Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1919-05-28
(By G., 8. ~strAndvold,)

Almost absolute silence greets the
one hundredth anniversary of the
beginning Of transatlantic steamship
travel. Yet the day on which the
good ship, Savannah" left Savannah.
Ga, for Liverpool by way Of New
York surely is N to be remembered
because. the event Of that day was q
f~orerunner Of I'M Of the most mag
niicent developments in the history
of mankind. ..
There. is now no doubt that the
first ocean steamer was the Savannah.
nor that her master wa the old New
England skipper, Capt. Moses Rog-
ers. These facts are well established,
but there seems to be q lot OF dis
agreement concerning the date of
what was then a most peculiar sensa-
tional feat.
A consultation Of historical and'cy-
clopediclworks give unsatisfactory re-
suits, for none of the authorities ex-
amined seems to be able to give any
thing but an approximate date; one
says May 81. 1919, another May rs.
a, third March %, a fourth, some
time in the summer OF 1872" and a
fifth, Tin July, 1919" while a sixth
gives the date of the beginning OF
the voyage as May 20.
Log Book Gives Bate.
This agreement among experts on
historical information seems doubly
strange because of the fact that well
attested copies of Capt. Rogers log
book still are extant. Inc a refer
ence to it shows that the date is May
%. 1S1e-Friday. May Is. 1919, at 6
entry shows. A glance at an almanac
of that year at once proves that May
% was a Friday, and as 1t Is reason
able to surmise that Capt. Rogers
knew both the date and the day OF
the week, his information must be &C
copied as conclusive. especially in
view Of the fact hat all the other
material on hand is so confused.
The Savannah, pioneer steamer Of
the great ocean, was 9 vessel Of $50
tons burden, fitted with a steam en-
| gine-very primitive, we may be sur.
and paddle wheels not wholly un'
like those which are still seen at thu
sides of some of the ferries plying
between Manhattan and the New
Jersey shore.
Scarborough & Ysaacs, a shippin,
firm of Savannah, Ga, bought TIL
ship when she vas completed at tn
works at Corlear's Hook. New York
and GEMS to have been beset will
the strange idea that the boat. Nigh
be able to o the Atlantic. :.
Not Enough "CoIe."" -
As to the fuel burned aboard tn
Savannah, there is some discrepanc'
in the records of historians; SOM
say she burned only wood. while 9th
ers contend that she took aboard z
tons Of coal and Is tons Of wood be
fore leaving her port. 8
That there was coal aboard seem
certain from an entry in the log boo
made when the ship was approaching
the Irish coast: ias"r'
"She has no cole to git up. steam.
the entry, scrawled in Capt. Rogers
hand, tersely reads.
The situation wasn't as bat
though. as Harry c.. Hawker's woul
havs been i'll he found that shis ali
plane. a hundred years later, did nj
have enough gasoline, for in tina
case he would be doomed. The Sa
vannah had sails and Il the coal az
tualiy. did give way, undoubtedly hs
used the old-fashioned way,
Engliahmen Were Astonished.
Capt. Rogers had been roundl
jeered before he set out or his voS
age. 1t was the plan of a disease
mind madman's work! And a
though the ship had 81 comparativel