1878-12-12 Sun (NY) - GREAT DAMAGE BY FLOODS.
Railroad Bridges Swept Away, Passenger Trains Wrecked, Mill Property Destroyed, and Villages Inundated—The Highest Flood Known for Many Years in the Delaware.

Kingston, N. Y., Dec. 11.--The rainstorms of Monday and Tuesday [Dec. 9 and 10, 1878] have terribly affected Ulster County. The heavy mountain snow melted, and the result has been a freshet that has worked frightful damage. Bridges have been swept away on the Wallkill Valley and on the Ulster and Delaware Railroads. The roadbed of the latter is damaged to an extent that cannot be remedied for several days. At 3 o'clock this morning the canal barges on the Rondout broke adrift and went crushing one against the other downstream. Several of them, loaded with coal, were sunk. Nearly all of them had crew aboard, and some of them had entire families. Whether loss of life resulted is yet uncertain. The loss of property along the Rondout Creek will approximate $75,000, $10,000 of which is the value of cement barrelled [sic] and ready for delivery to New York markets. At Saugerties, on the Esopus Creek, the loss is not less than $50,000. Six boats of the steamer MARINA were carried away, and the MARINA left high on the flats. The bulkhead of the dam on the creek was carried away, and much coal, lumber, and wood were lost. From the back country come reports of loss of life. Several wrecked residences have passed down the Esopus. The white lead factory at Glen Erie [sic, Glenerie?] suffered to the extent of $10,000. The loss at Wilbur exceeds $3,000. The mouth of the Rondout was crowded this morning by a confused mass of boats and vessels of every kind, the majority of which were total wrecks.

A rumor was rife this morning that there had been great loss of life at Eddyville, a small village on Rondout Creek, in this county. THE SUN's representative visited that place to investigate. The route was difficult. The wagon wheels were hub deep in mud and water for half the distance. Within three feet of the roadway the current seethed and rushed with a terrible velocity. The creek was fairly crowded with household goods and wrecked buildings from up the stream. Within half a mile of the village the road was washed away. The bridge across the turbulent waters was standing, but the approach to it was cut off by a gulch fifty feet deep. There was but one way to reach Eddyville, and that was by crossing the rushing creek through the débris. It was with difficulty that a boatman was procured willing to risk such  a venture. The streets of Eddyville were still flooded. Not less than twenty houses have been swept away. The guard lock burst last night, and the village has since been at the mercy of the flood. The foundations of every building in the place have been weakened and there is scarcely an outbuilding remaining. The canal stables were flooded, and toward of 100 horses and mules were drowned. One large tenement house was washed from its foundations and carried some distance to the main road, where it is wrecked. The entire place is flooded below the hill. The stables, outhouses, &c. on the “fly" were carried down the creek with the current. The débris is strewn all the way from the lighthouse to Eddyville. The house of Hiram Davis was floated to the upper end of the Island pier, and there lodged, when the furniture drifted away. The barn belonging to Mr. Black was floated to the south dike, with a horse in it. The horse was saved. Stables with pigs, cows, and geese in them went down the creek and were lost. The stores are flooded and the goods damaged. The lumber for Lambert's new ice house was carried away. The steamers MARTIN and EAGLE, of the Newburgh and Albany line, could not enter the creek. After the guard lock broke[,] a boat went over the dam, loaded with upward of 1,000 barrels of cement. The boat parted in the middle, and her cargo went to the bottom. The crew were saved, though one young man is severely bruised. The report of lives lost was unfounded. One boat, however, went down the stream in which was the family of a canal boatman. They are missing. It is possible that they escaped drowning.

Rondout, Dec. 11.—The schooners KATE and MARY and the sloops JAMES GRANT, BEN AIKIN and CHARLES LYNCH, McCausland’s sectional docks. the barges C. R. WORDENDYKE, ScCHUYLER HONESDALE, MARVIN KING, and a large number of canal boats, laden and light, are either piled on the north and south dykes or sunk. The steamers W. B. CRANE, PITTSTON, and A. B. VALENTINE are damaged. The JAMES W. BALDWIN and WILLIAM COOK are uninjured, but cannot leave, owing to the freshet. The extent of the damage is not yet known and cannot be estimated. All the wharves are submerged and everything not secured has floated off.
​
Newburgh, Dec. 11.—Some small buildings have been swept away. The tide last night was the highest ever known, the river covering nearly every wharf in this city. The buildings in the lower streets were filled with water, and several serious washouts occurred on the short cut branches of the Erie Railroad. No trains have passed over it since noon yesterday, the trains to and from New York going by way of Newburgh branch. At Cornwall, yesterday, many houses near the river were flooded, and the people rowed over the wharves in boats. One or two small barns were carried away at Highland Falls. Sixty cords of wood floated off the wharf at Fort Montgomery. At Fishkill Landing the Duchess Hat Works were partially inundated. Brundage & Place's storehouse was flooded by the high tide, 300 barrels of lime slaked, and the building narrowly escaped destruction by fire. Loss, $500.
​
ALBANY, Dec, 11.—Many cellars and basements on the river front are full of water, and much damage has been done. Among other sufferers are Mr. McCabe, who loses $1,000 worth of lime; Robert Geer, who loses $800 worth of tobacco; Mr. Rork, who had a large amount of lumber swept away; and Messrs. Durant & Elmore, who lose a car load of flour.

1878-12-12 Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY) TORRENTS' TERRORS
Rondout, Dee. 11.—The freshet is the most damaging one in Rondout and Esopus creeks ever known. The schooners KATE, MARY and CANAL, with the sloops JAMES GRANT, BEN AKIN and CHARLES LYNCH, McCausland's sectional docks, the barges C. R. WORDENDIKES, SCHUYLER, HONESDALE, MARVIN, KING OF THE NORTH, and a large number of canal boats laden and light are either piled on the north or south side or sunk. The steamers W. B CRANE, PITTSTON, and A. B. VALENTINE are damaged. Some lives are supposed to be lost on the sunken boats. Tugs cannot assist the vessels on the dikes by reason of the strong current. Six boats and the steamer MARINA were carried away. The MARINA is high on the flats. The bulkhead of the dam on the creek was carried away. Much coal, lumber and wood have been lost. There are fears that there is loss of life on the boats carried out of Saugerties creek. The entire damage in Kingston, Wilbur, Eddyville, Rondout is roughly is estimated at half a million.

​At Eddyville, the water damaged the guard lock on the Delaware and Hudson canal. The water ran over and through it and has flooded what is known as the fly on which there were buildings, five of which are destroyed and many others damaged. One large tenement was washed from the foundations and carried a long distance to the main road, where it is wrecked. The entire place is flooded below the hill. The stables, outhouses, etc., on the fly were carried down the creek with the current. The debris was strewn all the way from the lighthouse to Eddyville. The house of Hiram Davis was floated to the upper end of the island dock and lodged, when the furniture drifted away. The barn of Mr. Black floated to the South Dike with a horse therein. The horse was saved. The stables with pigs, cows and geese therein went down the creek and were lost.  Stores were flooded and goods damaged. The lumber for Lambert’s new ice house was carried away. The steamers MARTIN and EAGLE of the Newburgh and Albany line could not enter the creek. The canal at Eddyville was much damaged.

Back in 1929 when I was a deckhand on the steamer “Albany” of the Hudson River Day Line, I thought maybe I’d like to go quartermaster on one of the boats of the Saugerties Evening Line.
 
I walked from the 42nd Street Pier of the Day Line down to Pier 43, North River, at the foot of Christopher Street—where the Saugerties boat would be tied up during the day.  I wanted to talk to an old friend of my brother’s from their days on the “Onteora.’’  He was pilot on the steamer ‘‘Robert A. Snyder” and his name was Harry Grough.
 
As we sat in the Snyder’s pilot house talking and looking out over the harbor, we could hear all kinds of steam whistles from all sorts of floating equipment— including  tugboats, ferries, ocean liners and sidewheel steamboats. I told him I thought I would like a quartermaster’s position if one was open.

Captain Absent
He said I would have to see, the captain, Richard Heffernan. The captain, however, was not aboard that afternoon as he had gone downtown to get the boat’s papers renewed, and would not be back until just before sailing time.
 
Harry said to me, “If I were young like you, Bill, I would go over to Jersey and get a job on the railroad tugs.  That’s where the business is.  This business is dying out every day.”
 
Then, we went down on the freight deck.  Harry said, “Look, here it is almost 3:30 p.m. and we only have a few boxes and bags on board.  A few years ago at this time, this deck would have been piled right up to the carlings with all kinds of freight.”
 
Harry continued, “Tonight, we’ll be lucky if we have a half dozen passengers.  The passengers used to start to come on board at 2 p.m. and, by now, the staterooms would be sold out.  Tonight, you could take your pick of almost anyone you’d want.  This Line can’t go on like this very long.  When the company doesn’t make a dollar, then we don’t have a job either.  No, Bill, you will be better off going on the tugboats.”

He Was Right
Over the years, I found out for myself Harry was right.

The Saugerties Evening Line boats were the ‘‘Robert A. Snyder’’ and the ‘‘Ida.” Every night, one would leave Saugerties, sail out Saugerties Creek and make landings at Tivoli, Barrytown, Rhinecliff and Hyde Park on its sail to New York.

When the “Snyder” and “Ida” were operating back in those long ago days, every night at about 7:30 of 8 p. m. one would hear one or the other blow three long whistles for the Rhinecliff landing to take on freight and passengers.  Between 1 and 2 a.m. in the lonely morning hours the up boat would be heard blowing her whistle for Jim Conroy, the dock master at Rhinecliff, to take its lines.

To the tugboatmen, the night boats were like old friends.  During the long night and early morning hours, it was indeed pleasant to see the night boats approaching in the distance and hear the slap, slap of their paddle wheels in the stillness of the night. 

A Glittering Crown
Then, as they passed by, they would often blow a low salute on their whistle.  As they faded into the night, their deck and cabin lights would blend into a glittering crown of light reflecting on the water.

I remember on several occasions Dan McDonald, the pilot on the “Osceola,” telling me how he would be coming down river with a large tow off Germantown, and on a clear night look down the river at about 3 a.m. and see one of the Saugerties boats coming up off Crugers Island; then turn and show her green starboard light as she went into Saugerties Creek.  He would remark how nice it must have been at that hour to get tied up and go to your room in the pilot house block and sleep until you felt like getting up and then look out on the quiet and peaceful dock at the fine little village of Saugerties.  No worries about morning fog, how the tow was going to follow, or old leaky brick or stone scows in the tow.

The “Robert A. Snyder” was layed up for good in 1931 at her dock on Saugerties Creek.  As there was only enough business for one boat, the “Ida,’’ since she had a steel hull and was the younger boat, continued for one more year.  Then in 1932 she was quietly layed up.
​
Strangely, the Saugerties Evening Line, serving Saugerties and small villages on the upper Hudson, outlasted all the other night lines on the river except the big night boats to Albany.  The Central Hudson Line, serving Kingston, Poughkeepsie and Newburgh went out in 1929 and the last boat of the Catskill Evening Line stopped for good in 1931.  Finally, in 1932, the automobile and the Great Depression took their tolls of the last night boat from Saugerties.

​The steamboats CONNECTICUT and CHANCELLOR LIVINGSTON will take people to see the launch of the OHIO; the ferry master of the Williamsburgh ferry says that a good view may be had from Williamsburgh

Caution. -- The launch to-morrow will necessarily attract a number of persons, and it is more than possible, that many boat will be on the water. We trust that it will be recollected that the ship by its great size, will create much agitation and swell in the water, sufficient to fill small boats; those therefore, who are for aquatic excursions, will be warned thereby. Boys and children will also be looked after. and let there be no pressing or hurry to cross the ferries; accidents too frequently occur by an overweening anxiety to get a good view or an early sight of the object. The best position is from Corlaers Hook.
National Advocate, May 29, 1820, N-Y D Advertiser, May 30, 1820,

THE LAUNCH. FIRST BRIGADE N. Y. S. ARTILLERY. BRIGADE ORDERS.

A NATIONAL SALUTE will be fired on Tuesday, (this day), the 30th instant, at Corlaers Hook, in honor of the U. S. 74 gun ship, by a battalion from the 9th Regiment. 
. .
Ammunition will be provided on applying to the Brigade Quarter Master
***
THE LAUNCH. PERSONS who wish to see the launch of the Line of Battle Ship from the Navy Yard, are advised to be at the ferries to cross early in the morning, as the crowd will probably be immense, and many persons prevented from getting there in time. The steam ferry-boat will take passengers to see the Launch, at half past ten.

FOR THE LAUNCH, THE sloop RANDOLPH will leave the end of the Pier at East Rutgers-street, or at Rutgers-slip, this morning at 9 o'clock, cross over and anchor as near the Ship to be launched as is proper. As the Randolph is large and commodious, she can accommodate 50 or 60 persons more than have engaged. *** Price 25 cents.

LAUNCH, THE Steam-Boat FRANKLIN, Captain Macey, will start from Pike-slip . . . and take her station at a convenient distance, with safety, to afford the passengers a good view of the Launch. . . . Tickets of admission, 50 cents each. . . .

LAUNCH, THE sloop HOPE, a vessel of 70 tons, (with good accommodations). . . . Passage 25 cts. Refreshments to be had on board.

THE LAUNCH, THE sloop FANNY. . . . [25¢]

THE LAUNCH. AN elegant STAGE, erected at Lawrence and Sneedens Ship Yard, Corlaers Hook, east end of Water-street, completely fitted with seats for the accommodation of gentlemen and ladies. . . . The prospect is superior to any in the city. Admittance from 12½ to 25 cents.

THE LAUNCH, THE most eligible place for a sight of the Launch of the New Ship of the Line, . . . will be on the Bluff Point, a little south of the Williamsburgh Ferry, Long-Island. This Bluff being high, and commanding so elegant a view of the Navy-Yard, Wallabout, Corlaers Hook, and the surrounding harbor, that there is no place equally inviting. Besides, it will not be attended with that bustle and possible accident that may occur at those places likely to be more thronged. ***

THE LAUNCH, THE elegant Steamboat OLIVE BRANCH. . . . Fare 50 cents each. Refreshments may be had on board. After the Launch she will sail round the Islands,
and touch at the Quarantine Ground. ***

THE LAUNCH, THE elegant fast sailing sloop SYREN. . . . "the moderate price of 25 cents each" The SYREN will, if the wind should breeze, take a sail after the Launch, if the passengers wish, as far as the Quarantine Ground, and also round the Harbor. John Hunt, Corner of Corlaers Hook has made arrangements to accommodate a large number of Ladies and Gentlemen with seats at his residence at Corlaers-Hook, directly opposite the Navy Yard, which will afford a beautiful prospect of the Launch. . . . Admittance 12½ cents each -- children half price.

THE new and swift Steam-Boat MANHATTAN, is plying continually from the foot of Walnut-street to Little-street, Brooklyn, within a few yards of the Eastern Gate of the Navy Yard. ***
also the Steam-Boat CONNECTICUT and the Steamboat CHANCELLOR LIVINGSTON, each 50¢
New-York Gazette & General Advertiser, May 30, 1820.

Launch. -- At 15 minutes past 11 o'clock, this forenoon, the beautiful line of battle ship OHIO, built under the superintendence of Mr. Eckford, at the navy-yard, left her cradle and majestically glided into her destined element, amidst the firing of cannon and acclamations of thousands of spectators, which crowded the surrounding hills and house-tops in the neighborhood. The day was fine, and all the steam-boats, and indeed almost every other kind of water craft, were put in requisition to convey parties of ladies and gentlemen to the spot, to witness her descent. . . . Wallabout Bay and the East River were literally covered with boats, many having on board elegant bands of music. . . . salutes were fired from the navy yard, from a detachment at Corlaers Hook, from the WASHINGTON 74 and from the HORNET; the latter vessel being decorated, in a most tasteful manner, with the flags of all nations, and her yards manned with hardy American tars. *** The concourse of people which lined the margin of the East River, from the country and from the city, it is calculated, amounted to upwards of twenty-five thousand. *** New-York Evening Post, May 30, 1820, 

Editor's Note: The following text is a verbatim transcription of an article written by George W. Murdock, for the Kingston (NY) Daily Freeman newspaper in the 1930s. Murdock, a veteran marine engineer, wrote a regular column. Articles transcribed by HRMM volunteer Adam Kaplan. ​

For the past 35 summers the steamboat “Hendrick Hudson” has been a familiar on the Hudson river, and even now she awaits the coming of spring when she will sail again under the banner of the Hudson River Dayline.
               
March 31, 1906, marked the launching of the steel hull of the “Hendrick Hudson” at the yard of Thomas S. Marvel & Company at Newburgh, and at that time she was the largest marine craft ever constructed above New York city. Quite a celebration attended the launching of the new vessel, including a special run of the company’s “New York” from her winter berth.
               
W. & A. Fletcher & Company of Hoboken constructed the engine of the “Hendrick Hudson,” and on August 19, 1906, the new vessel made her first trip to Albany. She had cost more than a million dollars and could do better than 25 miles per hour. Her principal dimensions were: Gross tonnage, 2847; net tonnage, 1,598; length of hull, 379 feet, one inch (overall, 390 feet); breadth, 45 feet, one inch (over guards, 82 feet); depth, 13 feet, four inches; extreme draft nine feet, four inches. Her engine was an incline compound with three cylinders and three cranks, having a stroke of seven feet. The high pressure cylinder has a diameter of 45 inches, and the two lower pressure cylinders, 70 inches; horsepower is 6,200; boilers are the Scotch type, two being double-ended and four single-ended, with a working pressure of 170 pounds of steam; wheels are the feathering type, with 12 buckets to each of the two.
               
The appearance of the “Hendrick Hudson” created a stir in river steamboat circles. She was furnished in regal splendor and licensed to carry 5,500 people- the largest licensed passenger capacity in the world; and she continued to hold this honor until 1913 when the still larger “Washington Irving” made her debut. Under the more stringent inspection laws of today, she is permitted to take aboard 5,252 passengers.
               
Immediately upon her appearance, the “Hendrick Hudson” was placed on the Albany-New York route in line with the “New York” and later with the “Robert Fulton,” “Washington Irving,” and “Alexander Hamilton.” In 1933 she was placed on the New York-Poughkeepsie run, making a round trip daily out of New York, and since then she has continued in this service with the exception of occasional trips to Albany and the annual excursion in late August from Kingston and other river cities to Albany.
               
The “Hendrick Hudson” has compiled an extremely fine record with only one accident of any import being recorded in her history. In September 1930, on Labor Day, she had the through run from Albany down river, and that night she left New York to deadhead back to the Capital city in order to come down again the following day with the large crowd of returning vacationists. The night was somewhat clouded by fog, and at Van Wie’s Point, five miles short of her destination, she ran aground out of the west side of the channel. She was fortunately undamaged, was hauled off by tugs the following day, and returned to New York under her own power.
               
Death has recently claimed three of the principal officers of the “Hendrick Hudson”- Captain Alonzo Sickles, First Pilot Harry Kellermann, and Chief Engineer William Van Wie. During the season of 1940 Captain Frank Brown was in command of the vessel, Theodore Conklin was purser, Elmont Nelson and John Garavan  were assistant engineers, Alexander Hickey and Clarence Plank were pilots, and Thomas Kraljik and John Antoncic were mates.
               
At the present time the “Hendrick Hudson” is in winter quarters at Pier 81, North River, awaiting the coming of spring and another year of work upon the mighty river for whose explorer she is named.