Evening star., 1920-05-30
THE RAMBLER BETRAYS THE AGES OF MANY
WELL KNOWN STEAMBOATS, OF THE POTOMAC
He Tells When Certain
Boats First Went Into the
Service-The Old Co1um-
bia Where Washingto-
mans Spent Their Sum-
mer Vacations In Other
Days-Veteran Com
manders.
ME first thought which comes
to the Rambler as he begins
this narrative is that tragic

HE first thought which comes
to the Rambler as he begins
this narrative is that tragic
accidents make a deep i'm
preston on the memory. In the
course of these Potomac steamboat
stories a hundred old friends and
Rambler not to overlook the loss of
the history of the Potomac river will
be reached in due time.
Washington, like all other old
cities. has had it's moments of horror.
AT the top of all the tragedies that
have stirred the town must. of course.
be placed the murder of Abraham
Lincoln. 1t would seem that second
on the list should be written the as
sassination of James A. Garfield, and
yet the Rambler believes that that
great crime did not as rudely agitate
the populace as two or three other
arsenal explosion on Friday, June
II. 1864. when twenty ammunition
makers. nineteen of whom were wom-
en-, were killed. Another grim tragedy
WaWasset between Chatterton Land
ing and Eagles Nest on Friday,
August 8. 1873. Seventy-two persons
are known to have perished. and 1t
is probable that not all the bodies
were recovered. When the Rambler
where he will review the unhappy
events in the life of the Potomac
river he means to tell the full story
OF the Wawasset. In the list of dis
asters he also will tell the story OF
the explosion Of the frigate Princeton
low Alexandria. on February %. 1914.
There also must be recalled the col
lision between the federal troopship
Massachusetts, and the steamer Black
Diamond, which happened of Black
istone Island, April %. 1865. And
Of the wreck Of the Washington-Bai-
timore steamboat Express on october
%, 1878. The Express was associated
in a way with the Wawasset disaster.
being the first boat to pass up the
river after the loss Of the Wawasset.
Der Of survivors and the first de-
tailed account Of the tragedy.
It ought also to be in order to re-
late briefly the sinking of the Talla-
happen on the Potomac river, but
near Woods Hole, Mass. the date be-
ing August 20, 1884. For years the
Tallapoosa was one of the well known
steamboats, OF the Potomac. She had
been a civil war boat and was long
attached to the navy yard here, serv-
ing as a dispatch" boat She was a
large sidewheel steamer and her hull
was black. The Tallapoosa served
Presidents, cabinet officers, ambassa-
dors and distinguished guests of the
Presidents before the coming of the
Reference ought also to be made of
the Nipsic. which was built at the
Washington navy yard and lost In the
Samoan hurricane, the date Of which
the Rambler will have to look uR.
The Rambler does not remember the
date of the launching Of the Nipsic,
but In Chaplain Henry B. Hibben's
this reference: "On October IL, 1879.
the Nipsic went into commission At
IL o'clock and on the 18th instant. fol-
lowing. safely departed from the
yard"
In a previous narrative the Rambler
said he would betray the age Of a
number of the Potomac steamboats,
which Washington people remember
and here follow few facts: The
George Law, which ran between
Washington and the usual river land
ings. was engaged for several seasons
in carrying excursionists to Giesboro
point, called at various times City
View and Buena Vista, and was also
operated as a 'hve-cent ferry" be-
tween Washington and Alexandra.
was built at Brooklyn in 1856 and
was 206 tons customhouse measure
built at Keyport. N. j.. in 1859; the
George Leary, 414 tons. was built at
Brooklyn in 1864: Lady of the Lake.
772 tons. at Wilmington in 1866; John
W. Thompson, 496 tons. at Camden. N.
j.. in 1875; the Jane Moseley. 500 tons.