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Page 31 MUSKEGON'S MYSTERY PROPELLER by HOWARD H. PETERSON Recent road construction along the immediate western shoreline of Muskegon Lake uncovered an old ship's propeller, shaft, and stuffing box assembly buried about 6-8 feet below the road bed that is well below the lake level. Up until the turn of the century Muskegon, Michigan was a very active lumbering town having shipped many board feet to Chicago via Lake Michigan as that city rebuilt after the Great Fire of 1871. Consequently, there has been much discussion concerning the origin of the propeller. This four-bladed cast steel propeller was badly damaged by the angry road construction crew who treated it only as an obstruction to their progress. Consequently, three of the four blades were broken off during excavation and were reburied and are now unretrievable. Fortunately, the remaining intact blade had the manufacturer's name cast into it, though partially obliterated. The first six letter word appeared to begin with the letters NEA ... followed by an ampersand and the name "LEVY". The second line appeared to be PENN WORKS with the third line spelling PHIL. As our local County Museum Director had no interest in acquiring what 1 consider an artifact possibly reflecting part of our local heritage, I contacted Ms. Jane E. Allen, Curator of the Philadelphia Maritime Museum, for help in identifying the assembly. Ms. Allen was kind enough to inform me that "the Three of the four blades were broken off during excavation and are unretrievable Author's Photo