Topic starter
14/01/2008 3:37 pm
Steamboating colleagues:
'Richardson Printing Co., Marietta, Ohio, just E=Mailed this morning and informed me that the Winter issue of the S&D REFLECTOR was mailed last Friday and should be arriving in your mail boxes. Indications are this issue is going to be a dandy and "most interesting" from Capt. David Smith, editor. Stay tuned and whomever receives theirs first give a yell on Steamboats.org for that big 1st prize SNICKERS BAR.
15/01/2008 9:23 pm
Hey, hey, hey, my Reflector came today! Great issue! (Jan. 15, 12:00 noon)
Topic starter
16/01/2008 5:15 pm
Steamboating colleagues:
The Dec./Winter REFLECTOR just arrived here [11;30 AM, 1/16] and it's a dandy all of those will find who subscribe. Too much to relate about it but the last ISLAND QUEEN and the incredible B/W photos of the Clyde Trask Orchestra aboard taken within days of the explosion in 1947 featured. These courtesy of Gail Goebert down in Texas from her late father's collection. Gayle's father 'missed' the explosion being away for a medical appointment at the time. Fine piece with photos from glass plates by Jerry Sutphin on the classic QUEEN CITY along with '40th Anniversary Sinking of the RIVER QUEEN' as prompted by Keith Norrington and photos. Sept. 2007 S&D meeting report complete.
Appears John Fryant wins the big 1st prize SNICKERS BAR so far. Are there others out there? Keep your eye on the mail boxes. Read and enjoy.
Cheers,
R. Dale Flick
16/01/2008 10:32 pm
Fine issue--I've been transcribing notes from talking with Doc Hawley about both the Queen City and the Gordon C. Greene. It was wonderful to open up this issue of the Reflector, and see the boats come alive as I listen to Doc's voice! I look forward to each issue, and make sure one is on my desk on the Delta Queen--along with membership information in S&D!
17/01/2008 5:43 am
RH Shipyard Okay
Arrived back from the Decatur yard, yesterday, and was delighted to find a perfect specimen of the Reflector in the mail box and free of greasy paw prints. Whatta break after the last issue arrived looking like it went 'round the Horn before deliverance.
Welcome to S&D, Steamboat Mary.
17/01/2008 9:25 pm
Reflector arrived West Lafayette,IN today 17 Jan in pristine condition.
21/01/2008 3:35 pm
Reflector in Columbus, IN, and in excellent condition.
Reference photo on page 29.....I have wondered ever since I first saw this picture (some 30 years ago in Cap'n Bates catalog of plans): why is there no background? Where's the opposite riverbank? An unusual fog maybe? Was the focal length of the camera such that anything beyond the "Cape Girardeau" just washed out...?
21/01/2008 7:28 pm
Arrived in Louisville KY on the 19th of January.
Excellent edition! Particularly enjoyed the QUEEN CITY article.
Did anyone else notice the galley picture ceiling and the particularly thin floor joists for the deck above? All the lumber looks suspiciously thin about the boat in all pictures.
Now I know why Capt. Tom R. Greene was so impressed with the DELTA QUEEN. Every single piece of timber about her is so stout in comparison! As Capt Fred Way Jr. once said, "there isn't a boat out there that can hold a candle to that DELTA QUEEN" And how right that is!
~Travis~
Topic starter
21/01/2008 9:39 pm
Hi, Travis & steamboating colleagues:
Glad your REFLECTOR arrived. Keen eyes you have RE: the size of the lumber and joinery work on the QUEEN CITY. She was built in the era when extreme low water in dry months could lay boats up for days to weeks on end. Her hull was wood from the time she hit the water here at the 'Cincinnati Marine Railway Co.' out on Eastern Avenue. What caught my eye were the suspiciously low--and potentially dangerous--railings on the decks with those much touted resettes. The pantry shot of the QC also shows just a few naked light bulbs hanging down from above. Amazing the cooks could turn out the meals they did on that scale for so many three times a day plus other 'lunches' for those on late watches. Passengers of all ages in those long-gone days tended to dress fashionably on steamboats as we see in the deck scenes on the QC. Same dress held for rail travel back then. Interesting to say the least. Old Jim Burns built the DQ "stoutly" due to the near two mediums she was required to sail in from the near ocean-like expanses of wind-swept San Francisco Bay to the upper reaches of the Sacramento. No question such loving care has contributed much to her long life.
Capt. Fred Way's chapter on the QUEEN CITY in his classic 'PILOTIN' COMES NATURAL' is pure poetry rivaling that of Mark Twain when it came to steamboats. No wonder Fred fell hypnotized by the 'song of steam' at such an early age.
Cheers,
R. Dale Flick