THE FABULOUS TELEPHONE Jerry Canavit Long ago, when steamboats were plentiful on the waters of this country, and old rivermen gathered for conversation, they often told stories about the leg- endary fast boats. Many such sto- ries are, today, well documented; the most famous probably being the contest of speed on the Mississippi River in 1870 between the steamers NATCHEZ and The steamer TELEPHONE on the Columbia RIver shortly after she was launched in early 1885. Her ROBT. E. LEE. Each area of the speed was legendary and she was advertised by her owners as “The World’s Fastest Riverboat.” country had its champions. Some evolved from traditional hull cheaper, provided easier upkeep were side-wheelers, some were designs and propulsion systems and damage repair was easier. sternwheelers, some were made that had proved their worth on For propulsion, early engineers of wood, others of steel. Some the waterways of the East and of preferred a high-pressure, non- were large, others were relatively the Mississippi River System. The condensing engine. Cylinder small. They all, however, had one limitations of these designs meta- bores varied between ten and thing in common - they were morphosed into a style of river twenty-eight inches and the piston uncommonly fast. craft peculiar to the Northwest stroke was between six and eight As to which boat was actually United States. The majority of feet, rarely more. Locomotive- the fastest would be difficult, if these boats were sternwheelers. type boilers were usually used not impossible, to determine. Some were among the most beau- and carried a working pressure of Many were capable of making tiful craft to grace the waters of about one-hundred twenty great speed, with or against the any river. Their hull lines were pounds per square-inch. current or tidal influences. A graceful, clean and shallow, and The TELEPHONE was the cre- good number of them would cer- about five times longer than the ation of Captain Uriah B. Scott, tainly be candidates for the honor beam. Aft of the pilot house rose who operated steamboats on the of being “fastest” and each would a single stack; a characteristic of Ohio River from 1859 until 1873, certainly have their supporters. this design. A kingpost soared when he came to Oregon. When One contender for the title of amidships, flanked by at least four he arrived in Oregon, he tried to “fastest” would have to be a ves- hog posts, secured by “hog find employment on some of the sel that ran most of her career on chains” to keep the supple wood- steamers of the People’s the Columbia River. Accounts of en hull aligned. After 1870, the Transportation Company and the her activity are not plentiful, but stern-wheel was often enclosed in Oregon Steam Navigation more than 75 years after her a box on which appeared the Company. The managers of these retirement, local river men still craft’s name and port of registry companies were skeptical of his talk about the legendary speed and also served to keep the abilities and did not employ him. runs of the boat many consider to water-spray off of the passengers. They would soon regret their be the fastest river steamer to ever The main deck foreward was usu- decision, for Captain Scott, with turn a paddle wheel; that boat ally open for winches, capstans the aid of a couple of financial was the fabulous TELEPHONE. and cargo. Wood construction backers, went into business for The design of Columbia River was favored, even after steel himself. He proceeded to build steamboats like the TELEPHONE, became available, for wood was the steamer OHIO, the first light- draft steamer in the Northwest. With the OHIO, Captain Scott was able to open up trade on the Willamette River as far south as Eugene, Oregon. Within three months, Captain Scott had cleared over ten thousand dollars and his critics soon became check-waiving backers, fighting for the opportu- nity to finance his next vessel. With almost unlimited financial resources available to him, Captain Scott could then afford to The TELEPHONE as she appeared in 1887 after her record breaking dash from Portland to Astoria. She build the best steamboats money made the 105-mile trip in 4 hours, 34 3/4 minutes, breaking the record of the sidewheeler OLYMPIAN, could buy. He next launched the which had set the pegs at 4 hours, 47 minutes in 1886. The TELEPHONE’S average speed was 22.93 mph. sternwheel CITY OF SALEM, fol- Portland at the Smith & Paquet smoke box. She was rated at 386 lowed by the FLEETWOOD, a yard by Joseph Paquet, M.C., for gross tons and cost her owners small, fast screw-propeller steamer Scott’s Columbia Transportation $45,000 when completed. that cost the local competition Company. She was launched Indeed the TELEPHONE was a more, in terms of lost business October 30, 1884, however, her floating palace in the tradition of than any other boat ever pitted trial trip was not run until the steam packets of the 1880’s. against them. With the great suc- February 24th of the following With her fancy gilding, ornate lat- cess of the speedy FLEETWOOD, year due to Captain Scott’s insis- tice-work, fine carpets, hand- Captain Scott decided he needed tence that she be finished out to rubbed wood and twenty elegant- a larger and even faster boat; a his complete satisfaction. Her hull ly furnished staterooms, she was boat faster than anything on the measured 172’ x 28’ x 7.2’ with an complete to the last detail. Her river. He would personally design overall length from her stempost reputation, however, came from the hull, and carefully supervise to the end of her paddle box of her speed. In an era of fast river- the construction of this new boat. 198.6’. Her engines were non- boats, she had no equal. She was She would be named the TELE- condensing, high-pressure steam advertised as the “Fastest PHONE. reciprocating, rated 500 indicated Riverboat in the World,” and her Much was expected of the horse-power with 22” cylinders normal running speed was a phe- TELEPHONE, and she certainly and an eight-foot stroke driving a nomenal 21 miles-per-hour. When was not a disappointment to 25’ diameter paddle wheel. Her pushed she could exceed 25 Captain Scott. The gaudy stern- boiler was a locomotive-type mea- miles-per-hour. Whenever she ran wheeler was built at South suring 78” x 25’ with a 6-foot she rewrote the record books. When the TELEPHONE went lop- ing down the river with black smoke streaking from her tall, white-banded smoke stack and her wheel making a thunderous waterfall astern, it was said there was no boat afloat that could catch her. The TELEPHONE was in her prime when the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company brought the big Eastern-built, walking- The TELEPHONE leaving Astoria during the fireman’s Tournament in June 1885 with about 250 firemen beam side-wheeler ALASKAN, and on board. Because of her great speed she was a popular vessel and was booked for many events. her sister ship, the OLYMPIAN, to moments. Although both of the Captain Scott swung the TELE- the Columbia to run on the big side-wheelers were fast, they PHONE gracefully out into the Ilwaco route. The ALASKAN ran were never able to beat the TELE- stream from the Alder street wharf in opposition to the TELEPHONE, PHONE on the river or to the at exactly 10 a.m. and headed for with James Troup, captain, Archie bank, as they proved to be enor- Astoria on her scheduled run. At Pease, pilot, and Thomas Smith, mously expensive to operate. exactly 10:05 1/2 she passed F engineer. Captain Scott’s speedy Eventually, the TELEPHONE street and a warning toot from her sternwheeler had attracted a lot of and Captain Scott proved to be whistle announced that the race business; some at the expense of too much for the big O R & N against time had begun. She the OR & N, and the competition twins, and sent them both seeking passed St. John’s at 10:23 1/2 and was keen. Whenever the TELE- business in other waters. Again, at 10:43 she left the sluggish PHONE encountered the big side- Captain Scott had proved his busi- waters of the Willamette and wheeler, passengers were treated ness acumen and shipbuilding headed out into the lordly to some of the finest steamboat skills more than a match for the Columbia, encountering at once a races ever witnessed on the competition. very strong headwind that Columbia River. Opposition In less than two years after increased in power all the way to between the two boats became so she had been launched, her speed Astoria. It became quickly evi- heated that speed contests had become the talk of the dent that Captain Scott could not between the two boats were of Columbia. Even at her normal have picked a day for his speed daily occurrence. The TELE- running speed, no boat could run when conditions could have PHONE was the faster boat but pace her. In one of her first been worse. In spite of heading made many landings which gave attempts at speed on the Astoria into winds gusting to 40 miles- her the opportunity to beat the route, she made the round trip per-hour and fighting a strong ALASKAN two or three times in between Portland and Astoria in cross-chop, she made St.