-From a Currier & Ives Lithograph, 1874, on Missouri Historical Society postcard Artist's conception of the great St. Loni bridge.

By JAMESV. SWlFr (or was) some 30 feet long, and is last rate quality of the books. Secretary Bea WJ Contributing Editor known to have been shown in New Rutter reported that the membershipwas VVehave here a picture of the great Orleans,but it wasin England too. some1,394 strong, up in a year from 1,308. bridge at St. Louis built by JamesB. Eads. Shealso called for a showof handsfor those This wasan artist'sconception of it afterthe The Reception who would like more binders for the S&D formal opening July 4, 1874. How the The S&D meeting actually started on Reflector: apparently more are needed. bridge was built was the subject of an ani- September 15, with a reception in the (Speakingof the Reflector,president Rut- mated talk at the Sons& DaughtersofPio- Hotel Lafayette,headquarters of the event. ter said that boxes of overagesfrom back neer Rivermen's annual banquet There were light refreshmentsto add to issuesare still availableto libraries, muse- September16 by JosephE. Vollmar Jr. of the genial atmosphereof old friends meet- ums, etc.) St: ~uis, a real authority on the famous ing, and in view were paintings of the bridge and JamesEads. steamerNatchez of New Orleans,by For- Director's Report Vollmar had somevery interesting com- rest F. Steinlage,and of the Tell City and William C. Judd, chairman of the S&D mentary and slides on Eads' work, which John W. Hubbard by Dr. Martin "Pete" board,reported that the board meetstwice included not only the bridge, but gunboats Striegel. There also were models of the a year and really wants to hear from the for the Union during the Civil VVarand the and engineroomsof the membersabout their opinions of the orga- jetty systemat the mouth of the Mississip- North Starand Chiootby ChuckWires and nization. Currently the board is dealing pi that really made New Orleansthe great JohnFryant. with a contract with the Ohio Historical port that it is. Eadsalso conceived a railroad Societyfor storagespace. across Mexico to carry ships from the The Business Meeting Atlantic to the Pacific,that would havesup- The serious part of the S&D meeting J. Mack Gamble Fund plemented the PanamaCanal. He had a came on Saturdaymorning with the annu- The chairman of the J. Mack Gamble worldng model of this railroad built, com- al businessmeeting, presided over by pres- Fund, Don McDaniel, emphasized the plete with steam engines, etc. But the identJ. W. 'Woody" Rutter. The treasurer's need for more exact information on what model has disappeared, and Vollmar is report, given by R. Dale Flick, indicated the moneygiven organizationsis used for. greatly interested in its disposition, pho- that the organizationis very solvent,and He said at presentthe fund is worth some tographsof it, or any information on it. It is he was given accoladeslater for the accu- -SEE S&D PAGE 32 is S&D (CONTINUEDFROM PAGE 34) $852,000, and the capital gains from this, about $26,000, is available for loans. This year money went to the Museum, the Howard Muse- um (toward the model of the steamer Indi- ana), a river museum at New Matamoras, Ohio, and a Missouri River search for a boat used during the Prince Maximillian trip. McDaniel said that requests had come from the Murphy Library, La Crosse, Wis., and the Ceo. M. Verity Museum at Keokuk, Iowa. (Regarding the Murphy Library, Ralph Du Pae reported that the library has some 52,000 river- related photographs, 45,000 of which are .) Reporting for the Public Library of and Hamilton County, Sylvia Verdun Metzinger, manager of rare books and special collections, said the library has been very active river-wise. Much of the activity revolved around Tall Stacks, for which the library had exhibits arranged by M'Lissa Kesterman and a lecture series on "PaddIewheels, Pilots and Passengers:The American River Boat Experience." Met- zinger also prepared a list of titles on steamboats, which appeared in the Tall Stacks supplement of the Cincinnati Enquirer. She did a lot of work on Ohio River Resources: A GCLC Collection Guide. A special publication for the library is on the famous Cincinnati river panorama of 1848. The summer 1999 edition 1999 of the Cincinnati Historical Society's Queen City Heritage is devoted to steamboating. Lastly, an expandable trust fund was established in the name of Dorothea Frye and now has some $5,000.

The Museums John D. Briley, manager of the Ohio River Museum at Marietta, reported on the successful trip of the W. P. Snyder Jr. to Tall Stacks and the big crowds it drew. The boat needs a new hull and roof repairs; legislation from the state of Ohio may help get funds for the work,. but other aid is needed, he said. One other project was restoring the whistle on the Tell City pilothouse. He thanked Nelson Jones and the Madison Coal & Supply Company for the great help they gave in getting the Snyder to and from Cincin- nati. Speaking of Tall Stacks, an S&D display used there was at the meeting, the work of Rick Kesterman, who also was active in guiding visitors on the Snyder during Tall Stacks. The Chapters Always awaited at the annual meeting are the reports of the S&D chapters.The MississippiRiver Chapter report wasgiven by its president,J. Thomas Dunn; during the year its members participated in the Cape Girardeau meeting of the Midwest RiverboatBuffs and the Grafton, Ill., Great Rivers Towboat Festival. The O-K Chapter had asits representa- tive Capt. Charles Henry Stone,who lived up to his reputation as a great reporter. The chapter had interesting meetings including a video of a tow hitting the Baton Rouge Bridge, the 1997 ice on the Ohio, and a visit to Point Pleasant,W. Va., with -SEE S&D PAGE 33 Chuck Wires, left, and Johu Fryant demonstrate the fine points of model- building during a special seminar at the S&D annual meeting. S&D (CONTINUEDFROM PAGE 32) the MOR Chapter.This latter meeting led to a high point of the report: the 0- K Chap- terwas presenteda cigar box for future col- lections at its meetingsby the M OR-with a $5 bill! Rick Kesterman spoke for the MOR Chapter, which has had a busy schedule with meetings at Tall Stacksand a ride on the Commodore, and a talk by Bill Judd, and the aforementioned Point Pleasant meeting,including a program on the Silver Bridge Disaster. MOR will meet in New Albany, Ind., in October. (More on that later.) The King And Queen The luncheon speakercame all the way I from California,with a greatknowledge of Joseph Vollmar tells about James the daysout there of the Delta Queenand Eads and the Mississippi River bridge Delta King. Stan Garvey, author of that he built during the S&D banquet. popular book King and Queen ofthe River, had somefine slides of the boats,particu- with steamboatson it. larly of the Delta King and its long history that neared oblivion but ended up with it S&D Officers being a fine hotel and restaurant on the Officers re-elected were J. W. Rutter, SacramentoRiver. president;G. W. Sutphin, seniorvice pres- A N F ident; John L. Fryant, vice president; Bea ew eature Rutter, secretary;an d R. D ale F lick , trea- The afternoonprogram featured a new surer. The board of governorsfor the term idea-seminars. Two were held at the ending2003hasanewmember,J.Thomas Campus Martius Museum. One was by Dunn. Renamedwere William Judd and John Teichmoelle on "The B&O on the Frederick Way III. Capt.C. W. Stoll is the River: Researchin Progress."The railroad honorarypresident. had 40 crossings. Next door Chuck Wires and John L. To Dorothea Frye Fryant were telling howto bestbuild boat Before S&D got started there was a models, and these two expertsdescribed memorial service at the First Presbyterian many things-paints, tools gluesand mate- Church in Marietta for Dorothea Dormey rials. Frye. JudyPatsch presided, and Keith Nor- Some sidelightson the meeting.People rington playeda stirring rendition of "Shall had a chance to enhance their collections We Gather at the River" on the organ. through a surplus saleof S&D items at the Remembrancesand tributes were givenby ~ Campus Martius Museumdirected by Jeff Jane Greene and Dale Flick and others - Spear, the organization's River Museum addedtheircomments.Therewasaplaying , Committee chairman. At the Lafayette, of "The Wildwood Flower" recordedat the :., Bob Ladder had for salea number of river home of Letha C. Greene in the 1960s,a i photographs. farewellwhistle saluteby the ~ Coming all the way from England was and a medleyof her favorite calliopetunes ~ Antony Twort, Godalming,who presented by Capt. Dock Hawley on the steamer ~ S&D with a sugar bowl from Great Britain . .~