Maritime History of the Great Lakes

Scanner, v. 30, no. 3 (December 1997), p. 13

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13. Ship of the Month - cont'd. with Messrs. Houston and Redway on board, the others being on the launch. " On Friday, October 22nd, the "Globe" reported that after the first trial held in the Poison slip, "the Polson Company wanted Mr. Goodwin to take her off their hands, they claiming that they had fulfilled their contract. Mr. Goodwin, however, objected to taking the boat over until she had been tried in the open bay. Finally, however, Mr. Goodwin took over the boat and it is now his property. " The "Globe" report added: "It was 3 o'clock when the CRUISER started out, the long, ungainly craft towing behind her, and accompanied by a flotilla of small boats. By that time, the wharves were black with thousands of specta­ tors... "The centre of the bay reached, the tow rope was cast off and a sharp whis­ tle from the CRUISER told Mr. Gardner Boyd, who was in charge of the roller boat, that he could go ahead as soon as he liked. There was an answering whistle from the new boat, the noise of escaping steam, and the great circu­ lar tube with its flanges or paddles commenced to revolve in the water and go slowly ahead. The platforms on either end of the new boat swayed up and down when the revolution of the flanges commenced, but as soon as the boat got well under way, the platforms became level and steady. "In a minute it could be seen that the experiment was a success, for, ga­ thering speed, although at no time moving very fast through the water, the roller boat steadily made her way up the bay towards the western entrance. Those in the fleet of small boats that followed the new craft cheered lusti­ ly, while snap shots from Kodaks were taken from the CRUISER and the (ferry) ADA ALICE, which kept the roller boat company. "No attempt was made to go at any rate of speed, the new machinery in the first place precluding any idea of making fast time... Then, too, the pad­ dles or flanges were only temporary. They were wooden flanges fixed in the centre of the boat and extending for hardly a quarter of its length. To those on board the CRUISER, it appeared as if these flanges were not long enough, and new ones probably will be fitted from end to end of the boat. In the course of the trial, one of the flanges broke off, at which the boat stopped, and then rolled back, while the floating flange was picked up. "As she went through the water, the... boat drew within about half an inch of three feet, an abnormal depth, as Mr. Knapp considers. When the new flan­ ges are put in, the boat will draw less water, and Mr. Knapp contends that the tendency will be for the boat to approach the surface the faster it goes... "Yesterday, the boat made about six revolutions to the minute, and Mr. Knapp propounded a conundrum to the newspaper men when he asked, 'If it makes this speed with six revolutions, how fast will it go when it makes from sixty to seventy, which we expect it will be able to do? ' Everybody gave it up. The fastest revolution made yesterday was in seven seconds. The engines were on­ ly geared one to two, but will be geared two to one, which will very materi­ ally increase the speed of the boat. "The platforms where the crew were stationed were not the most comfortable places, as the steam and water from the exhaust pipe had a rather moistening effect on those on board. The rumbling and pounding noise made by the roller boat while under way rather startled those within earshot, as they thought something must be wrong with the machinery... "For about an hour, the trial was continued, and the boat rolled up and down the bay and across in the direction of the Island. Those on board were not familiar with the steering apparatus, so there was no effort to direct the boat in the way she should go. She simply rolled in the direction her broad­ side was on, leaving a swift current behind her, but not throwing up the wa­ ter in front at all. At 4 o'clock, the CRUISER whistled to stop, and the

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