STEAMER SWEPT FROM HER COURSE BY CLOUDBURST WHICH CAUSED WRECK OF A CENTRAL TRAIN. ONTEORA IS HARD AND FAST ON THE RIVER BANK RAN AT FULL SPEED INTO JOVA BRICKYARD.

The New York Herald of this morning says: Sweeping across the Hudson River from the east the same cloudburst that caused the wreck of the Pacific Express on the New York Central forced the steamboat ONTEORA of the Catskill Evening Line, out of her course and sent her full speed head on into Jova's brick yard, in Roseton, five miles north of Newburgh. The stem of the steamboat ploughed for fifteen feet into the hard gravel and broken bricks of which the shore line is built and at a late hour last night was still there hard and fast.

As in the case of the New York Central train, it seemed as if an intervention of providence prevented a great loss of life. With full steam on, the ONTEORA struck the bank less than five feet from a great bulkhead, the timbers of which would have pierced her iron hull and sent her to the bottom in a few minutes. Another coincidence was that the steamboat went ashore at a point directly opposite the scene of the railroad wreck and within a few minutes of the time when the train struck a landslide caused by the same cloudburst.

With one hundred and fifty passengers on board and a large cargo of freight and horses, the ONTEORA left Catskill at seven o'clock on Sunday night, bound for this city. Captain Cooper expected a bad night on the river, and he went to the pilot house, where he and the pilot, J. C. Jones, discussed the weather conditions and at last decided it would be safe to make the run on schedule time. More than a hundred of the passengers, of whom many were women and children, were asleep when the ONTEORA was nearing Roseton.

At that point the channel runs very near the western shore, and the pilot was confident despite the darkness that he was holding a proper course. It was nearly half past eleven when a terrific gust, accompanied by a driving torrent of rain, struck the boat on her port side. She heeled over under the pressure, but righted at once and kept on her course. A minute later there came a shock that threw passengers from their berths and made the steamboat tremble.

In an instant many of the lights went out and the passengers began rushing from their staterooms in their night clothes. Women screamed and children clung shrieking to their mothers' skirts. After the first shock the boat remained steady and on an even keel, Captain Cooper and the other officers hurried past the staterooms and shouted that there was no more danger, thus quieting the fears of the passengers, who had begun a rush for life preservers.

After the excitement had cooled an examination of the hull of the boat showed that she had sprung no leak and seemed to be aground for a fourth of her length, but with her stern in deep water. The extreme darkness caused by the storm prevented any further examination of the position of the boat, and it was decided that she was in a safe berth till morning.

Captain Cooper told the passengers that those who wished could remain on board and that others could proceed to New York by the CITY OF HUDSON, of the same line, which would be along in a short time if the storm abated. It was nearly midnight when the lights of the CITY OF HUDSON came in sight astern, and soon she made fast to the ONTEORA and all but a dozen or so of the frightened passengers were transferred to her.

When day broke the real position of the ONTEORA could be seen, and even the pilot, an old hand, was amazed as he saw what the boat had just missed striking. As the ONTEORA had rounded Danskammer and straightened out for the channel with all steam on, the wind pressure or some variation of the compass made her point almost directly for the Jova brick yard, which juts out in to the river for a considerable distance. There is a bulkhead of heavy timber, backed by great spiles, which extends north from the brick yard sheds for about a hundred feet.

By the merest chance the ONTEORA had run her nose behind the end of the bulkhead, missing it by less than three feet, and fifty yards further on her sharp bow cut fifteen feet into the bank.

As soon as possible the engines were reversed, but the boat was wedged so firmly into the bank that she would not move. It was found that the only injury the ONTEORA had sustained was the loss of one of her port deck braces which had been cut off by a timber jutting out from the north end of the bulkhead.

Captain Cooper was asked if he could give any explanation of how the accident happened. He replied that he could not.

"It is one of those things," he said, "which happen and which cannot be explained by any method of reasoning. My pilot, Mr. Jones, had the wheel when we struck and we were in the center of a very severe storm. It was pitch dark except for an occasional flash of lighting. There is a possibility that the compass played the pilot false. He believed he was in his course."

Mr. Jones was equally at a loss to account for the accident. He said he was positive he had not hugged the west shore too closely, but as there were no landmarks or lights to be seen while the storm was in progress he had to rely on his compass.

"First thing I knew." Mr. Jones said, "we struck and ran our nose where you see it this morning. That was a pretty close shave, wasn't it?" and the pilot glanced uneasily at the bulkhead along side.

Those on board the ONTEORA Sunday night were cut off from the outer world, because all the telephone and telegraph wires between Newburgh and Marlbrough were down as a consequence of the storm. Two powerful tugs went from this city last night to try to pull the ONTEORA out of her uncomfortable berth this morning at high tide.

Built in the Marvel yards in Newburgh, the ONTEORA is one of the fastest steamboats on the Hudson. Her launching was memorable, as it took place during a driving rainstorm in zero weather. The grease on the ways froze and the boat stuck half way down for three hours, until a tug hitched to her and pulled her the rest of the way.

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. ​

The name “William G. Payne” used in conjunction with a Hudson river steamboat may not call to attention any particular steamboat, but the name “Highlander” or “Bear Mountain” will designate this particular vessel to followers of the Hudson river craft.
           
The steel hull of the vessel which originally bore the name of “William G. Payne” was built by Harlan and Hollingsworth Company at Wilmington, Delaware in 1902. This hull was 243 feet three inches, breadth of beam 36 feet nine inches, depth of hold 14 feet six inches. Her gross tonnage was listed at 1,310, with net tonnage of 854, and she was powered with an incline-compound type engine, build by Harlan and Hollingsworth, with a high pressure cylinder diameter of 72 inches, with a six foot stroke.
           
The “William G.Payne” was built for the Bridgeport Steamboat Company for service as a dayboat between Bridgeport and New York city. The appearance of the new vessel on the Sound created quite a stir because of her ability to make fast time, and it was claimed that her 19 miles per hour was the fastest time that any vessel operating on the same route could do.
           
In February, 1903, the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad purchased the Bridgeport Steamboat Company, and the “William G. Payne” was renamed the “Bridgeport” and continued in service on her original route for several years.
           
After being laid up for a short time, the Bridgeport was purchased, (in 1913), by the McAllister Steamboat Company of New York, and was then placed in the excursion business on the Hudson river from New York to Bear Mountain.
           
During the summer of 1914 the name “Highlander” replaced “Bridgeport” on the vessel’s hull, and as the Highlander she piled the Bear Mountain route until the fall of 1923, when she was laid up for the winter with the rest of the McAllister fleet at the pier at West 156th street, North river.
           
The following spring work was begun on the renovation and repainting of the excursion fleet. On Saturday morning, August 26, 1924, it was discovered that the steamboat “Nassau” was ablaze. The fire spread to the “Highlander,” “Grand Republic” and several smaller vessels. The “Nassau” and “Grand Republic” were totally destroyed and sank, while the “Highlander” was completely burned with the exception of her steel hull. She was rebuilt at Kearny, New Jersey, in 1925, and when the vessel again appeared in service on the Bear Mountain route, she carried the name “Bear Mountain.”
           
​The fall of 1938 marked the end of service for the “Bear Mountain” on the excursion route between New York and Bear Mountain, and in the spring of 1939 she was sold to the concern which operated the excursion steamboat “Mandalay” which had been rammed and sunk in the Lower Bay just outside the Narrows on May 29, 1938. The “Bear Mountain” was purchased with the intentions of placing her in service on the route of the “Mandalay” between New York and Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey; but she actually appeared in service on the Coney Island route where she was running in 1940.

​July 31,  Evening Post (NY)
STEAM BOATS. City of New-York, ss.
John T. Haviland and David Morris being sworn, severally, depose that they were pilots on board the Steam Boat Hope, on her passage from Albany to New-York last Saturday—that the said boat set out from Albany at 9 o'clock A. M. in company with the North River Steam Boat—that the Hope led the North River about two hundred yards when both boats were fairly underway, and continued to lead about that distance until she arrived at Paddock’s Point, or thereabout, when the steam of the Hope being considerably exhausted, the North River gained upon her, but did not approach within fifty yards of her, until the North River ran foul of the Hope, as hereinafter mentioned—that the North River came up and struck the Hope on her larboard quarter, a little below Paddock’s Point, on the east side of Hudson River, when the Hope was laying her course direct down the River—that when the North River struck the Hope, as aforesaid, there was room for four or five Steam Boats to pass between the Hope and the edge of the channel——That after the North River Steam Boat had struck the Hope, she kept her engine a-going until the Hope grounded, when the engine of the North River was stopped. That the pilot of the North, River Boat immediately called out to set the engine in motion, and that he would pay the damage. That the Hope draws more water than the North River, and therefore these deponents deemed it expedient to follow the channel from Albany to the place where the Hope was ran ashore by the North River. That these deponents did not intentionally run the Hope in the way of the North River to prevent her passing the Hope at any time during the passage from Albany to the place where the Hope grounded as aforesaid, and further these deponents say not.
            JOHN T. HAVILAND.  DAVID MORRIS.
Sworn before me this 30th day of July 1811. GARRIT GILBERT, Special Justice.

​September 17, 1811 Evening Post (NY) THE NEW ALBANY STEAM BOATS, HOPE AND PERSEVERANCE.
The Hope, Capt. Bunker, will leave New-York every Wednesday morning at 9 o’clock, and Albany every Saturday morning at the same hour.
The Perseverance, Capt. Sherman, will leave N. York every Saturday afternoon at half past 5 o'clock, and Albany every Wednesday morning at 9 o'clock, throughout the season.
Said boats will lay at the foot of Liberty-street, New-York, and in front of the Eagle Tavern, Albany.

December 3, ​1812 Alexandria Gazette (VA) STEAM BOATS FOR SALE.
THE ALBANY STEAM BOATS, Hope aud Perseverence [sic],
With their Machinery, Tackle and Apparel. These boats having run only one season are in the best order and repair. For terms apply to the Printers, or to H. Bleecker, Capitol Hill, Washington.

January 17, ​1824 Alexandria Gazette (Washington, DC)
THE HOPE LOST.
Baton Rouge, Dec. 13, [1823]—We learn from persons who have arrived here from Natchez, that the steam boat Hope, which left New Orleans some time since, struck a snag in the Mississippi river [on Dec. 7, 1823], about 20 miles above this place, and immediately went to the bottom. The passengers and crew with difficulty escaped.     Gaz.

January 23, ​1824-01-23 Philadelphia Inquirer
The St. Francisville paper informs us that on the evening of the 7th of December [1823], the steam boat Hope, on her passage from New Orleans to Alexandria, struck on a snag about nine miles below that place, directly opposite the mouth of Sandy Creek, and sunk. She went down in about a minute and a half after striking. Fortunately, no lives were lost.

Editor's note: The following text is from "The First Steamboat Race" by Jerry Canavit https://steamboats.com/jpgs/firststeamboatrace-canavit.pdf. Thank you to Contributing Scholar Carl Mayer for finding, cataloging and transcribing this article. The language, spelling and grammar of the article reflects the time period when it was written.

The First Steamboat Race. Jerry Canavit, ASN
With the success of Robert Fulton’s steamboats NORTH RIVER and CAR OF NEPTUNE, Captain Elihu S. Bunker decided he would run an opposition service line on the Hudson River from Albany to New York City. He planned to do this despite the exclusive monopoly held by Messrs. Fulton and Livingston that had been granted by the State of New York.

A group of businessmen from Albany, headed by James Van Ingen, contracted to have two vessels constructed for Capt. Bunker, similar in size and accommodation to Fulton’s NORTH RIVER steamboat to compete for a share of this lucrative business. The boats were named HOPE and PERSEVERANCE.

The steamboat HOPE was launched on March 9, 1811 — the PERSEVERENCE [sic] followed a few months later. The HOPE made her maiden voyage out of New York City on June 22, 1811 under the command of Capt. Bunker. Nearly 50 passengers were on board for this initial trip as thousands of spectators were present as the HOPE left for Albany. The large crowd was present not only to show their support for the new boat’s challenge to the “Old Line” in defiance of the present navigation monopoly, but to also witness the very popular Pandean Band, who after the vessel’s departure, began playing very popular patriotic music of the day.

Despite a strong headwind, the HOPE arrived at Albany in 38 hours and great satisfaction was expressed by all of the passengers.

The NORTH RIVER steamboat (often mistakenly referred to as the Clermont) was under the command of Capt. Andrew Bartholomew and was built by shipbuilder Charles Browne of New York City for Fulton and Livingston. She was launched on May 17, 1807 and was the first commercially successful steamboat to operate on the Hudson River (or any other river, for that matter). She measured 133’ x 13’ x 7,’ admeasured 182 tons, had a copper boiler, a Watt steam engine (generating 20 hp), and 3 cabins with 52 berths. She was enlarged in 1808 to measure 149' x 17'11" x 7'.

The HOPE was a slightly larger boat, running 280 tons and measuring 149’ x 20’ x 7’7.” She had a steam engine built by Robert McQueen and her accommodations were very similar to those of the NORTH RIVER.

The challenge of the new vessels would eventually have to be addressed in the courts, but before the legal problems could be worked out, the “monopoly” would issue a more immediate challenge to the new upstarts.

On July 27, 1811, the HOPE was challenged to a race by the owners of the steamboat NORTH RIVER.

The Race:
The race would be from Albany to New York. On July 27, the two boats lay side-by-side in their slips at Albany getting up steam in preparation for the contest. Whether the HOPE challenged the NORTH RIVER (James Flexner) or the NORTH RIVER challenged the HOPE (F. Van Loon Ryder) is unclear. The contest was to be settled on the river before it would be settled in the courts.

Both vessels left Albany at 9:00 AM. The HOPE got off to a better start, and kept the center of the narrow channel, blocking every attempt of the NORTH RIVER to pass. With stern and bow so close they seemed almost as one craft traveling together under a single cloud of smoke. The two steamboats pounded down the river at almost 5 miles-per-hour, while spectators crowded the banks to cheer the opponent of “the pernicious monopoly.” As they passed Norman’s Kill, Van Weis [sic] Point and Shodack Island, they maintained their positions — with the HOPE in the lead and the NORTH RIVER seemingly glued to her stern. As they passed Coxsackie and the Hudson River Islands they continued to run together as one. When about two miles above the town of Hudson and opposite Stockport Creek, the NORTH RIVER tried to make use of its lighter draught to pass the HOPE in shallow water. Gradually it pulled abreast of its rival — then there was a resounding crash. The vessels had collided. Although investigation revealed that neither was seriously damaged and no one was injured, the captains called off the race. The first steamboat race in history had ended without a winner.

Later, Capt. Bartholomew of the NORTH RIVER challenged Capt. Bunker to complete the race. The wager was $2,000 and the distance, any number of miles — at the discretion of Capt. Bunker. However, the race was never held. The HOPE (and sister ship PERSEVERENCE) continued to run throughout the 1811 season with passengers and freight between New York and Albany and enjoyed as much success as did the Fulton boats.

In 1812, the contest continued — this time in the courts. In the case Livingston vs. Van Ingen, a New York Chancery Court ruled against Fulton and Livingston. The decision was then appealed to the New York Court of Errors where it was overturned, giving Fulton and Livingston the sole right to “navigate the waters of New York State by boats propelled by fire or steam.”

The courts had decided that both the HOPE and PERSEVERENCE were operating illegally and ordered the steamboats to cease operating. It is not clear whether the vessels were disassembled by the owners to avoid confiscation, or if they were actually confiscated by Fulton and Livingston and broken up. Other accounts claim that the HOPE was sold to Robert Fulton and the PERSEVERANCE to Aaron Ogden, and the parts were then used in other vessels. Which version is correct is not known to this writer.

[Steamboats HOPE and PERSEVERANCE finished the 1811 season, but did not run in 1812. Starting on Nov. 18, 1812, a daily ad to sell the two boats appeared in the Alexandria Gazette (VA) for the next three months.

"On July 2, 1813, Steam Boat Hope left Albany for points south. She sank in the Mississippi on Dec. 7, 1823, after hitting a snag, going from New Orleans to Alexandria, about nine miles before her destination, opposite the mouth of Sandy Creek. Fortunately, no lives were lost." CM]

Although the NORTH RIVER steamboat did not actually win the first steamboat race in history, she did prevail in the courts. And, who knows, perhaps if the NORTH RIVER had been able to get around the HOPE, she might have won. But she didn’t. She won in the courts though, even if it was just a short-term victory — as the monopoly would later be broken by the courts in 1824 (Gibbons vs Ogden).

Other and more famous steamboat races would occur, but the contest on July 27, 1811 was the first — and started it all. The steamboat race would become part of Americana — as stories of the Diana and Baltic, Eclipse and A. L. Shotwell, and Robt. E. Lee and Natchez and others would live on for generations.

Mark Twain once commented “I think the most enjoyable of all races is a steamboat race. Two red-hot steamboats raging along, neck-and-neck, straining every nerve — every rivit [sic] in the boilers — quaking, shaking and groaning from stem to stern, sprouting white steam from the pipes, pouring black smoke from the chimneys, raining down sparks, parting the river into long breaks of hissing foam. This is a sport that makes a body’s very liver curl with enjoyment. A horse race is pretty tame in comparison.”

Hope and Perseverance would turn out to be not only the names of two important riverboats on the Hudson River, but would be the words that best describe the attitude and spirit of those who would eventually break the navigation monopoly of Fulton and Livingston and open up commerce to the waters and streams of the United States of America.

During the era of steamboating on the Hudson River, incidents involving steamers running aground were rather rare and infrequent occurrences.  When one considers the large number of steamboats that once plied the waters of the Hudson, the absence at that time of today’s electronic devices such as radar and depth recorders, and the narrowness and shallowness of the upper river, the fact that groundings seldom did occur was a real tribute to the skill of the pilots.

I always have had a certain admiration for the skill of the pilots of the big steamers of the old Hudson River Night Line — the steamboats that served Albany and Troy.  The Albany steamers in particular, the “Berkshire” and the “C. W. Morse” later named the “Fort Orange," were the two largest steamboats ever built for service on the Hudson.  Unlike the Day Liners which operated only during daylight during the best months of the year, the Night Liners in their heyday obviously operated at night and from early spring until late fall when the thick fogs of the changing seasons were at their worst. 

The Albany night boats also until the very end of their careers never had the advantage of the deep channel that permitted ocean going vessels to reach Albany, for the so called deeper Hudson project wasn’t completed until 1930.  As a matter of fact, prior to that there was a big sand bar a few miles below Albany that combined with the "Fulton's" suction, caused the “Berkshire” to be stopped right dead in her tracks, aground on the bottom of the channel!  This grounding, of course, was momentary and since the bottom was sandy, it did no damage. 

Captain Edmund Wilson of the “Berkshire," however, had a few choice words not usually found in a dictionary directed at the captain and pilots of the “Robert Fulton."

This incident was related to me years later by Francis “Dick” Chapman who was pilot on the “Berkshire” at the time and later was pilot with me on the tugboat “Lion” of the Cornell Steamboat Company. 

The other incident took place nearly twenty years later in August 1935.  At that time, the Night Line had fallen on hard times and, in order to obtain revenues wherever they could, on weekends would run a series of moonlight sails out of Albany.  The steamer "Berkshire" would usually have the trip.  She would leave Albany and sail down river as far as Coxsackie or Stuyvesant where she would turn around and go back to Albany. 

On this particular night, the Cornell tugboat ‘‘Pocahontas’’ was going down river with the down tow with the tug "Wilson P. Foss’’ as her helper.  The “Berkshire” passed the tow off New Baltimore.  As the ‘‘Berker” was turning around at Lower Bronck’s Island, her bow got in the mud on the west bank of the narrow channel.  Try as she would, she couldn’t back off.  Finally, she blew five whistles for the “Foss” to come to her assistance. 

Captain Larry Gibbons of the "Foss" went down and put a line on her stern and pulled her off.  Since she was crossways in the river with a south wind and an ebb tide, the "Berkshire" couldn’t turn until the ‘‘Foss’’ shoved on her bow and got her headed upstream.  Maybe if fortunately there hadn't been a tug around to pull on her, it might have caused serious trouble to the "Berkshire, ” she being such a large steamboat. 

Actually, because of the difficult economic times, the “Berkshire" was being forced to make a turn around in a part of the river that was really too narrow for so large a steamer, something that was never envisioned she would be required to do in the service for which she was originally designed. 
​
The Great Depression of the 1930's continued its unrelenting predatory toll of steamboat services and in 1936 the "Berkshire" didn’t run at all.  She ran again in 1937, but this was to be her last year in service on the Hudson.  After Labor Day 1937, she was layed up for good and in 1941 was acquired by the Federal government.  That summer, the “Berkshire” was towed to Bermuda to house construction workers building the bases there acquired in the Roosevelt-Churchill bases for destroyers agreement of 1940.  After World War II, she was towed back to Philadelphia and broken up

Editor's Note: Article text is from a former museum exhibit at Hudson River Maritime Museum.

The Launching of Hendrick Hudson March 31, 1906 was a festive day in Newburgh. That morning, that shipbuilding city would witness the launching of the magnificent steamer Hendrick Hudson for the Hudson River Day Line. At the T.S. Marvel Shipbuilding Company's yard, the new flagship of the Day Line would make her initial plunge into the waters of the Hudson at eleven o'clock.

She was the line's flagship for only seven years, relinquishing it in 1913 to the slightly larger Washington Irving, but she regained her title and her former position of eminence in 1926 after the unfortunate sinking of Washington Irving in New York harbor.

Little Katharine Olcott, the daughter of the line's owner, performed the duties of the sponsor admirably when she smashed a bottle of Catskill Mountain water on the stem as she said, "I christen thee Hendrick Hudson."

White carrier pigeons were released from the vessel's deck as she moved down the ways. At that moment, the sun broke through the cloudy skies, the whistles of the vessels assembled at Newburgh that day were blown in a cacophonous chorus, and a cannon on the deck of the Day Liner New York was fired in salute.

A few moments later, the massive hull was afloat and in the charge of Cornell's  tug Hercules. It was indeed a day that Newburgh would long remember.

T. S. Marvel said, "I always use champagne…"

When Hendrick Hudson was built, the Hudson River Day Line did not serve alcohol aboard the vessels. The family of Eben E. Olcott, the line's owner, was strictly teetotal – particularly Mrs. Olcott. He proposed to christen his new steamer with water from the Catskill Mountains, and a bottle of this clear, shimmering liquid, gaily decorated with ribbons in the usual style, was handed to the sponsor, little Katherine Olcott, with her father looking on admiringly.

Thomas S. Marvel, the builder, absolutely refused to launch a vessel without the traditional champagne christening. He complied with Olcott's wishes – or so it seemed from the launching platform – but sent one of the shipyard men up to a saloon on South Water Street for a bottle of bubbly. The man soon returned from his mission.

With bottle in hand and well out of sight of Olcott, Thomas Marvel stationed himself near the aft end of the vessel, and when she began to move (and Katherine had christened her with the Catskill water), he smashed the bottle of champagne on her hull plates and quickly moved to safer ground.

​Hendrick Hudson was well and truly christened. The Olcotts never knew.

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. ​

“Here is a home-boat that more of the local residents will remember, and I think that she was one of the finest boats ever to appear on the Hudson river,” said Mr. Murdock, commenting on the “Thomas Cornell,” which sailed regularly out of the Rondout creek.
           
The “Thomas Cornell” was a wooden hull steamboat built in 1863 by E.S. Whitlock at Brooklyn. Her engine was constructed by the Morgan Iron Works at New York in 1852 and came from the lake steamboat “Southern Michigan.” She was 310 feet long, breadth of beam 34 feet, depth of hold 10 feet, gross tonnage 1,256, and powered with a vertical beam engine with a cylinder diameter of 72 inches and a 12 foot stroke.
           
She was built for Thomas Cornell of Rondout to take the place of the steamboat “Manhattan,” and as a companion vessel for the “James W. Baldwin,” running on the Rondout-New York night line. The “Thomas Cornell” was a steamboat of superior construction and was a fitting monument to the man whose name she bore. In addition to being strengthened by heavy hog-frames, the “Thomas Cornell” was a model of real beauty, complete in all of her fittings, luxurious in her passenger accommodations, plenty of room for carrying large freight cargoes, and possessing great speed. Her fastest trip was made in the summer of 1870, when she left New York at 4 o’clock in the afternoon, made her regular landings, and arrived at her berth in the Rondout creek at 8:50 p.m.
           
The “Thomas Cornell” went into service in the summer of 1863 and continued on the Rondout-New York route until 1882, when she was wrecked.
           
On March 27, 1882, she left Rondout on her regular schedule to New York, pulling away from the dock at 6 o’clock heavily loaded with freight and passengers. The weather was hazy and a drizzling rain was falling. At 8 o’clock when the “Thomas Cornell” was 10 miles below Poughkeepsie, a heavy fog settled over the river. Pilot Henry Briggs was at the wheel when suddenly, while proceeding at half speed, the great hull of the magnificent vessel crashed upon the rocks at Danskammer Point, about opposite New Hamburgh, where there was 30 to 40 feet of water at the stern. She immediately sank at the stern with her bow lodged high and dry on the rocks. The passengers climbed over the bow of the boat to the shore, where in the midst of a swamp, they built fires and huddled about them until the Poughkeepsie steamer “John L. Hasbrouck” came to their relief and took them off. No lives were lost, but the “Thomas Cornell’s” hog-frame was broken and she was so badly strained that she was abandoned.
           
​The wrecked hull was finally released and taken to Rondout, where her boilers and engine were removed. The hull was then sold, cut in two parts, and converted into two coal barges for Long Island Sound traffic. The engine was transported to Port Ewen, where a shanty was built over it, but it was never used and was finally scrapped.

THE VAMOOSE DISABLED. Her intermediate Valve Post Bridges Broken in Six Pieces.
The Vamoose left her pier in New London at 11:15 o'clock yesterday morning and backed slowly out into the stream. As she turned and began to get under way, she was saluted by all of the steam and sailing craft in the harbor. The new Gardiner schooner Alcæa which arrived in the harbor on Sunday saluted with her cannon and the boys on the school ship Constellation cheered her as she passed by. In a few moments she passed the New London light and started down the Sound at a sixteen-mile an hour gait under 125 pounds of steam.

Papers were thrown on the Bartlett Reef lightship from the Vamoose as she passed, and then every one settled down expecting to reach New York at 5 o'clock. In this they were disappointed, for about 4 o'clock, when off Eaton's Neck light, on the Long Island shore, there was a heavy jar, and the engines suddenly stopped. At first it was thought her propeller had struck a sunken log, but it was soon apparent that the trouble was in the engine room.

Investigation showed that the bridges of her intermediate valve post were broken in six pieces and that it would take nearly three hours to disconnect it from the other cylinders. Several sharp blasts were sounded on the whistle for assistance, and soon the steam oyster boat I. M. Mersereau of New York came alongside and offered to tow her in to Wilson's Point, near the Norwalk Islands.

The towing process proved very slow work, and it was nearly 6:30 o'clock when the Vamoose was finally brought up alongside of the Long Island and Housatonic Railroad Companies' dock at Wilson Point. The Captain of the Mersereau declined to take pay for his services, and said that he might be in trouble some time himself.

The accident to the Vamoose may necessitate a new cylinder, if so, it will be a long and expensive job, at any rate it is certain that she will do no racing for some time to come.

MR. MUNRO INDIGNANT AND THE VAMOOSE PEOPLE DISGUSTED.
Norman L. Munro, owner of the steam yacht Norwood, was a very much disgusted man yesterday. He was also considerably incensed and indignant. The cause of his irritation was threefold. He was surprised and displeased at the action of Capt. Hall, Secretary of the American Yacht Club, in declaring the race between the Norwood and the Vamoose off; he was disgusted at what he considers the determination of the Vamoose people to stand him off or shake him off and avoid a race with the Norwood, and he was indignant at the treatment the Norwood has received throughout the whole business of trying to got a tilt with the Vamoose.

He declared early yesterday morning that the Norwood would start at noon and go over the course alone if the Vamoose was not on hand to make a race. The agreement being to have the race the next day if the first attempt failed. But he was informed that the water was too rough even for the Vamoose to venture out, and so he was compelled to abandon this intention. What made him particularly indignant was that Capt. Hall should declare the race between the rivals off without giving any reason for so doing, because Mr. Munro believed there was very excellent reason, and that was that the Vamoose was not in condition to race and was on her way yesterday afternoon for New York for repairs.

On Sunday morning Mr. Munro received the following letter from his representative on the Norwood, which he thinks throws a great deal of much needed light on the matter:

NEW LONDON, Saturday, June 18, 1892. Mr. N. L. Munro,
Dear Sir: The Vamoose met with two accidents Friday evening. See clippings from Saturday's New London Telegraph.

They now have two pieces of timber about four feet long. 3 by 6, one piece on each side of the guard or gunnel at the bow of the boat, secured on with a clamp that lays over the deck, and another fastened halfway down from there to the water line.

Her stern was completely spit down to the water line after she struck the Stonington dock.
People here look on it with suspicion, and say as much as if it was intentionally done. It certainly looks strange that they should run into both docks. Yours truly, GEO. JOHNSTON.

The two accidents to the Vamoose mentioned the letter are told in detail as follows: It was on her return from a trip in the Sound on Friday afternoon that the accidents occurred. In an endeavor to lay up at the new railroad wharf, the Vamoose went head on against one of the spiles and split the spile clear to the water as cleanly as if done with a wedge. The stern of the Vamoose was seemingly uninjured by the collision, and she backed into the river and was headed for the Stonington wharf.

In endeavoring to make that wharf, there was another miscalculation, and her nose was run clean into the wharf with such force as to tear the screws out and break the iron head-piece that held the flagstaff, and split her stern down to the water line in two places. It was said by onlookers that the people aboard the Vamoose took the matter very coolly, just as though such collisions were an ordinary occurrence.

“This accident to the Vamoose," said Mr. Munro, “apparently explains the reason for the telegram of Capt. Hall declaring the Norwood-Vamoose race off. The accident seems to have been overlooked."

Mr. Munro intimated that he would have been surprised if the Vamoose had been able to race Saturday after the damage she received, and, being in the patched condition described by his agent, Mr. Johnston. She was able to get outside, but it would have been a remarkable thing if she could have made racing speed after she got there. But it was altogether too rough for the Norwood, an open launch, to go outside, and one of the stipulations of the race was that it was to be in fair weather and smooth water. 

“It is strange,” continued Mr. Munro, “that Capt. Hall should declare the race off without giving any reason for doing so. Such action I think very unsportsmanlike. There has been trouble before about cups offered by the American Yacht Club. There was trouble about the cup offered by the club for a race between the Atlanta and the Stiletto, and also about the race between Jay Gould’s launch, the Surprise, and my launch, the Henrietta."

“The Norwood is the fastest boat in the world, and is ready to prove it at any time under proper conditions. We will race the Vamoose at any place where we can get smooth water. Why couldn't they change the course at New London, as was suggested, to points that would ensure smooth water? A course could be laid out at New London where we could get smooth water five days out of seven, but at Race Rock it would be hard to find water one day in seven in which the open launch Norwood could live. We want to race the Vamoose, but it would seem that the Vamoose is very anxious not to race us. The Norwood will race any steamboat in America, of any kind or description, from one mile to eighty knots [sic], through smooth water. We will race for five cents or $20,000, and if the Norwood is beaten, the victors are welcome to take her. I don't think the Norwood is getting a square deal, and I want to say that when she does, she can beat anything afloat.”

The Norwood will give an exhibition of what she can do on a spurt on the day of the Yale-Harvard race. She is also going to beat the record of the Spanish torpedo boat, the Arrow, which now holds the record of having made the fastest time of anything afloat.

“If this is an attempt to shake me off and avoid a trial with the Norwood, and that is the way it looks to me, it will be a failure.” concluded Mr. Munro.

To say that the Vamoose people are angry and indignant would be putting it mildly, as a more disgusted lot of men could not have been found in New London when they received Mr. Hall's very brief telegram announcing that the race was off for the present. Engineer Heilbrun, who has charge of the yacht in Mr. Hearst's absence, said:

"We were ready and willing to race. I supposed that the race was to take place on the next clear day, or when we could get smooth water. Instead of that, the only representative of the American Yacht Club at New London left on the 1 o'clock train, when, if he had waited, he could have started the boats at 2 o'clock when there was smooth water. Or else he could have telegraphed the American Yacht Club and have asked authority to alter the course to this side of Race Rock, where the water was smooth. Mr. Munro's representative said that he was willing to have the course altered, and so was I, though it conceded an advantage to the Norwood. I did this so as to get a race at all hazards, and have it over, as I was sick and tired of waiting. I received no word from the American Yacht Club until 8:30 P. M. on Sunday evening, or over thirty hours after Mr. Wilkie left. I telegraphed to Mr. Hearst's representative in New York and he said, ‘Go Home' and for home I've started. In conclusion, there is one thing I would like to say, and that is that the public know that the Vamoose has been on hand every time, and it is not her fault that there was no race."
​
Capt. George W. Hall, Chairman of the Regatta Committee of the American Yacht Club, said it was proposed to have the race decided on July 2. The tide that day would be favorable to the yachts and help them on their journey. It would not do, he said, to race against a head tide, and the chances of having smooth water in July would be very good. Then the start will be made west of Race Rock, instead of four miles east of the rock. This will make the course about seventy-five miles instead of eighty, but the yachts will start in smooth water.

GOOD PROSPECT FOR A RACE STEAM PLEASURE BOATS LIKELY TO COMPETE NEXT SATURDAY. THE AMERICAN YACHT CLUB’S OFFER OF A PRIZE HAS AWAKENED GREAT INTEREST — FACTS ABOUT SOME OF THE POSSIBLE CONTESTANTS.

By this time next week, it will in all probability be settled which is the faster boat — the Norwood or the Vamoose. If the proposition of the American Yacht Club to get up a race of two or more very fast steam pleasure boats is accepted, and it really looks now as if it will be, the trial of speed will take place on the Sound next Saturday, unless a later day is agreed on by all the parties in interest. It seems doubtful at this writing if the Government boats Cushing and Stiletto will be allowed to compete, and if they are not in it, the race will unquestionably lose some of the interest it would otherwise awaken. But, although Acting Secretary Ramsay of the navy has already given an apparently positive denial, there is yet a possibility that Secretary Tracy will exercise his unquestionable prerogative and allow the boats to participate.

Anyhow, even without the Government boats, the race will be an exceedingly interesting event. Besides the Vamoose and Norwood, there is a certainty that the Yankee Doodle, formerly the Buzz, will be a starter, and a possibility that the Now Then and the Javelin will also be on hand. The Yankee Doodle has a record of a mile in 2:34, and it is claimed that she has since been improved. Whatever this claim may be worth, it is evident that her owners think that she has a very good chance to win or they would not have entered her.

Of the Javelin nothing is known concerning her speed, except to her owner and builders. Owing, possibly, to the fact that she has had no public trial, an impression has gone abroad that she is not a success, but that may be unwarranted, and it should be borne in mind that she is an even later production of the Herreshoffs than the Vamoose, for, although sent away from the yards sooner, she was not begun or launched until later than the other. The Now Then, it will be remembered, beat all of the Sandy Hook boats with ease in the Summer of 1887. It is not generally known, however, that under actual tests she made 23.002 statute miles per hour.

Notwithstanding the improbability that the Government boats will be allowed to race, a word should be said about them in this connection. The Cushing is not only larger, but more powerful, than any of the boats to which the race is open. She is also the only one of the boats that has twin screws. She is 137 feet long and 15 feet beam. Her machinery consists of two quadruple expansion engines of 800 horse power each. On a Government test at Bristol, R. I., made March 24, 1890, she ran 22.52 knots per hour [sic] for three consecutive hours. Since her acceptance by the Government she has developed a speed of 24.10 knots, something more than 28 statute miles hour, in short distance trials. This is a little more than three miles per hour less than the best torpedo boat record on the other side of the Atlantic.

The Stiletto is a much smaller boat than the Cushing, being only about 100 feet long and of much less displacement. Taking these circumstances into consideration, she is proportionally much faster, though her absolute speed is less. Her best performance was a short distance run at the rate of 23.195 knots, or 26.709 statute miles per hour. In the three-hour trial under Government tests she made 59 nautical miles, or an average of 19 3/4 knots — 22.646 statute miles per hour. As she is only a single screw boat, with estimated horse power of 380, she compares very favorably with the Cushing.

If any accurate test of what the Vamoose can do has ever been made, the figures have not been given out. Her performance with the Mary Powell does not go for very much, for the Stiletto did practically the same six years ago, and yet it has been shown the best she can do is something under 27 miles per hour. From what is given below concerning the speed of the Norwood, it will be seen that the Vamoose must be able to do much better than 27 miles in order to win the coming race. That is, of course, on the presumption that the Norwood figures are accurate.

In a trial on the Merrimac[k] River, July 8, 1890, the Norwood made 30 miles per hour for two consecutive hours, and one mile in 1:58. C. D. Mosher, her builder, has a certificate to the accuracy of these figures from several competent  engineers and machinists. If she can develop that speed in the coming race and maintain it throughout, she will in all probability win.

But, to say the least, it is doubtful if she can. There are several things that may interfere, but the chief difficulty in a boat of her size is to carry coal enough for so long a run as 80 knots. Mr. Mosher, however, says that she make the race with a ton and half of coal, if the right kind be selected, and she carry that much, although it will load her down considerably and thus hamper her at the start. As she gets rid of the superfluous weight, however, he thinks she will make a revelation for her adversaries.

The Norwood is in reality a little bit of a thing. Those who remember the Henrietta, the steam launch built for Mr. Munro by the Herreshoffs in 1886, which was really the pioneer of the type, will have a very good idea of Norwood's appearance if they picture finer and less beam in proportion to length. The Norwood is only 60 feet on the water line and 63 feet 2 inches overall. Her greatest beam is 7 feet 2 inches and her greatest draught 22 inches. She has one triple-expansion engine, with three cylinders of 9, 14 1/2, and 22 inches diameter, respectively, and 9 inches stroke. This engine, which is of Mr. Mosher’s own design, is a marvel of strength and beauty, and is capable of giving the wheel 500 revolutions per minute. The boiler, which is also of his own construction, is capable of developing 550 horse power.

The Vamoose is 108 feet long on the waterline and 112 feet 6 inches over all. Her beam is 12 feet 4 inches and her draught is 4 feet 11 inches. She has a Thornycroft boiler of the Herreshoff make, capable of giving 800 horse power. The engine is a Herreshoff quadruple expansion, and a counterpart of those in the Cushing. It has five cylinders, one of 11-14 [sic, 11 1/4?], one of 16, and two of 22 1/2  inches in diameter, with 15 inches stroke. It can turn the wheel at rate of 410 revolutions to the minute. The Vamoose will be docked at Tebo’s basin on Tuesday to receive her new Zeise [sic] wheel. Her colors in the coming race will be old gold and black. 

A COMING RACE. THE YACHTS NORWOOD AND VAMOOSE LIKELY TO MEET.
In a very few days, arrangements will be completed for a test of speed between Norman L Munro’s steam yacht Norwood and Mr. Hearst’s Vamoose. Since the Vamoose crossed the bow of the Monmouth on Saturday last in a race down the upper bay with the Sandy Hook steamer, Mr. Munro has been anxious for a match between the two yachts, as the Norwood has outsteamed the Monmouth, too.

It is Mr. Munro’s desire to have both yachts start with the steamer Mary Powell from her dock at the foot of West Twenty-second Street and steam up the Hudson fifty miles from the starting point and return, making a hundred-mile trip. Mr. Hearst has given Mr. Heilbron, the chief engineer of the Vamoose, permission to make a satisfactory agreement with Mr. Munro, and Mr. Heilbron will meet Mr. Munro within a few days.

The Vamoose was alongside Tebo’s Wharf, foot of Twenty-third Street, Brooklyn, yesterday to receive a fresh coat of white paint and get her brass polished. Engineer Heilbron and Capt. Stanwood had gone on a picnic, but the assistant engineer was on the boat. He said that Mr. Hearst was anxious for the Vamoose to meet the Norwood in a fair race, but that he wouldn't consent to a race on the Hudson River, for the Vamoose could only race in very deep water. The assistant engineer said that the Vamoose had already made a trip on the Hudson as far up as West Point, and during moderately high speed had “felt the bottom” a number of times, necessitating a slowing down of the engine.

The only course, he said, that would suit Mr. Hearst would be in Long Island Sound, either over one of the American Yacht Club's courses or straight away from Execution Rock to New-London.

Thomas L. Scoville of the American Yacht Club wrote to Mr. Munro on Tuesday, extending the use of the club grounds and landing float of the club in case a race was arranged between the Norwood and the Vamoose. The assistant engineer of the Vamoose said yesterday: "The Norwood could gain a mile an hour over the Vamoose in a race on the Hudson by following the eddy of the tide, while the Vamoose would have to keep in deep water. It makes a great difference in a race whether a boat draws eighteen inches or ten feet. If the Norwood outraced the Vamoose, I believe that Mr. Hearst would give her away."
Mr. Munro was in Long Branch yesterday, but it was stated at his office, 26 Vandewater Street, that he would not rest until he had brought the race about.

The Norwood is at present at Branchport, N. J.