These
pictures are from the June 1978 edition of the S&D Reflector, the
following are excerpts from that article:
MARINE
WAYS, ELIZABETH, PA.
The
Ironsides occupies the top position on the cradles and after the EXPORTER
was refloated, the Ways were filled with the boats shown, the photographer
stood on the roof of the
EXPORTER to take it, with the
TWILIGHT
off to the
right.
In
the summer of 1901 the towboats
HORNET #2,
VALIANT,
SAMUEL
CLARKE,
JOSEPH WALTON, and
IRONSIDES. Plenty of work for wood butchers. The Hornet #2,
already 32 years old, is to get new cylinder timbers. Twenty years after
this picture was taken the Valiant was returned to the Elizabeth Ways,
rebuilt, and renamed
TRANSPORTER. The Samuel Clarke was 31 years old
in 1901, and finally went to the boneyard in 1915. The Ironsides, at the
top of the Ways, was the oldest of the five in view. The average age of
these five towboats when this picture was taken in 1901 was 29.4 years
old, all had wood hulls, and all worth fixing. The log rafts in the
river surrounding the empty flats doubtlessly had their origin in the
upper Allegheny, persuaded to the scene by the manual labor of sweeps,
oars, and gougers, then towed by steamboat the 23 miles up from Pittsburgh
to Elizabeth.
Read
JW's journal for
June 1901. |