although her size appeared to be captains would ridicule the puny tug when she would go out into the open Sound for schooners. barks and bark entines, the steamboat captain. meant business and after the deep sea-goers had been handily swung alongside a
  confess their surprise and mistake. The tug handled every kind of a towing job from pulling mud scows to prancing around with all manner of barges, sailing vessels and other steamers.
 An instance in the career of the Isis when calamity was narrowly avert ed occurred when the tug was out bound towing the. three-masted schooner IT. Barnum. Captain Blake, of Bridgeport, which made frequent trips here from Norfolk, Va, carrying soft coal for the railroad. As the schooner,s sails began to draw she fell off toward one side of the tug. It was just at dusk and an inbound oyster steamer was approaching, headed directly for the space between the tug and schooner and paying no heed to repeated whistle signals from the steamer. Realizing the danger. Engineer Ferrett seized an axe and rushing to the stern, cut the tightly stretched hawser as the oyster boat rushed by. Had the hawser not been cut the piIothouse of the oyster steamer would have been bwept off, the tug swamped and lives probably lost.
 On another occasion, while return ing from the dumping grounds with an empty scow and in high wind, Captain Green saw 8 small boat con-
 
 rough water. Although other ves- sells appeared to pay no attention to the drowning pair, Captain Joe" let go of his tow and with considerable difficulty effected a rescue. The pair turned out to be 8 workingman and his son and they were resuscitated by the ambulance corps after being land ed by the Isis. The grateful parent afterwards found Captain Green on the dock and offered him all the mon ey he had, which was something like $25, but the skipper declined to ac- cept the hard earned money although he was later the recipient of a hand made hall stand which he prizes highly among other gifts for similar services.
 After picking up and landing the rescued father and son, the Isis went out and brought in the tow she had cast adrift and which had gone ashore In the early days of the Isis there was a much larger number of sailing vessels entering this port from all parts of the world and she was al work at all hours of the day and night. With the aid of light hung 1 on the outward end of the old Nau- l gatuck she brought in three schoon- CTS in one night during snowstorm and it was a common thing for her tc be chased out at any hour regardless of the weather. Frequently the tug would come to the dock after a days work and after taking on coal and water steam out to some Long Island port with a charter party.
 While she is stretching her fifty seven feet of length alongside the dock for a long, winter rest, the Isis ! is still some distance from the re- l tired list and with the coming o1 spring and it's accompanying improve ment of business conditions, she will again be churning up the harbor as ir bygone days. She is often pointed tc with pride as her active past is re- called and the old timers tell of the number of hours that constituted hel days work.
 Stocks can be bought cheap now and Wall street will gladly take then ofF xzrIaJT@ hands any fine after. thex