The Dog & Broom By Jerry Canavit By the year 1890, the grand Oregon Railway and Navigation Navigation and Transportation days of steamboating on the Company initiated regular service Company. Knowing that the OR Mississippi River were past, but between these cities with the new & N intended to establish a toe- in the Great Northwest, on an and speedy sternwheel steamer hold in the area, they set about expanse of water called Puget GREYHOUND. To assist the to build a vessel that would not Sound, steamboating was still in GREYHOUND, the OR & N had only compete with the large com- its heyday. Fully a million dol- again brought it’s magnificent pany, but would surpass any boat lars worth of steamers were sidewheel steamer T.J. POTTER operating on the Sound in speed added to the Puget Sound fleet up from the Columbia River. and accommodation. The design that year. Grain and flour ship- Together these two new vessels and construction of this vessel ments and passenger and the were to help firmly establish the was contracted to master ship- excursion trade still provided a OR & N and it’s parent company, builder John J. Holland; builder healthy business. Even though the Union Pacific Railroad in that of many of the finest vessels on competition from the railroads area. Puget Sound and the Columbia had begun to take its toll on the On May 31st of that same River. roll of the steamboat, Puget year, an enterprising Seattle busi- On November 22, 1890, the Sound was still witnessing a nessman named John Leary, also beautiful sternwheel steamer healthy passenger and freight understood the potential of estab- BAILEY GATZERT slid broadside business between the cities of lishing regular service between down the ways of the Holland Seattle, Tacoma and Olympia. these same growing areas, and Shipyard at Salmon Bay. She This lively business attracted the together with partners Jacob was named for a prominent citi- services of a good number of ves- Furth, Edward Newfledler, W.R. zen and former mayor of Seattle sels to accommodate these needs. Ballard and H.G. Struve, estab- and was a beauty; complete to the In September of 1890, the lished the Seattle Steam last detail. She measured 177’.3” The beautiful sternwheel steamer BAILEY GATZERT on the ways at the J.J. Holland Shipyard at Salmon Bay, Ballard, Washington. She was launched on November 22, 1890 and when launched was considered to be the crowning achievement in sternwheel riverboat architecture. The sternwheel passenger steamer GREYHOUND was originally built in Portland, Oregon in 1890 and shortly after her launching was taken to Puget Sound where she ran on the Seattle - Tacoma - Olympia route.. Affectionately known as the “Hound” or the “Pup,” the little sternwheeler was exceptionally fast and was considered by many to be the fastest vessel on Puget Sound. x 32’.3” x 8’ and was rated 560 wheel riverboat shipbuilding. ers considered her pretty much gross tons. Her powerful engines Even before she was launched, the “cock-of-the-walk.” John were made by James Rees & Sons John Leary boasted that his new Leary’s boast of his new boats’ of Pittsburgh. They were high- boat would be fast enough to out- speed would not go un-noticed or pressure, non-condensing engines distance any boat on the Sound; un-challenged. with poppet-valves, having 22- a boast that would get the atten- The T.J. POTTER had also inch cylinders, a 7’ stroke and tion of the owners of a number begun life on the drawing board rated at 1300 horse-power. vessels that prided themselves on of Captain James W. Troup. Steam was furnished by a large their speed; particularly, two Captain Troup, who was now the locomotive-type boiler measuring boats that had never been bested Port Captain for the OR & N (the 78” x 33’ 3 3/8”. Her interior in contests of speed - the GREY- Union Pacific Railroad’s water decoration was exceptional and HOUND and the T.J. POTTER. lines division) demonstrated his reflected the pride of her owners. The GREYHOUND was not a considerable skills by designing Her public rooms were luxurious- large boat, measuring 139’.3” x the POTTER when he was just 26 ly large, her cabins comfortable 18’.5” x 6’.4” and rated 180 years old. His design was heavily and her decks broad for sightsee- tons. She was powered by high- influenced by the design of the ing. The famous British artist pressure engines, 14 1/2” cylin- Hudson River steamer DANIEL Harnett supervised all the interi- ders with a 6’ stroke, and a very DREW, however, the POTTER had or design work and panels in the large paddlewheel that propelled no large hog braces or bulky boil- cabin were the work of his own her through the water at an ers on the guards, as did the hand. Even the engine room pan astonishing rate. She was report- Hudson River steamers. The T.J. els were things of beauty; the edly designed by Captain James POTTER was a picture of grace work of the versatile Captain Troup, brother of one of her own- and beauty. Her slim racing hull Howard Penfield, the first to hold ers, Captain Claud Troup. She was 230’ x 35’.1” x 10’.6” and the position of mate on the BAI- was built in Portland by John B. she was rated 659 gross tons. LEY GATZERT. Steffen and, shortly after her Her upperworks were taken, Even before she was launched, launching, taken to the Sound to almost intact, from another the BAILEY GATZERT was the be used primarily as a passenger steamer; the magnificent stern- topic of much conversation. Her carrier. By the time the BAILEY wheeler WIDE WEST. As the POT- owners were proud of their new GATZERT was launched, the TER was a side-wheeler, slight boat, and justifiably so. She was ‘HOUND, as she was affectionate- modifications were needed to generally considered to be the ly called, had beaten every fast accommodate the wheel houses. crowning achievement in stern- boat on the Sound and her own- The engines, too, came from the WIDE WEST, and were re-config- of the passing river. Her cooks well-appointed, the new boat ured to drive the POTTER’S big were excellent, her fine meals a looked to be a formidable rival. 30-foot side-wheels. Built at culinary delight, and her wonder- The POTTER had easily handled Wilmington, Delaware, the ful bar, with it’s fine glass and her other competitors, for Captain engines were simple high-pres- skilled and tactful bartenders, Troup had built her for speed, sure, non-condensing, with 28” was said to have outshone any and she had never been bested. cylinders, an 8-foot stroke and bar in the country. The BAILEY GATZERT, however, rated at 1200 horse-power. A The POTTER ran for a short had been built in anticipation of large locomotive-type boiler pro- time on the seaside route, servic- competing with the likes of the vided steam at 150 pounds of ing the ocean shore resorts that POTTER; for business and for pressure and was fueled by a had developed along the northern speed. Interesting days lay ahead huge wood-burning firebox; said Oregon beaches just north of the for the BAILEY GATZERT, the T.J. to have been the largest on any mouth of the Columbia River, POTTER, and the GREYHOUND. river steamer in the Northwest. making very fast time on that On December 7, with steam up When master boat builder John run. She was taken to the Sound and finishing complete, the BAI- B. Steffen launched her on May in 1889, for brief service, and LEY GATZERT moved out into 29, 1888, from the North Yard in then returned to the Columbia Seattle harbor and proceeded to Portland, she was a sight to when the summer seaside busi- Schwabacher’s wharf, where she behold. She was a fancy boat, ness opened again. In September, tied up. She remained there for from her fine Wilton carpets to 1890, Captain Troup decided to a number of days while her own- her ornate fretwork paddleboxes send her again to the Sound and ers made her ready for her trial that resembled giant intricate run her with the little GREY- trip to Tacoma. A few days doilies. From her lower deck to HOUND to try and capture a before her run, John Leary, J.J. the grand saloon rose a magnifi- share of the business on the Holland and Captain George Hill cent curved divided staircase. At developing Seattle-Tacoma- confidently placed a gilded broom the head of the stairs hung the Olympia route. When the T.J. and a figure of a greyhound atop largest mirror in the whole POTTER arrived on the Sound her pilothouse as a symbol of her Northwest and in the saloon was that September, the sight of a anticipated speed supremacy and a grand piano, ornately carved in large, handsome sternwheeler invited all comers to try and take a case of birds-eye maple. Her could be seen nearing completion them. This premature act infuri- broad decks extended fore and aft on the ways of the J.J. Holland ated Captain G.H. Parker of the for casual promenades and watch Shipyard. Long, graceful and GREYHOUND and Captain Archie The long and graceful sidewheel steamer T.J. POTTER was built at the North Yard in Portland, Oregon by John B. Steffen in 1888 out of the notable sternwheel steamer WIDE WEST. She was designed by Capt.