Steam Capsun:

Frank,
A dead man, to me, is a post set in the bank or a railroad tie buried in the bank, with a wire or chain on it, for tying off. It is buried 6 feet deep, hence the term "deadman".

As for capstans, I have heard them called "niggerheads" or capstans, but nothing else.

Hi, Frank & Bob:
Interesting discussion thread on 'deadman' and 'capstans.' Since the earliest days the Cincinnati Public Landing here [*One of America's finest sloped, paved wharves.] had many 'deadman' rings of ancient origin for docking boats and wharfboats. Those rings were heavy and I always wondered how they were secured deep in the slope with the fine granite blocks cut and fitted around. When the landing here was torn up for the construction of the then new Riverfront Stadium many were pulled out. What's left of the landing at the eastern end now near Sawyer Point Park 'may' have some of those ancient 'deadmen' still in use. The City of Cincinnati did sink some new ones for sure. A neighbor of mine now retired from the City of Cincinnati Municipal Services reported seeing a number of these old bolts lying around in the city's holding/depot yards. Tons of those fine old granite blocks were dug up, hauled away and used for paving in other areas in/around Sawyer Point Park and for landscaping up Eggleston Ave. here. Tons more were simply given away to those wanting them for other purposes. As you know the landing here for years was known as 'Strader's Wharf' as Jacob Strader [Sidewheeler JACOB STRADER] owned most of the landing. Jack Strader and Joan made sure the Public Landing here as deeded by the family was made available for public use. Thus their insistance that most of the parking meters be removed shortly after the city tried to slip them in. It's an interesting story and Joan Strader can relate the case with relish.

When the landing was to be destroyed the GREENE LINE/DELTA QUEEN CO. had to move the wharfboat out--and fast. For a while the big wharfboat was moored across the river in Covington. Betty Blake, in her S&D program speech one year, mentioned having to phone CARLISLE Construction Co. here to come over and sink some 'deadmen' in the bank to hold the GL wharfboat.

The old steam 'capstans' always fascinated me with their power and WHOOSH when put to work. Those in use today on boats/ships are all electric drive. Who out there knows the name of the company or companies today who manufacture them for marine use?

Cheers,
R. Dale Flick

The Str. GOLDEN EAGLE was making a landing where no ringbolts or trees were available. Capt. Buck Leyhe, on the hurricane roof, was directing the roustabouts as they were "installing" a dead man" on the river bank. A curious lady passenger asked the captain what the deck crew was doing out on the bank and Capt. Buck reponded, "They are burying a dead man." She clutched her throat, gasped and said, "OH! one of the passengers?"

Dale,
The Schoellhorn-Albrecht Machine Co. in St. Louis is still producing an extensive line of capststans, all electric, as you say. They have been in business for quite a long time, and id make steam capstans at one time. I know there are other manufacturers, but S-A in St. Louis is one of the oldest and most respected.

Dale: You may find it of interest to note that there remains as a sop to the river fraternity, a place to launch a small boat on what is left of the public landing. Those at Tall Stacks this year may remember where the General Jackson was moored. Just there, there is a pair of wing walls to delineate where to launch. Those wing walls make it manditory to have a deckhand with me when I launch MISSIE there as there is usually some wave action and always a pretty good current there...even on the inside of a curve in the river. It is my theory that he influx of the Licking River, almost directly across the Ohio, in Kentucky, causes that by forcing a lot of the Ohio River current to the Cincy side. It is also a chore in that current to get MISSIE back on her trailer without the deckhand doing a bit of wading! In slackwater, I can and often do, launch and retrieve solo without getting a foot wet. But someone has to be there to prevent MISSIE from being forced upon those concrete wing walls which are often just awash or a bit above or below. There is a designated parking spot of the boat tow vehicle and trailer...under the shadow of the Broadway Bridge. The rest of the landing may be packed FULL of parked cars, but that parking/launching area is kept clear for boaters. From what you say, the Straders are responsible for that being so...please express to them my appreciation for their thoughtfulness and sense of history. A long and two shorts for the Straders!

Hi, Tom & gang:
Yes, the 'story' of the parking meters being installed on the landing here is a 'goodie.' Jack and Joan were on a DELTA QUEEN trip to NOLA back in the latter 1950s. Jack's mother was still living then and saw a notice in the Cincinnati papers about the parking meters whick she promptly clipped and mailed to the DQ down south. When the DQ arrived back Jack and Joan looked and, sure enough, there were rows of shiny new meters on posts ready for business. They promptly met with their representing law firm and walked into City Hall here for a meeting. Can't remember if Carl Rich or who was Mayor at the time. Old deeds and letters of agreement from the Strader family were quietly hauled out and eyes met over the table. Within days the meters were removed...POOF!...gone. I never cared much for the infamous Larry Flint but had to agree with his opinion on politicians. "Watch these birds and don't even blink your eyes. They'll sell you down the river in an instant."

Tom, I'm not surprised at the current and out-flow from the Licking River across from here you describe. Other sources tell me that from time to time a submerged 'dune' of mud etc. builds up in the river just off the Public Landing here. Within the last several years I saw the MQ--and possibly the DQ--maneuver to 'wiggle' off of that mud. Bob Reynolds and Don Sanders may know more about this.

Cheers,
R. Dale Flick

PS> Tom, thanks again for the sharp eyed editing you did on my manuscript. "Takes a village' to catch those subtle typos. Don't ever totally trust 'Spell check'/'edit' on a computer.

Dale: Capt. Bob Reynolds gave the name of the most popular, but here are a few more I see on my travels; Jeamar Corp., Nabrico, Amclyde Corp., Coastal Marine and Appleton. Don't know which would be best to haul you up Burney hill.

Steam Capstan

R. Dale
The capstan on the Delta Queen is steam powered.
Dennis

Dear Dennis, Bill & others:
Thanks for insights on 'capstans.' Bill Judd mentioned one company manufacturing them named 'Appleton.' There is a Cincinnati link to Appleton and I wonder if this concern was located in Massachussets? Anybody know? Well, I could get 'unlazy' and click on Internet for a seek and search. More, possibly, on this in time.

Cheers,
R. Dale Flick

Cobbles and Ring Bolts

The riverbank on the Cinti side above what is now Sawyer Park, for a mile, I'd say, is reveted with zillions of those granite pavers; probably taken from the city streets or even from the old Public Landing. When the historic landing was destroyed for that hideous stadium that looked like a commode fit for the Jolly Green Giant, many of those great steel ringbolts were piled awaiting the scrap man. I "liberated" two of them, and eventually they found their way beneath my bunk in the Mate's Room on the DELTA QUEEN. Capt. Tate, having seen them, persuaded me to donate them to the, then, fledgling river muse on Mud Island, in his hometown of Memphis. Should there be some steamboat ringbolts on the museum property, two, at least, may be the ones that tied generations of steamboats to the cobbles of the Cincinnati landing.

There was a letter to the editor in the Sunday Cincinnati Enquirer on the last day of Tall Stack of a Family wanting to walk along the "free Public Landing" in Cincinnati to look at the boats, only to be told " that will be $75.00" [$25.00 per person].

The letter further stated, as i recall they crossed over to the kentucky side and had a nice walk for free.

What ever happened to the reported Wurlitizer Theater Pipe Organ in the Strader House?