The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1940-05-27
AT TER MANY YEARS
By E. 7. SHORT

BY {. 7,
John S. Baker Old Hand at
Trade Promotion
Made First Tour on Snub-
kosed Bob Irving
Days of Runaway Horses
And Uncle Toms Cabin
And Church SocisbIes.
Kerosene Oil and Things
When the Tacoma Chamber
of Commerce appointed John S.
Baker to head the good will
delegation now circulating
among Taeoma's neighbors to
the north, they picked an old
hand at that business. He be-
gan doing that sort Of thing
fifty-six years ago this spring
when he took the members of
Tacoma's first Chamber of Com
merce on his steamboat, the Bob
Irving for a good will cruise TO
the Puget Sound communities
with which Tacoma was doing
business.
In the party besides Mr.. Ba-
ker, then running a general
grocery and provision store
and handling a superior grade
of kerosene oil. were the late
Stuart Rice, Byron Barlow,
founder OF the firm of c. S. Bar
low & Sons; r. w. Wilkinson,
proprietor of a stationery firm;
S. NJ. Nolan, a groceryman; L.
n. FEELING, investor; G. w.
Prichard, retired, father of
William Prichard, Northern Pa
cific ticket agent, and others.
The first day the party
visited Gig Harbor, VOL
lochet and Henderson bay
points, Lake Bay and Fox
island. About supper time"
the Bob Irving steamed over
the mud flats and locked at
Olympia where the party
spent the night ut the Pa
cific hotel and had n lively
visit with the Olympia BUSH
ness men.
Everybody turned out for
breakfast at six o'clock the next
morning and at seven the Bob
Irving was headed down sound.
Only two stops were made on
the return trip. Shelton. and
Quarterm aster Harbor on
Vashon island. AS the newspa-
pers tell the story, the trip pro-
duced splendid results.
The Bob Irving was one OF
the strangest vessels ever to
carry a trade promotion party.
The boat had been built by Mr..
Baker and other business men
for trading among the Sound
communities. She was con-
structed something like a scow,
having a flat bottom and of
light draft so that she could
get close to shore.
Docks were scarce in
those days and sometimes
freight and passengers had
to be taken aboard or land
ed over a plank reaching
from the beach to the deck.
With Capt. Tom Brown in
command, the Bob Irving
cruised all over Puget
Sound, stopping wherever
there was bale of hay to
pick up or a shipping of
groceries to deliver.
Shortly after the excursion up
Sound, another party boarded
the Bob Irving for Skagit and
Snohomish county communities.
Real purpose of the trip was to
get a cargo of oats at LaCon-
ner and a group of trade pro-
motionists went along. To save
time on the trip to LaConner
flats, Capt. Tom tried to run
through Deception pass. I'm
fortunately he reached the pass
just as the tide was about to
turn. The water surging through
the pass swept the flat bottom
boat back several times and
Capt. Tom was obliged to take
the longer but less arduous
route.
Tacoma, Washington terri
tory, was quite a town when
those first trade excursions were
made. Gas, water and telephone
systems were being built, and
there was talk about changing
from horse cars to electric
motors.
Tacoma was n good show
town then. too. Kate Put
nam and her company were
putting on n lively show
called Lena, the Madcap."
These WOnel