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longer, was there a place on the Cuyahoga where she could be launched."44 She measured 1,200 tons burthen, and carried a dining cabin on the upper deck 235 feet long, "on each side of which staterooms, large and airy, not closets, with berths wide and commodious so that one will feel that he is in bed and not laid on a shelf with a piece of tape over him."45 Her 500 horsepower engine, designed by Ethan Rogers of the Cuyahoga Steam Furnace Company, turned paddle wheels thirty feet in diameter with buckets of twelve feet. The Herald proclaimed: What she is to be called is not yet known. She must have a big name, for if money and skill can make a complete Steam- boat we Clevelanders will have a chance to brag, about next August, that the biggest boat out was built and furnished entirely at this port.46 D. N. Barney & Company of Cleveland, the owners, gave the vessel a name befitting her size - Empire. One person obviously disgusted with steamboat travel had some suggestions: My object in this notice is to suggest an improvement for the benefit of way-worn travelers, which in addition to the "State Rooms large and airy" will make the Boat just the thing. Give it a Bathing Room, where the weary body may luxuriate at full length in a bath of warm or cold water, as best suits the inclination. I have often thought this a great desideratum in boats intended for long voyages. As very many are beginning to appreciate the importance and luxury of frequent bathing, I have no doubt it will prove the most profitable "Berth" in the craft.47 The Empire was launched on June 5, 1844, with "thousands" to witness her birth. Even the Cleveland Brass Band was there. This was the first side launching in Cleveland. The Herald was at her poetic best when she modestly editorialized: How strange the contrast! and who can keep pace with the marvel march of Steam! Scarce twenty years ago the "puffs" of the Walk-in-the-Water, first broke the primeval stillness brooding on the waters of the vast Mediterraneans of the New World, and already they are hourly furrowed by a fleet of swift steamers of unrivalled excellence. Civilization and enterprise have changed the broad wilderness of the West into the most fruitful granary of earth - young commerce has but waved her magic wand and the Empress of the American Archipelagoes now proudly points to her unequaled Empire!48 33