Str. Becky Thatcher - Price Reduction

That Whistle Again

What's the condition of the hull? The City of Rise n' Shine was interested in her about a year ago.

Isn't that the same whistle I was given by the owners of the boat when she was in St. Louis in the early '70's? Notice how the bell is all bent over? KPH, Jr. replaced the threaded rod when my crew, including Greg Menke, disconnected the whistle from the spreader bar. It was a mess-- painted USACE red and tan.

Here's a link showing the whistle after I gave it to John Hartford, in 1977, while standing in the shadow of the BECKY at Marietta. John gave it to Miss Ferris, who, in turn, gave it to Captain Wilbur Dow for "his new boat", presumeably the LAC JU SAINT SACREMENT. Take note, young Mr. Dow.

Willie and Buster's Whirlwind Tour of the World

The LAC JU SAINT SACREMENT link:
Willie and Buster's Whirlwind Tour of the World

Don't know about the condition of the hull. To my knowledge the last time the boat was hauled out was after the 1984 sinking. Instead of removing the old plates, they put a steel overlay on the bottom -- and that was in 1985. Over the past few years I've received a number of inquiries about the boat and for an honest, professional opinion concerning her overall condition, hull integrity, etc., I refer them to Capt. Bill Judd.

Indeed, that's the same whistle that John Hartford brought aboard the DQ in New Orleans in the spring of 1978 and handed me like a "baby'! I well remember when the crew installed it and we blew it up to Vicksburg and back. It was, as I recall, not a very pretty sound -- at least nothing to compare with the DQ's beautiful and melodious whistle!

The whistle was in Ruth's "Steamer E.Z. Rocker", the name she gave her basement river museum, and then, as you mentioned, she gave it to Mr. Dow for the LAC DU SAINT SACREMENT. The late Capt. Bill Tippitt, who was a pilot on the Str. MISSISSIPPI, told me that she wore various whistles throughout her career because her longtime master, Capt. David Cook, enjoyed changing them. One of those whistles, a three barrel Lunkenheimer, is said to have gone to one of the Corps of Engineers dredges.

The new and very fine river museum at Tunica, Mississippi has a number of boat whistles on display, said to be from Corps of Engineer boats, as well as fabulous models of the Str. MISSISSIPPI and M/V MISSISSIPPI IV built by the late Paul McKinney, who had the models insured by Lloyd's of London!

Bunch of Hippies for a Crew

"I well remember when the crew installed it..."

That "crew" was a crew-of-one; in other words, me, as the follow link will attest:

Willie and Buster's Whirlwind Tour of the World

On one of his visits to our home (then in Alexandria, VA) John Hartford brought that big Mississippi Whistle along and I have a color slide of it laying on the rug in our living room. He also had it along on one of the trips I made with him on the Julia Belle Swain in 1977. During that trip he and Denny Trone unscrewed the Julia Belle's whistle and installed the Mississippi one. As I recall, it had a very deep and not too melodius roar; not nearly as nice as the Julia's three chime "warbeler".

Looks like the ebay seller is doing the old "Bait-N-Switch" game with the pricing to get people to start bidding. Opening bid is $99K, but there is a reserve price, probably set at $249K (it is listed elsewhere on ebay at that price without a reserve). It has been on ebay for at least 2 years now. It's sad to see that boat in limbo.

Saw Mill Whistle?

To be completely fair, when we blew that certain whistle on the DELTA QUEEN, we didn't have a flange that fit it right; so we used a bolt, or two, and held the whistle the rest of the way onto the flange with a pair of channel locks. The whistle sounded okay for a single-chimer the first blow, or so, but as it was blown more it soon got out of whack. One observer said it sounded like a sawmill whistle.

When John Hartford and Cap'n Trone blew the MISSISIPPI's last whistle on the JBS that time on the Illinois River, John was audio recording the event. By my night stand is that very tape.

"Sounds like the SPRAGUE," said Captain Trone the first time it blew.

The two then proceeded to experiment with various adjustments between the bell and the cup to try to find the perfect pitch, but the results were never very memorable. The tape, though, remains a treasure of a special moment on the river.

On several occasions, I had the distinct pleasure of seeing the Steamer MISSISSIPPI underway on steam power and hearing her whistle as she exchanged salutes with the AVALON behind President's Island. History was repeating itself as I watched and listened and understood that such scenes were rapidly rushing to an end.

Shipyard,

A sawmill whistle was usually either a 3-note chime whistle (small thing of about 1' or less in length manufactured by compaines like Buckeye, Crosby, Lunkenheimer...to name a few) or on rare occasions the manufacturer was the farmer himself. Some of those one off individual whistles were much larger. However, the larger ones sapped the steam pressure and the farmers were quick to remove them.

So if someone thought the big MISSISSIPPI whistle was a saw mill whistle, I suspect she must have been wildcatting (shreaking, if you will) which is what a steam whistle will do when the bell it threaded too far down for the ambient steam pressure. This causes an inversion of the steam and traps it inside the bell causing a decrease in the resonant area, hence the high pitched squeal the whistle will make.

I would love to hear that whistle with steam in it blowing correctly. It is a giant and I bet what Cap. Trone said is true....bet she sounded something like the SPRAGUE.

Since we are talking whistles....a question oft not answered is this... Why did Cap. Trone remove the 2 small 3-chime whistles from the JULIA BELLE SWAIN whistle when he sold the boat. The 2 replacement single-bell whistles are the same tone and the beautiful warble that personified the JULIA BELLE is gone. Actually, her whistle today is rather boorish in sound when it does blow correctly. I know he took the large yellow "T" from in between the stacks for personal reasons...and those make total sence. The whistle however, I have never heard the compelling reason.

~Travis~

They might have had some sentimental value to him. I know when I sold the Mikahala the stack whistle went with her, but that's because it was the one Scott put on her when she was built--now the "auxiliary" whistles stayed with me so I can someday transfer them to my next steam launch! Yeah, I'm a bit whistle crazy with about a half-dozen of various sizes and some exhaust whistles and even one air whistle off a Pacific Electric street car. And then there's the hand cranked siren. . . .

Wow! You've got that down to a science, but you have to know your whistles, Perfessor.

Many of us have little treasures like my recording of the MISSISSIPPI whistle being blown on the JBS with John Hartford narrating. It would be fun to be able to collect and share these vignettes of steamboat history before they are lost. Slides, photographs, video and audio recordings would all be included.

So the whistle that we have mounted on the stack of the "Saint" is actually the one from the MISSISSIPPI?! That's awesome!! We have it hooked up and it operates on compressed air now. It's the whistle of choice to blow to people on shore (well, that depends on what captain is working) because the whistle pull is right next to where the captain usually sits to steer. It's a little shrill at first, but i guess it does the job. You'll see it in the picture I posted if you just look on the stack. How long was that whistle on the MISSISSIPPI for?

Look for the Scratch Marks

Matthew,

I cannot tell you how long the whistle was on the U. S. MISSISSIPPI, but I saw it for a number of years when the boat was renamed the BECKY THATCHER. As I posted, before, I also saw the MS on numerous occasions running under its own steam power behind President’s Island, Memphis... and she exchanged whistle salutes with our own boat, the Steamer AVALON. You should ‘a been there!

In 1970, or '71, the whistle painted USCE red with a government tan-colored cup leaned lop-sided and neglected, stuffed with bird nests, from the spreader bar between the BT smokestacks. I was the Mate on the DELTA QUEEN tied below the BECKY, and I approached one of the owners and actually pursuaded him to give me the whistle.

"Come over and get it next time your boat's in town," he said.

"Oh, we'll get it now."

So I rounded up my crew, and armed with handy lines, wrenches, and a hacksaw, and went upon the roof of the BT where Greg Menke and I climbed onto the spreader bar and tried to loosen the bolts, but they were rusted and froze-up, so the hacksaw did its work and the whistle was lowered to the roof with the handyline and whisked over to the DELTA QUEEN before the former owner had second thoughts.

The whistle looked terrible, as I said, but we carried 'er back to the engine room where Kenny P. Howe, Jr. was the Assistant Engineer on watch. Kenny removed the bent and rusted adjustment rod and replaced it with a length of all-thread. Then he attached it to Chief Cal's metal-turning lathe where we removed the paint and gave the brass a bright shine and put it all back together.

That whistle slept under my bed in the Mate's Room for another year, and then it reposed beneath my bed at the Albro House in Covington, Kentucky until 1976 when I loaded into the trunk of my '65 Ford and carried it to Charleston, WV when I was the first Captain of the P. A. DENNY.

We tried to blow the whistle in C'town, but again, there wasn't a flange in town to fit her, so the MS remained in the trunk for some time to come.

When there was talk in our company about bringing John Hartford to town for the Sternwheel Regatta, the decision to hire John was yet undecided. I promised the crew that I would give the whistle to John if my pleading would help to decide in favor of bringing him to the festival. John, meanwhile, was familiar with the whistle as I had shown it to him when it was stashed beneath my bed on the QUEEN. He loved that whistle.

John Hartford came to Charleston and was a major contributor to the excitement of the paddlewheel festivities, but I did not get to present him with the whistle before he left town for the upcoming meeting of S&D at Marietta. He hadn't a hint of what my intentions were, or he would have stayed around Charleston until he got his whistle.

That next Saturday, I awoke early and drove all the way to the S&D gathering, but had to be back aboard the DENNY for the 1 PM departure. By time I arrived at the Lafayette Hotel, John was eating breakfast so I had a cup of coffee with him and as soon as he finished his ham and eggs, I asked him to accompany me to my old red Ford where I had something very special waiting for him.

The Ford was parked, of all things, in the shadow of the BECKY THATCHER, now docked on the Muskingum River behind the hotel. John had no idea of what was happening until the trunk flew open and I hauled out the heavy brass whistle and presented it to a very surprised steamboatman.

And that's that.

So if you will look on the top of the flange that's attached as part of the whistle below the brass cup where the head of the bolts are, you should see cuts and scratch marks made by the hacksaw when Cap’n Greg and I severed the rusty bolts holding the whistle to the BECKY THATCHER. Unless they have been buffed out, and I doubt if they are, those scratch marks will positively identify it as the last whistle worn by the U. S. MISSISSIPPI / BECKY THATCHER.

David: I have seen the manifestation of the sentimental value of whistles time and again. When I bought my little steamer MISSIE from Newark, Ohio, Joe had originally owned a 32' steam launch of mahogany (1913) named LADY S. He had sold it to another friend who in turn sold it into a restoration project where the Lady ended up with a diesel in her innerds. Joe kept the whistle and put it on his next steamer MIKTOO. When he sold me the MIKTOO (now MISSIE), he kept the LADY S whistle out of sentiment for the boat he "raised his family on". It is ironic that the MIKTOO was named for Bill Cody's first boat which was named MIKAHALA presumably your old boat. When Bill built his next boat about 1986 on a Rose hull that had been a sailboat, he named her MIKTOO in honor of his first steamer. Dunno if he put MIKAHALA's whistle on it or not. When I got the MIKTOO, Joe had already removed the LADY S whistle and I got her with her "original" whistle back on...presumably with the whistle Bill put on her...maybe it had been yours on the MIKAHALA! It is a sweet toned single chime "Crane 125" with about a five and a quarter inch long 3" diam bell. I have mounted a supplimentry three-chime Buckeye Brass Works 3" dia with bell standing some eight inches high. It is likely off a Shay locomotive out of the Kentucky hills. It is the latter whistle that is reputed to "lift paint" that is not too old when the pressure and boiler water ore just right. Mebbe my little whistle done come alla way from the west coast to Rabbit Hash, Big Bone Lick, Beaver Lick, Sugartit and other points of interest in Boone County. If so, "your" whistle is likely to stay if I EVER part with my girl friend MISSIE!
Cap'n Walnut

Over the weekend I looked through numerous photos, clippings, slides, etc., and, in the interest of historical accuracy, the whistle which was removed from the BECKY THATCHER at St. Louis in 1971 through the courtesy of owner Frank C. Pierson and now on the LAC DU SAINT SACREMENT is not the whistle that the Str. MISSISSIPPI was using at the time of her decommissioning on April 19, 1961 at McKellar Lake in Memphis. At that time she had the three barrel Lunkenheimer whistle, which was always kept polished and was said to be highly treasured by Capt. David Cook, master of the boat from 1946 until 1961. Somewhere, I have a tape recording made at the decommissioning ceremony and the whistle is blown several times. Capt. Bill Tippitt, longtime pilot on the boat, said that when the program was over and they started cooling down the boilers on the MISSISSIPPI for the final time, Capt. Cook kept blowing the whistle until all the steam was gone!

In looking through MANY photographs and slides (some of them taken by Capt. Tippitt) from the 1930's, 40's and 50's, I counted no less than 5 different whistles "worn" by the boat throughout her career which spanned the years from 1927 until replaced by the M/V MISSISSIPPI IV in 1961. The slender, single barrel whistle on the BECKY was unpainted when I first saw it during the summer of 1968 at St. Louis. In the spring of 1969 just before the boat was opened as a restaurant, bar, steamboat museum and gift shop, she was painted white with red and yellow trim, and it was then that the whistle was painted red.

So, most likely the whistle on the BECKY appears to have been installed after the boat was no longer in operation as a replacement to fill the empty space left by the removed Lunkeheimer whistle that was used in the boat's final years of operation. The MISSISSIPPI was sold at auction by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1963 and the high bidder was Mr. John Groffel, a St. Louis steel company executive. The winning bid was $35,110.00

The late Capt. Arthur McArthur, who was a pilot on the DELTA QUEEN, had been on the MISSISSIPPI and he told me that he thought the Lunkenheimer whistle might have gone over to either the Corps of Engineers dredge POTTER or OCKERSON, but wasn't sure. So, the whistle might still be around somewhere!

I have another recording, made aboard the Str. MISSISSIPPI, which features head deckhand Joe Coleman, "singing" the lead line calls along with other sounds of the boat. Copies of copies of copies of this recording have been scattered far and wide! In my forays into "dusty boxes" of slides, I also found some, taken in the spring of 1978, showing Capt. Don Sanders and head deckhand Chug Osborne installing (maybe removing!) the BECKY whistle on the DQ. After a couple of days, everybody was more than happy to have the DQ's beautiful whistle put back where it belonged!

The Orphan Whistle

Great piece of reporting…. as usual. But after hearing your history of that whistle, I have renamed it the ORPHAN WHISTLE.

It does look like handsome, however, mounted on the stack of the LAC DU SAINT SACREMENT in Matthew's photo. Maybe he can get up there and look for the saw-mark abrasions for verification. An audio recording of the SAINT blowing a toot on the Orphan Whistle would be a great inclusion on this website's collection of whistle blows.

Chuck Osborne. How did you remember his name? You must have written it down. Chuck (Was Chug a nickname- like in chug-a-lug?) came from the deep-sea and was a good, all-around boatman. Some dim recollection tells we carried him as a "bosun", though the DQ didn't require one on the COI.

That orphan whistle, like most politicians, didn't live up to expectations. However, the whistle I have now at my disposal to blow is a good as any on the river... just wish we had live steam to round out her sound.

Whistle: Grand Victoria II | steamboats.org

The Orphan Whistle

Great piece of reporting…. as usual. But after hearing your history of that whistle, I have renamed it the ORPHAN WHISTLE.

It does look like handsome, however, mounted on the stack of the LAC DU SAINT SACREMENT in Matthew's photo. Maybe he can get up there and look for the saw-mark abrasions for verification that actually is the same whistle. An audio recording of the SAINT blowing a toot on the Orphan Whistle would be a great inclusion on this website's collection of whistle blows.

Chuck Osborne. How did you remember his name? You must have written it down. Chuck (Was Chug a nickname- like in chug-a-lug?) came from the deep-sea and was a good, all-around boatman. Some dim recollection tells we carried him as a "bosun", though the DQ didn't require one on the COI.

The Orphan Whistle, like most politicians, didn't live up to expectations. However, the whistle I have now at my disposal is a good as any on the river... just wish we had live steam to round out her sound.

Whistle: Grand Victoria II | steamboats.org

Sam: Capt. Fred Way once said he didn't think there was a whistle on the river that wasn't involved in "controversy" of some sort! Because of my longtime tuteluge under and friendship with Miss Ruth Ferris, the MISSISSIPPI/BECKY THATCHER has always been a special interest and I have "tons" of material about the boat, not only from Ruth, but from libraries, former crew members, the Corps archives, etc., including a big role of blueprints. The first time I was on the BECKY at St. Louis, there were still dishes in the cabinets, beds in the staterooms, etc., and it was almost as if she was still in operation. I'll keep digging and see if I can uncover any further clues about the mystery of "The Orphan Whistle"!

A few years back, Mike Giglio fashioned a wooden whistle, painted it gold and placed it on the BECKY where the "real" whistle once was located between the stacks. Although the BECKY is closed, those "pilgrims" going to Marietta next week for the S&D meeting can take a gander and see if the faux whistle is still intact!

Yes, I kept a daily logbook on the DQ and it's a real trip down memory lane to read over it these decades later. Chug (seems his name might have been Chris --- Bob or Lexie might recall) had a cousin, I think, who also was a deckhand and his moniker was "Lurch"! Capt. Harry Louden loved to "expound" on that one!

Who could forget Chug and Lurch, and Belushi and Half-Baked Alaska and Cheyenne, and Capt. Louden could expound on all of them. Chug did get his mate's license and served as such. He was probably smarter than all the rest put together.

Sketch I did of Chug as Mate.

Very interesting updates with what Shipyard refers to as the "Orphan Whistle". I'll be working on the "Saint" as a pilot this summer, and I'll have to get up there and check it out closer. Also, I can try to get a recording, but I don't know how to go around putting it on here. Also, the "Saint" isn't a paddlewheeler. Would that be appropriate for this website? I'd be more than happy to do that, but I don't want to upset the powers that be.

Thanks, Lex, for posting that picture. Sam, I think you may be confused as to who we are talking about..."Chug" Osborne's real name was/is Chris Osborne, and he began (and ended, I assume) his boating career on the DQ. His older brother Randy had worked on the boat for a couple of years prior to Chug getting a job on the boat, and later their youngest brother Ted came to work on there as well. "Chug" did get his Mate's license and worked as Mate with me; he was in fact the front watch Mate on the Presidential trip with Jimmy Carter.

When I organized our "DQ Reunion Cruise" of 1970's crew members and passengers 11 years ago (!), I attempted to locate/contact all the Osborne brothers, to no avail. They were originally from Litchfield, Connecticut. As Sam says, though, they were all pretty good boatmen.

The Middle C Stood for Cheyenne

Robert, I think you are right. There was a "Chuck" who actually was the sort of decent boatman I described, but, apparently, he wasn't the Chug you folks remember. Chuck was on the boat a few year prior.

Cheyenne, AKA Cheyenne C. ("Where the middle C stands for Cheyenne) Cheyenne was a standard on the DQ in the early '70's. CCC died a few years ago, but he kept in touch with me until practically his dying day.

Cheyenne was an outstanding bumperman in the days when a crewman had to get out on that crinkled guard on the outside of the Main Deck and get the possum in-between the steel boat and the cement lockwall. And Cheyenne did it wearing high-heeled, pointy-toed cowboy boots, to boot. It took a lot of courage to be a good bumperman, and CCC was one of the best I remember.

Cheyenne was a hoot on Crew Talent Night wearing his western git-up with Vic Tooker's geetar hanging around his neck while attempting to croon old-time cowboy tunes, but didn't know a note to accompany himself on the guitar.

He actually got a job on a working ranch, out in Montana, or somewhere, where one of his duties was to "ride fence". He'd never been on a horse, before, except when the carnival came to Carroll County and he got to ride the pony that went round and round the circle.

Chey was in the saddle for a week and slept beneath the stars at night. When he got back to the bunkhouse, he was so saddle sore, he had to eat his meals standing up with his plate atop the mantlepiece. When the season ended, and the winter winds started howling, he was paid-off and driven to the front gate, miles and miles from the nearest town, and put off by the side of the road. It was a miracle he survived.

Cheyenne and Captain Gabe
Willie and Buster's Whirlwind Tour of the World