Str. Betsy Ann Bell

Steamboat Bells !

Keith ,
Great story and posting on the Betsy Ann's bell and I was unaware of the fact that the bell now resides in Natchez . Does the bell have inscriptions on it such as the company that made it or for that matter when it was made ? In an earlier posting of mine , I mentioned that the DQ's bell and another bell I found sitting in the front yard of a home in Plaquemine , La. was made by the same company , Kaye of Louisville , Ky. . What a coincidence ? Go figure !
Smooth Sailing ,
Ted Davisson

Keith Norrington;16932 wrote: As mentioned previously on this forum, the roof bell from Capt. Fred Way's famed packet BETSY ANN reposes in the courtyard behind Stanton Hall at Natchez. The boat, built in 1899 at Dubuque, Iowa, was named for Elizabeth Learned, wife of Rufus Learned, who operated a large lumber mill at Natchez. The BETSY ANN first was a mail packet in the Natchez-Bayou Sara trade. Capt. Fred and his father owned the BETSY later in the early twentieth century and the steamboat is immortalized in the book, The Log of the Betsy Ann.

As I always do when visiting Natchez, I gave the bell three taps in loving memory of Capt. Fred. Nearly 17 years after his passing, he is still MUCH missed!

Yes, the bell is inscribed BUCKEYE BELL FOUNDRY, which was started in 1837 at Cincinnati by George Washington Coffin and later became Van Duzen and Tift. I'm not sure just WHEN the roof bell from the BETSY ANN was placed in the courtyard near the Carriage House Restaurant behind Stanton Hall, but I first saw it there in the early 1970's. As you mentioned, many bells were made by Kaye here in Louisville for use on steamboats.

I've always thought the bell aboard the DQ has a unique "pedigree" having been on the Anchor Line sidewheeler CITY OF ST. LOUIS and later the towboat JOHN W. HUBBARD, before ending up on the DQ.

In my bell file I found a reference from the Waterways Journal March 18, 1991 p 8. of a bell then on the Snow Wilson a boat that belonged to Jeffrey Sand Co. of North Little Rock, Ark. engraved "William Kaye, Louisville, Ky"
1n 1836-7 Wm. and F. Grainger of Louisville advertised as Engine builders, Machinists, Bell and Brass Founders.

After some digging in filing cabinets here's more on the BETSY's bell: When John I. Hay bought the boat in 1932 for conversion into a towboat, he stripped most of the aft cabin off and made other drastic changes to the appearance of the once proud packet. According to Capt. Fred Way, a group of Natchez Garden Club ladies, just then starting their famous Pilgrimage tours of the city's antebellum homes, heard about it and asked that the bell be returned to the city of the boat's original home port. Mr. Hay granted the request and the bell has resided in the courtyard behind Stanton Hall ever since.

When the BETSY was dismantled at the St. Louis levee in September, 1940, her hull became a landing barge for the Wood River Refinining Company and later was converted into a motorboat dock at Mile 18 on the Meramec River below St. Louis. The steel hull sank and was never raised, so it is quite probable that it still lies buried beneath the mud. The pilotwheel went to the Golden Eagle River Museum Club in St. Louis and today is displayed at the new museum in Cape Girardeau, MO. Several of the iron stair treads and numerous pieces of china, all bearing the boat's name, are in river museums and private collections.

Herewith are a few pictures of the BETSY in which the bell is visible. (1) On the lower Mississippi with twin stages. (2) At Emsworth Lock on the Ohio in 1921. (3) At Lock #5 on the Ohio in 1921.

A few more vintage views of the BETSY ANN...

(1) Betsy as a towboat in the 1930's. (2) Wheel repairs at Natchez. (3) Betsy as a boat dock on the Meramec River in the early 1940's.

The famous painting of the Str. BETSY ANN by Dean Cornwell, used on the cover of the paperback edition of Capt. Fred's wonderful book. (2) Iron Stair treads from BETSY ANN front stairway as displayed by curator Ruth Ferris in her Midship Museum aboard the Str. BECKY THATCHER at St. Louis in 1970. (3). Pilotwheel from BETSY ANN at Cape Girardeau Museum.

Keith, didn't they do a thermite weld on that wheel shaft at one time? I saw that process described and illustrated once, and wow, you talk about fascinating! Was it the BETSY ANN or not?

Bob, I don't know about the weld, but for your edification the boat DID break her shaft, completely in two, with the upshot being that they removed the original and replaced it with a used one from the Str. TELL CITY, which had a lesser number of arms than the Betsy's original 1899 wheel. The Gardner Docks at Point Pleasant WV built the "new" wheel for the BETSY. While the wheel work was going on, the Greene Line packet GREENWOOD was chartered to substitute for the BETSY. Capt. Fred said that nearly ALL of the haberdashery from the BETSY was transferred over to the GREENWOOD (including the light bulbs!) which had been laid up and stripped of equipment. She was loaded with freight and about to depart from Cincinnati for Pittsburgh one evening when the new packet CHRIS GREENE, through a mistake in engine room signals, backed into the GREENWOOD, causing her to roll over and sink at the wharfboat. No injuries or loss of life, but the GREENWOOD was a total loss -- and a LOT of new things had to be purchased for the BETSY ANN when she resumed service!

Very interesting photos of the wheel repairs. Does anyone know what that odd looking thing is that is attached to the shaft? Secondly, all the timbers used in the wheel construction seem to be extra heavy for a boat of her size.

As a matter of passing interest the name bell founder name of Kaye was pronounced "KAWyee" by the old-timers around here. Loretta Howard always said it that way.

Keith,

Thanks for the recent photos of Betsy's roof bell. Maybe I've asked this question before and don't remember whether I got a response or not. What ever became of the Betsy's whistle. I think the sotry was that she got it from the Lula Prince and that it might of also seen some use on the Altair, or maybe my lines are crossed. Capt. Fred sure had some foresight to have someone measure those whistles while he owned the boat and to put that information in "The log of the betsy Ann". Otherwise without that information I wouldn't have been able to build the replica whistle I cherish today. Speaking of which I am hoping to take that whistle to Michigan for the Boot Hill whistle blow in June and blow it on steam. Any information on the history and disposition of Betsy's whistle would be appreciated.

Aaron

I had to go out of town this morning, but as I now have more time to look at the pics, and to see Keith's and Ted's postings, I am seeing they DID do a thermite weld on that wheel shaft. Possibly it did not take, and they ended up using the TELL CITY wheel shaft?

There was an article in the REFLECTOR some years back about the thermite welding process. Maybe someone can dig that up and post a better description, but I seem to remember the following: The shaft is chipped of all paint and rust, the crack cleaned as well as possible, and that "contraption" is bolted onto the shaft. It is a mold that has a large funnel at the top. Molten metal (steel? Iron?) is poured in the mold, forms around the entire shaft and seeps into the crack. After the metal cools sufficiently (probably 36 hours ???) the mold and funnel can be unbolted and removed. Now, I don't know if they left the extra metal, (looking like a "cast") on the shaft or not after the repair was complete. I would guess they would, to add extra strength. May be some engineer (hello, Alan!) can come in and tell us if this is correct.

Bob, the two middle photos certainly appear to be a thermite weld. Clue is in both photos, a large man with hat, tie and what appears to be white shirt. Clue two is the man with air chisel cleaning paint from wheel shaft and the tiny white line in the middle of the paint free spot (is that the crack maybe?). Clue three is the tall funnel contraption bolted onto the shaft. Only a wild guess on my part.

Bob: I, too, remember seeing an article on thermite welding on the B/A shaft. It is a common method used in joining railroad rail and I have seen it done in our plant in Cincy. As I remember the "funnel" is filled with Thermite and ignited. The heat of combustion melts iron in the mix and it performs the weld. I seem to remember that it worked on the BETSY. Cap'n Walnut

Thanks, Capt. Walnut! Now, please explain "thermite", as that's what I could not remember. What does it consist of, and how does it burn?

I did some more "digging" in files last night. The two pictures I posted of the BETSY ANN wheel under repair were taken circa 1910 (according to the September, 1994 issue of the S&D REFLECTOR) at the time of the thermite weld. At that time the wheel shaft was cracked. Some years later it broke completely in half and it was then that the wheel shaft from the Str. TELL CITY was used for a replacement.

Bob: It'd be nice if you thought that I really knew all this stuff. Thermite is a mixture of iron oxide powder (powdered rust!) and metallic aluminum powder mixed together and set alight! The latter is the real trick. Magnesium (used in fire-bombs) is often used to initiate the reaction in which the Fe3O4 (rust) is reduced to molten iron and HEAT...lots and lotsa heat. Actually, I did know this at one time and I usta not remember forgetting anything, but now I do and had to look this up in the archives! So, now that I'm starting to remember forgetting things, does that mean I'm improving in my old age?? Cap'n Walnut.

Thanks for the resolution! I guess we can infer from that that a wheel repaired in that fashion is like driving your car with that little spare tire -- keep going under regular operating conditions at your own risk.

Found a picture of the KAYE bell that formerly was displayed in the backyard at the museum and now is in storage -- because would be thieves tried to drag it to the street one night long ago. It is from the Jeffersonville-Louisville ferry FROMAN M. COOTS. We also have the shipyard bell and the roof bell from the Howard built towboat DUFFY. In the attached photo by Capt. Jim Howard, she's at the shipyard with the excursion boat ISLAND MAID, which bears an uncanny resemblance to the BELLE OF LOUISVILLE.

I have long been struck by the remarkable appearance of the "Island Maid," but I cannot recall ever seeing a picture of her as the "G.W. Hill".....did she have the "Belle"-like look from her beginning, or did she acquire it when rebuilt as the "Island Maid"?

Keith to Keith: Take a gander at the attached photos of the boat in her G.W. HILL days. Appears that she was enclosed later on, much like the IDLEWILD/AVALON. I seem to recall Doc Hawley telling me that the AVALON inherited the steel stage from the ISLAND MAID and it was on the boat until about 1965 when the new and much lighter weight aluminum stage was built. I know the old stage did service for many years on the wharfboat RENOWN and finally was taken to the city dump, where several steamboat buffs and buffettes made pilgrimages to see it!

Thanks for the photos, Keith! While it would seem that the "Hill" and the "Idlewild" did have certain basic similarities, clearly it was not until the "Hill" was rebuilt as the "Island Maid" that she offered an amazing glimpse into the "Idlewild's" future. I don't recall that Cap'n Way's directory states where the rebuild took place. Anybody know?

Keith: The G.W. HILL was built at Howard's in 1909. She became the ISLAND MAID in 1922 and burned in 1929 at Cincinnati, losing much of her upper works. She was rebuilt at Howard's, only to again burn on December 7, 1932, while on the Madison Marine Ways with the towboat FRED HALL.

(1) At a landing - using steel stage that later went to Str. AVALON/BELLE OF LOUISVILLE.

(2 & 3) At Howard Shipyard.

hey Keith I have a Dean Cornwall framed print of the Betsy Ann that I got as a wedding gift in 1981 but I couldnt see the bell.