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Happy Labor Day! For today's Media Monday, we thought we'd highlight this recent lecture by Bill Merchant, historian and curator for the D&H Canal Historical Society in High Falls, NY. "Child Labor on the D&H Canal" highlights the role of children on one of the biggest economic drivers of the Hudson Valley in the 19th century. Child labor was a huge issue in 19th and early 20th century America (learn more) throughout nearly every industry, including the maritime and canal industries. Although many canal barges were operated by families, many were also operated by single men who exploited orphans and poor children, often with fatal results. Children were most generally used as "drivers," also known as hoggees, who walked with or rode the mule or horse who pulled the barge through the canal. Work was long, often sunup to sundown or even longer, as the faster barges could get through the canal, the faster they could return and pick up a new cargo, thus making more money. The Kingston Daily Freeman reported a Coroner's Inquests on July 18, 1846, which recorded several deaths related to Rondout Creek and the D&H Canal, including a young boy. It is transcribed in full below: Coroner's Inquests. On the 11th, Coroner Suydam [sp?] held an inquest at Rondout on the body of Joseph Marival, a colored hand on board the sloop Hudson of Norwich, Ct. He went in the creek to bathe, and was accidentally drowned. The same officer held an inquest at [?] Creek Locks on the body of Henry Eighmey, on the 15ht, drowned in the canal by a fall from a boat about noon. We have record of a third by Mr. Suydam, held at Rosendale on the 12th, on the body of Andrew J. Garney, a lad of ten years old, a rider, who it was supposed fell from his horse into the canal about day break of that morning, a verdict conformable being rendered. In connection with the last case, we would remark, that the crew consisted of one man with the driver who was drowned. That the boat had been running all night [emphasis original]; that about three o'clock in the morning the man spoke to the land and was answered, and that some time afterwards he missed him, and concluded he must have fallen into the canal. Is there any thing strange in the fact that a lad of ten years, worn down with the fatigues of a long day and a whole night in the bargain, should drop into another world? Now we do not mean to mark this as a singular case, by any means. It is but one of the like occurring almost daily on the canal. Lads are hired at a mere pittance, and men are determined to get as much work out of them as possible, without the least regard to health, comfort, or safety. The poor children are toiling from daylight to dark, and if in addition they are forced to nod all or part of the night, the consequent sleep and death is nothing to be wondered at. We would call attention to this subject on the part of those who may able to devise a mode of reaching such cases. Nor would it be out of place in the Coroner's jury in the next instance should state the whole [emphasis original] truth in the verdict. Most laborers on the canal were paid at the end of the season, but it was not uncommon for unscrupulous barge operators to cheat the boys of their wages and abandon them in random canal towns. Even when working with their families, children who lived aboard barges sometimes had hard lives. Although the Delaware & Hudson Canal closed in 1898, children and families continued to work on the newly revamped New York State Barge Canal system and canals in Ohio and elsewhere into the mid-20th century. In 1923, Monthly Labor Review published an article entitled "Canal-boat Children," which looked at the labor, education, and living conditions of children on canal boats. Of particular interest was safety, as the threat of drowning or being crushed in locks was near-constant. Still, many families were able to make decent livings aboard canal barges, until tugboats took over canal barge towing in the mid-20th century. To learn more about New York Canals, visit the Hudson River Maritime Museum's exhibit "The Hudson and Its Canals: Building the Empire State," or visit the newly revamped D&H Canal Museum in nearby High Falls, NY. If you enjoyed this post and would like to support more history blog content, please make a donation to the Hudson River Maritime Museum or become a member today!
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Welcome to Sail Freighter Fridays! This article is part of a series linked to our new exhibit: "A New Age Of Sail: The History And Future Of Sail Freight In The Hudson Valley," and tells the stories of sailing cargo ships both modern and historical, on the Hudson River and around the world. Anyone interested in how to support Sail Freight should also check out the Conference in November, and the International Windship Association's Decade of Wind Propulsion. EDITOR's NOTE: Today's post is a collaboration with the Galway City Museum and Galway Hooker Sailing Club, to give a biography of one of the Galway Hookers still in use today, named Loveen. You can learn more about the club and their boats at their website: https://www.galwayhookersailingclub.ie/ Loveen was built by John Francis Reaney as a rowboat in 1925 and carried cargos of seaweed much of her career, and saw work in the fishing trade. She was out of working trade by the late 20th century and restored for pleasure sailing in 2021. Loveen is an outstanding example of her class of vessel: A Gleoiteog (explained below), she started her life as a 22 foot rowboat, but was converted to a gaff cutter rig in the 1980s. The Galway Hooker boats or the "Workhorses of Galway Bay” were used for fishing and carrying peat turf fuel, seaweed for fertilizer, general shop cargo supplies- grain, flour, tea, sugar, livestock, newspapers, people, and more over Galway Bay, to and from Kinvara, Burren, Aran Islands, and in and out of Connemara piers, harbours, and importantly from Connemara into Galway City. On the return journeys they often brought larger building materials home such as timber: One such boat was An Maighdean Mara brought building materials to help in the construction of the Carraroe Church, the local school and the priest’s house in Carraroe Connemara from Galway City in 1894. Another example was limestone from New Quay to Aran Islands, to neutralise the acidic soils of Connemara. Animal livestock such as cattle, sheep, pigs or horses to fairs and markets were brought to Fairhill in Claddagh. For many communities these boats were their primary lifeline. Galway Hookers are not large, the largest class (the "bád mór," or "big boat") ranging from 35-44 feet, carried 12-15 tons of cargo at a time, and had a shallow draft to allow access to many small landings and ports. The Leathbhád (half-boat) was about 28-32 feet, while the Gleoiteog ranges in length from 7 to 9 metres (20 to 28 feet). They were used for fishing and carrying smaller cargo. They were all gaff rigged sloops with two headsails in front of the mast, and one mainsail aft. Most can be handled with a crew of two, but can fit more people if needed. These boats helped keep the small communities and shops of Connemara supplied and connected to Galway City or to the mainland. Many families and communities depended solely on these boats, and If it hadn't been for the Galway Hookers, smaller communities, particularly Ceantar na nOileán (small island communities West of County Galway) and Carna wouldn't have thrived. They were commonly referred to as "báid móna" or turf boats and recognised as such for their main cargo. Each cargo of turf was loaded and offloaded by hand – the Bádóirí's money was well earned! Unfortunately, after the Second World War many met their decline as improved roads and cheap fossil fuels meant lorries (trucks, for the Yanks) became the new modern way of transport in Connemara, leading to the decline in use for the Galway Hookers. Bottled Kerosene gas was another sharp blow to the boatmen and skippers, as it was the main competition to the boat’s traditional cargo of peat turf fuel. By the 1970’s the Galway Hookers were in complete decline with only two remaining in trade with the Aran Islands. The Galway Hooker has links to the US as well. It was introduced to US Waters in the 19th century, when Irish Immigrants in Boston and elsewhere started building the boats they knew from home for fishing and moving cargo. Referred to as "Boston Hookers" or "Market Cutters" they served much the same roles they had in Ireland, and significantly influenced the building of small craft in New England. Just like in Galway they were designed and used for multiple purposes. Loveen's restoration took two years due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The Galway Hooker Sailing Club was embarking on a momentous task of restoring a 96 year old boat called Loveen with the guidance and workmanship of Master Boatbuilder Cóilín Hernon, his two sons Éinde and Cóilín Óg, the Club commodore Ciaran Oliver and all the crew members belonging to the club who volunteered their time, energy and passion. The boat was then taken apart slowly, carefully and gradually. Her old planking was removed. The shape of the boat was kept in place using twelve long laths as temporary guides and were fitted into the rabbet in stem- six on each side. The upper planks were removed first gradually moving to the lower planks. The boat was always kept supported and propped. The keel, ribs, beams, thwarts, and planking were all repaired and replaced, she was re-caulked (seen in the video below) and re-rigged.
All the spars (mast, boom, bowsprit and gaff) were made using a laminating process. Lengths of identical size, shape and length of timber pieces were glued together. These glued lengths turned into one piece, a block of solid wood. Each two or three lengths were clamped together and left to dry at each stage. The block of solid wood was rounded into shape using an adze tool, as seen in the first half of the video above. The later stage was sanding using a length of stretched sandpaper connected and kept together with two handles. Each spar was fitted with its own metal bands. The mast was fitted with its own spider band and the boom was fitted with a gooseneck to fit into the mast’s collar. Sails were traditionally measured and cut by our resident master boat builder Cóilín Hernon, cut in the traditional space: The local Dominican Church. After two years, Loveen took to the water again, and can now be seen sailing Galway Bay as she has for 97 years before. You can listen to more about Loveen here. For those interested in the Hookers overall, this recorded lecture at the City Museum of Galway by master boatbuilder Cóilín Ó hIarnáin is well worth a listen, especially his points about the addition of sail area to working boats as they are changed into racing and pleasure craft. Richard J Scott's book The Galway Hookers is also a good, easy read on this topic. AuthorMartina Thornton is the Historian of the Galway Hooker Sailing Club. If you enjoyed this post and would like to support more history blog content, please make a donation to the Hudson River Maritime Museum or become a member today!
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