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TARE Marine REVIEW STEAMBOAT ARCHITECTURE ON THE WESTERN RIVERS The steamboats of the western riv- ers are as characteristic of the Missis- sippi and its tributaries as the sam- pans are suggestive of the Yangtse- Kiang, or the dahabiyehs of the Nile. BY MELVILLE H. KIEL nant factor in determining their form and arrangement. When steam navigation was first successfuly introduced on the vast sys- tem of rivers which converge in the LYING ALONGSIDE THE WHARFBOAT AT LOUISVILLE, Ky. Designed to perform a particular ser- vice under exceptional conditions, they constitute a distinct type of marine structure. No form of 'craft yet de- vised, exhibits so many features of primitive ingenuity and economical construction, combined with such com- parative efficiency, as do these unique vessels which carry on the commerce of our inland rivers. Adaptability to existing conditions has been the domi- Mississippi, the improvement of these streams had never, even been consid- ered. Their channels were for the most part shallow and extremely tor- tuous, retaining no permanent loca- tion, but constantly drifting as the action of the current wore away the banks. Snags, boulders, and obstruc- tions of every sort abounded--a con- stant menace to navigation. Moreover these rivers have always been subject STEAMER ISLAND QUEEN AT CINCINNATI, ea THE LANDING STAGE. to great variations in height, caused by the irregular water supply. During the annual spring floods, the water level may be raised to 60 on 70 ft. above the normal, while the dry sum- mer season may reduce these streams to a mere succession of shallow pools with hardly enough water to preserve their continuity. -- Conditions of such unfavorable na- ture. confronted those who first at- tempted to establish regular and rea- sonably safe river transportation in the Mississippi valley. The flat boats and broad-horns of the pioneer trad- er, which at that time represented the most successful craft in service on the inland rivers, naturally furnished the pattern from which the steamboat was evolved. They had already dem- onstrated their adaptability to the nav- 'igation of these erratic streams, and it only remained to provide them with. motive power so that they could be mechanically propelled. The develop- ment of the Western River steam- boat, in essentially its present form, from this primitive arrangement was rapid, and remarkable for the uni- formity in design which it produced. Hardly a score of years had elapsed after the introduction of steam as a propulsive agent, before hundreds of these unique craft were in service on the Ohio, the Missouri, the Miss's- sippi, and other navigable streams of the interior.