Evening star., 1948-11-28
By GEORGE Kennedy

By George Kennedy
The Norfolk Washington steame
has made its last run-a victim o
imitation.
Steamboating on the Potomac
except for sightseeing and moon
light cruises and holiday excursions
dies with it, leaving few vestiges o
water transportation to mourn
Washington's passing as port.
| Liquidation of the Norfolk &
Washington Steamboat Co., which
for So years has operated passen
ger steamers, was fortold in a lega
notice Friday in The Stars classi
fled columns. 1t called a stock
holders meeting for December % a
the company's Norfolk Office to con
siaer a recommendation of tn
board of directors that the corpo
ration be dissolved.
| Approval of the recommendation
is a foregone conclusion.
End of the Norfolk line, which
operated at a profit as long as i
had a boat to operate, is not du'
to the aute-nor even to air trans
portation which makes the run t.
Norfolk in an hour.
Replacement Cost Responsible.
It is due to the high cost of re-
placing equipment. In this case re-
placement would mean virtual re
building of the company's las
steamer, the District of Columbia
which was badly damaged in a col
lision with a tanker near Norfoll
october 81.
No one feels worse about the enc
of the company than Clarence F
Norment, jr.., its president.
His father was a president of th'
line. AS a boy he used to spene
hours on the wharf sketching tn.
boats. He has been an officer Of thu
company for Is years and its presi
dent for 10. The vice president, J
Allen Riordan, has been with thu
company for As years and the treas
urer, Odell S. Smith, for so years
They all feel pretty blue about it.
1t is not only the end of an era
1t is the end of Washington as .
port except for barges bringing il
oil, sand and gravel and for thu
fish boats from Crisfield on the East
ern Shore.
Costs Multiply.
Mr.. Norman yesterday told th'
story in terms of the costs of boats
The first two steamers built for tht
company cost 100000 each. Thu
boats that replaced them cost $4O0,
900 each. The District of Columbia
the last boat built for the company
by Pusey g. Jones of Wilmington
cost $500, 900. When postwar inquiry
was made of the Wilmington firm
about replacement of the two boat!
taken by the Government during tn,
war, the answer was $500 900 each
There was no chance of making
such an investment, allowing fol
depreciation, paying present cost
of coal and labor, and operating
at a profit.
The Norfolk lines notice to stock
holders follows hard upon the an
nouncement of the Hudson Rive
Day Line that this was their las
year of operation in New York. Tit
Hudson River night line passed ou
before the war. There is passenger
service between Baltimore and Nor
folk, and the Long Island Sount
steamers ply from New York to Mar
ragansett Bay ports and Boston
Mississippi steamboating is largel!
excursion business. Except for th'
Great Lakes, the passenger steameI
operating on daily schedules ha
practically disappeared on inlane
waterways.
Chartered in 1890.
The Norfolk & Washington Linz
was chartered in 1890 during th'
Benjamin Harrison administration
The capital was largely provided b,
Washingtonians. The new compan,
bought a sidewheeler. named it tn
George Leary and began service
with Alexandria and Washington
stops on its northbound run an
Old Point Comfort and Norfol
stops southwark. Two steamer
were ordered built.
These were the Norfolk and tn
Washington. They went into servic
the next year and the George Lear
was sold. In the following year o
two the Newport News was built TO
the line and added to its feet as
standby boat, assuring daily servic
in both directions even when on
boat was laid up for maintenance
In the 1900s the company operate,
a ferry service to Alexandria witt
two steam ferries, the Woodbury.
named after Levi Woodbury., tn
second president of the company
and the Callahan, named for Johl
Callahan, one of the lines earl
general managers.
While the lines service was yea
around, it was the summer busines
of transporting people bound fo
Virginia Beach that was profitable
Railroads No Competition.
THE railroads we're never an
competition to u.s." said Mr.. Nor
ment. You would have to go Soutl
to Richmond on the railroad an
then east to Norfolk. We had tn
hypotenuse of the triangle" {.
In the old days the line carrie
large quantities of seafood and pro
duce to Washington, but passenge
business always provided most @
its revenue. The lines biggest yea
was 1907, when the Jamestown Ex
position was held. A modern, all
steel day boat-a sidewheeler whic
was named the jamestown - ha
been built for the occasion, and
did enormous business that summel
The next summer the line tried t
continue the day line service bu
did not succeed. The Jamestow
was sold to an Argentine firm.
A little later the two steamer
with which this generation Is famil
lar were ordered, the Northlan
! which was delivered in 1909 and tn
Southland which arrived in 1911
Later the Newport News was adde
as a standby boat They were 80
I feet long. The Norfolk and tn
Washington were 200 feet long. tn