Picture of the Week

Hi, Alan:
Judy's 'Pic o' the week' is a dandy and there's a lot more going on in that photo than you'd think. No doubt it's World War II years as evidenced by the number of young guys in navy and army uniforms. The clothes fit the era for sure. Any of the young gals in the shot wearing a 'snood?' Looks like a slow dance to me at this point--no 'Jumpin' at the Savoy' or 'Tuxedo Junction.'

Cheers,
R. Dale Flick

One of the 'threats' used on the NATCHEZ when there is such a band on a charter: we'll be switching to shore power shortly after we dock. That might affect (blow out) all your electronic stuff. That works. And of course, on any last trip of the day when its announced "Ok Chief, switch", and the lights go out momentarily while the shore power is connected, the passengers think its just a 'hint' for them to leave. Whatever works! Regarding that pix of the ADMIRAL's dance floor: I remember how cold the AC was in there in July, the blueish/gray bulkheads, and the 3rd deck balcony ice cream parlor. Does anybody recall bands that played on there in the late '50s? I know Bob Kuban had the house band in her last years, but am blank before him.

This is Annie Blum. The picture of the Admiral's ballroom brought back good memories. It was called the blue salon because the glass in the windows and in the doors was tinted light blue. The original ceiling was painted to resemble the midnight sky. That was before my time. Hal Havird and Johnny Polzin had played for years on the Admiral. When I came on the scene in 1962 Hal was playing in the daytime and Johnny was at night. Hal died suddenly and I think it was in 1963. His band did finish the year. Then Johnny Polzin changed to days and Dick Renna was at night. Bob Kuban appeared about 1976. He played at night and Dick Renna took the day. There were also rock bands on the fourth deck at night. I am typing from my memory. If anyone is interested, I can pull out my notes and be more specific. I believe that everyone knows that the Streckfus family understood about providing good music that people would likie. Bands played for all trips on most of their boats, going way back.

Dale, while Stompin' at the Savoy was fast, Tuxedo Junction was very slow, about 72 beats per minute. Nobody jitterbugged or did the Charleston to Tuxedo Junction. You stand corrected.

Hi, Alan:
Thanks for the correction on 'Tuxedo Junction' with beats etc. What was I thinking? Perhaps my snood was on too tight. I'll have to pull those old 78s out and refresh my ears. And so with that....

Cheers,
R. Dale Flick

More on the ADMIRAL

While most of the board posters are Ohio River oriented, I'd sure like to know more about the ADMIRAL, and I'm sure they would like to broaden their horizons too. I suspect one reason the ADMIRAL hasn't acquired a higher place in steamboat history is the fact that she never tramped or even changed locations occasionally, save for the couple of NOLA stints we've documented already. If you think about it, how many excursion boats of any size worked only one harbor? While the ISLAND QUEEN is tied to Cincinnati history, she went upriver and played Pittsburgh for a couple of weeks each year, and of course that is where she met her demise too. Before the PRESIDENT took up residency in NOLA, she tramped the Upper Miss. Did she ever go on the Ohio? What was the HOMER SMITH's territory? And back to the ADMIRAL, her streamlined aluminum-enclosed design also set her apart from her predecessors. She was built on the 1907 hull of the railroad transfer ALBATROSS, but did she also use its machinery? And my final puzzlement: it seems they claimed she never went upriver because she couldn't get under the Eads Bridge. But she was completely built above it, so she had to clear it at least once. She was built after the Locks and Dams system, so that shouldn't have affected the clearance, unless the newer Chain of Rocks L&D and canal did....Who on this board has ever ridden on the ADMIRAL, or even seen her in person? I suspect the number will be quite low...

I was on the ADMIRAL one very hot and sticky summer day the last year she ran under steam. The air conditioning wasn't working, so not much time was spent looking up at the ceiling in the ballroom and admiring the signs of the Zodiak painted above. I can't even tell you if a band was playing. I can tell you Jim Blum was pilot, "Popeye" and "Wimpy" were in the engineroom, and a real neat arcade machine on the main deck recreated the race between the NATCHEZ and ROB'T E. LEE. I haven't set foot on her since.

Judy: Some thirty years ago, I took my family to St Louis. The company that I worked for at the time sent me. They had a plant/office at 2220 Washington St if I remember correctly. It was the first time that I had been "at large" in that city. I remember seeing the BECKY THATCHER (nee MISSISSIPPI) and the ADMIRAL both but went aboard neither. Each time that I go to Denver and cross the Mississippi, I look north to see if I can see her and usually do, if it is daylight. When not driving, I try to snap a picture and have one or two of them. However, I have never been aboard either the BECKY or the ADMIRAL.

Passed her on a regular basis, both at dock and out on trips, in the middle to late 1950's. Rode her twice, once in 1964 and again with my 4 yr. old son in 1967 or 1968. He was much more impressed with going to the top of the Arch. I was on her, dockside, once more in '76 or '77 after the M&T units were installed. I'm sorry to say, other than her size, she never impressed me.

Hi, Judy and all. I have a couple of theories why the ADMIRAL would not have gone above Eads Brideg. First is that there really is not much to see up there, unless going on a trip to, say Alton. It is only about 4 miles up to the lower end of Chain of Rocks Canal - to get above there you have to go through the lock. After you get through the lock, there is a 9 mile long canal which is a boring ride, scenery-wise. Prior to Lock #27 going in service, you ran the Chain of Rocks itself, which is aptly named, and not a stretch of the river you'd want to run if not necessary. Below the Chain/Canal, there is really very little to see, with limited room to turn a big boat around in, and it would not burn up much time on an afternoon excursion. At night, not many people care about where they are going anyway. And, of course, you'd have to run the Eads Bridge twice. So, from both a scenery and piloting standpoint I can easily see why they would run downstream instead of up.

Like many on this board, I have never been aboard the ADMIRAL, though I have seen it numerous times, once at Memphis on her way back to St. Louis after having been on a stint in NOLA.

Capt. Charles Fehlig

It was my good fortune to have ridden the ADMIRAL a few times in the early 70's when Capt. Bill Streckfus was over there. That whistle was sure LOUD when you were sitting on the top deck behind the pilothouse, I recall. When the Captain went out to the wing bridge for the landing, a colored gentleman in a white jacket and bow tie opened the gate for him as he passed through. Captain Charles Fehlig, Trip Pilot Supreme on the DQ at the same time, got his start on the ADMIRAL, and he told us about the old-style formality in practice on the mammoth steamboat when he was piloting. Cap'n Fehlig said that if a man was on the dance floor without a tie, he was asked to vacate the floor until he was properly attired.

There were two passenger steamboat companies operating then where an interested party could work toward a license-- Greene Line Steamers, Inc., in Cincinnati, and the Streckfus Steamers in St. Louis and New Orleans. I'll take a chance in saying that all licensed steamboat men and women, today, came from either one or the other companies, if they did not "towboat", or else they are descended from those who did. Even today's BoL and the NOSC regulars got their steamboat education from Captains Doc and Roddy who were both GLS honor grads. The NOLA harbor surely boasts many Streckfus honoraries: Captains Don Summers, Vern Streckfus, Bert Schwarez, Joy and Troy Manthe, and others. Captain Lisa Streckfus is the St. Louis product of the S. S. Academy of River A&S that I know.

http://groups.msn.com/WillieandBustersWhirlwindTouroftheWorld/thelasttrip.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=817

Capt.Charlie Fehlig worked for many years as Master of large towboats for Mississippi Valley Barge Line, commonly known as "The Valley Line". Capt. Bobby Powell, who also was a big towboat Master-Pilot for Valley Line, once told me Capt. Fehlig had the nickname "FiFi" as he was quite a dapper gentleman and, as evidenced in Shipyard's posting of his picture, quite the lady's man. Capt. Rip Ware told me more than once that Charlie Fehlig was the only person to start on passenger boats and move successfully to towboats and "make it" as a pilot ot master. I now know that is not excatly true, but Capt. Ware often said it to encourage me to go on towboats, as he said "there ain't no future in these steamboats".

Capt. Fehlig holds at least 2 honorable distinctions from his times tripping on the DELTA QUEEN: He got his license extended up the Arkansas River to take the DQ up there in 1971, and he was one of the pilots on the famous "Presidential Cruise" with President Jimmy Carter aboard. The company felt Capt. Charlie was a bit more debonair than Capt. Henry Gross, and asked him to make the trip. Capt. Gross's feelings were mightily hurt by this, and he never worked for the DQ company after that, though he would have been welcome.

President Carter found out sometime in 1980 that Capt. Fehlig had had a heart attack (no one knows how he found out), and sent Capt. Charlie flowers in the hospital. Needless to say, the nursing staff was impressed that their patient received flowers from the President!

Charlie Fehlig was certainly a "Cracker Jack" Pilot hands down; Suave to the nth degree. Yes, he got his start on the Admiral. Told me one time he and others painted the Top Deck of the Admiral with mops, much to the chagrin of the Office. I painted the same deck myself a couple of times with a roller 24 inches wide, the roller pan wouild swallow up a 5 gal pail of paint and ask for more. Took me a full day and then some.

The Admiral was a wonderful vessel--I suppose one had to have a love hate relationship with "the overturned bathtub" as it was sometimes referred. To fully appreciate it one had to have a bit of appreciation of Art Deco (ever been to Cincinnati Union Termimal--a Masterpiece of Art Deco)?

The outer skin was NOT aluminum, but steel panels bolted together. A new coat of aluminum paint was applied every season. The company purchased the vehicle and the aluminum paste and mixed it onboard! I don't know how many gallons it took, but the savings over ready mix vs mixing on board must have been considerable.

The engines were thought to be pre Civil War engines. High pressure hand shipped, no steam assist. Water tube boilers in the hull, either side of the "center run" which ran from the peak to the rudder room. To hear the wosh of exhausting steam, the smell of oil mixed with steam, a live steamboat--nothing in the world like it.

One could always tell if the watertender had the water a tad too high by the sounds of the stack. As I once read many years ago (in reference to the railroad steam locomotive) 'THE MOST HUMAN MACHINE EVER EVENTED BY MANKIND"---obviously pre computer days. One could easily tell the "mood" of the engines by listening to the stack exhaust.

I have personally seen the Admiral leave on a Saturday night Dance Cruise with a Capacity crowd of 4000 with people standing on the levee! Not just two or three late comers, but I dare says a hundred or more.

The air conditioning on the boat was a Carrier unit--that when feeling well could cool quite nicely. I suspect a number of folks on this board never knew a house or car without Air Conditioning, so it might be difficult for them to comprehend a day when AC was a novelty---1940 Wow what a treat, cool air!

As to going above the Eads Bridge. She was (is) 98 ft over the guards, can't remember her clear height. Landing just below the bridge, getting her out from the wharfboat and straightened up for the center span of Eads would be more work for nothing much to see. As it was, getting her turned around and in line for the Poplar Street and MacArthur Bridges was enough of a chore in later Steam Days.

The men's WC on the main deck was --to put it politely--basic, no frills. The Womens Power rooms were another matter. Now in the days before " holding tanks" the plumbing was--shall we say--quite straighforward--straightpipe. One should not ponder too much over the location of the Powder Rooms, forward of, or over the wheelhouses. Many a Mate's vocabulary was exercised from time to time in non PC fashion I dare say.

To retire from this epistle I must say that the Admiral of 2006 bears NO citizenship with the Admiral of 1940 to 1979. Yes, the Carneige and Illinois Steel rolling marks remain on most of her ribs. Little else available to the public remains.

From Annie Blum: Last week someone in the boating buisness expressed thier oinion that "the Admiral was a very misundestood boat". In some ways it is true. I very much agree with Judy that because the Admiral did not tramp, people had to go to her instead of the other way around.My Jim has expressed it very well. The Admiral was a beauty, in fact she was magnificent. When she was a steamboat, she had real life. It was the kind of life that pulsated with the smells and sounds of steam.

All is lost now, but let us lift a toast to all the glory that was the Admiral!

Steering Time

Captain Charlie loved to spend much of his off-hours dancing away down on the ironwood deck, so when he came on watch at midnight, he was bushed. After awhile he'd say, "I'm going to take a little nap, here on the lazy bench. You take her, but if you need me just say my name or touch me." Consequently, I got lots of steering time, often with Watchmen Jamie Hansel and Greg Menke, alongside, calling off the names of the upcoming navigation lights from the Light List.

The ADMIRAL was truly an amazing vessel and I have been aboard her numerous times. I especially recall being on a night cruise in September, 1972, the final cruise of the season. It was a rather cool night and the temperature in the ballroom must have been below zero as the AC was on to "cool off" the crowds of dancers! It was thrilling to stand on the top deck during the departure, as the huge boat swung toward the Eads Bridge and pivoted gracefully around to head downstream for the 4 hour+ cruise to Jefferson Barracks. The engineroom was a delight to visit with its sounds and smells of hot oil and steam -- and it was awesome to watch the pitmans, lettered WIMPY and POPEYE, turn the big sidewheels. At that time, the ADMIRAL used the four barrel whistle of the steamer J.S. DELUXE, and it resounded with authoritative blasts! The calliope was from the Streckfus steamer CAPITOL and it was usually played during the trip when passing the nursing homes on the bluffs. Sometimes song requests were phoned to the Streckfus office for certain days for resident's birthdays and special occasions. The big arcade on the main deck was a popular spot for children and I remember the Steamboat Race game, which featured plastic models of the ROBT. E. LEE and NATCHEZ. I've often wondered what became of the paintings of the old Streckfus steamboats that were, I think, hanging in a bar near the dance floor.

I've seen many photos of the ADMIRAL under construction above the Eads Bridge and, for a time, the letters of her name were scrambled, to keep people guessing at what the name of the new boat was going to be. At the time the ADMIRAL came out new in 1940, after having been rebuilt on the hull of the railroad ferry ALBATROSS, there was mixed sentiment about her. Some said she represented neither the past nor the future. Much of her design was by a woman, Mazie Krebs. St. Louis' beloved river historian Ruth Ferris once told me about a newspaper editorial which sarcastically stated that "A maniac with a can opener must be loose on the St. Louis riverfront!" Many others saw the new vessel as one of the world's wonders and were delighted with it. Streckfus Steamers published a profusely illustrated magazine devoted to the new ADMIRAL with everything looking absolutely pristine and "state of the art" for the time. The late Capt. Bill Carroll, who was master of the ADMIRAL for many years was very proud of the boat and saved many artifacts from her, which now are preserved at the St. Louis Mercantile Library in the Pott Waterways Library. I have a small balsa wood life float from the ADMIRAL as well as a few souvenir items.

No, the ADMIRAL was not a typical twin stacked, gingerbread laden excursion boat, for which Streckfus was so famous, but she was a STEAMBOAT and certainly left her mark on river history, affording literally millions of people a ride on the mighty Mississippi. Well done thou faithful servant!

Streckfus had the HUCK FINN built in, I think, 1965 to run one hour cruises. These were popular with folks who didn't have the time to take the longer excursions on the ADMIRAL -- and many of these short trips went up to Chain of Rocks to give passengers a glimpse of the canal and locks. Later, Streckfus also added the SAMUEL CLEMENS, rebuilt from the excursion barge THUNDERBIRD. They also purchased the little excursion boat MISSISSIPPI BELLE from Frank Pierson, who owned the Str. BECKY THATCHER and GOLDENROD SHOWBOAT. This vessel, formerly the LAKE QUEEN, burned while tied up at the Streckfus wharfboat in 1974 and was scrapped. In the summer of 1970, I rode the Streckfus excursion boat TOM SAWYER in Tampa Bay. Streckfus certainly covered the waterfronts!

Annie and Jim:
I have always felt the Admiral lost it's soul when the engines were removed. I feel that the hulk now using the name of Admiral should probably be allowed to go it's own way and we remember the boat when it was truly a boat.

In the early 1970's when I was on the BELLE, we had a nice couple from Indianapolis who faithfully rode the boat on the Saturday night dance cruises. But every other Saturday evening they drove to St. Louis to ride the ADMIRAL because they also loved her BIG dance floor and the bands. Barney and Treva would come aboard, both dressed to the nines, looking like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers -- and they were fine dancers, gliding over the Belle's dance floor with grace and elegance. Many St. Louisans "grew up", I'm sure, on the ADMIRAL just as many river town kids did on the AVALON and later the BELLE which, hard to believe, has now been a Louisville icon for 43 years! I've been aboard the ADMIRAL several times in recent years and it is sad and dismal with hardly a vestige of her operating days. What a comedown to be relegated to a life of noisy gambling machines and thick, acrid cigarette smoke permeating her decks where once happy excursionists abounded! Indeed, as others have posted, her glory days ended when those big steam engines were removed, taking with them the sights, sounds and smells of a living, breathing STEAMboat!

Keith: So what happened to the steam engines? They were left in the PRESIDENT when she was converted. Are the boilers still there in the hull?

Tom: I'm not sure just what happened with the engines on the ADMIRAL or exactly when they were removed. Six Flags converted the boat into a stationary entertainment center in the 1980's and the engines might have been removed then, but I don't know for sure. I doubt if the boilers were removed from the hull but am not certain. I do know that in 1987 you could visit the pilothouse and the main deck was filled with shops. The big bell was still mounted on the bow, but I'm not sure it came from the ALBATROSS and I have a dim recollection that it was from a St. Louis church. Capt. Jim and Annie Blum surely can answer these questions for us.

Annie Blum here. I must admit that I do not know what happened to the steam engines. As soon as Jim gets home from work I will consult with him. He might remember since he was there the winter that the Admiral was dieselized. That process took place in 1973. I do know that the diesel engines went to John Connelly in the boat when he bought her in 1981. He took them out before selling her back to some St. Louis men in 1982. Please be aware that after 1979 I learned what was happening to the Admiral only because I read it in the newspaper.

Those of us who love her sometimes wish that she had done herself in back in the early 80s instead of being slowing and painfully destroyed.

Thanks, Annie. It is painfull to watch...good money after bad, many times pulls some of the well-intentioned right along with them. If they were cheap to own, maintain and run...a bunch of us would have one bigger than my little MISSIE.