I
1
tJh.e Savannah
ELMO SCOTT WATSON
N MAY 22 the American people will
celebrate National Maritime day.
Its first observance took place last
year, so ft fell to the lot of a sailor
President to add to our patriotic
calendar a day which not only
commemorates a great naval feat
but also is designed to make this
nation more “martime-minded” and
to spur it on to recapturing its
rightful share of the world’s sea
commerce.
For the voyage of the Savannah, which
began on May 22, 1819, was a revolutionary
event Not only did it thrill and startle the
world (including that proud “Mistress of the
Sean,” Great Britain) and doom the clipper ship
. of romantic memory, but it also marked a new
era In water transportation and presaged the day
when ocean greyhounds would make the shores
of the Old and the New world only five days
apart instead of five weeks.
More than that, it is altogether fitting that
this new red-letter day on the American calendar
should make the name of a real naval hero
more familiar to his fellow-countrymen than it
has hitherto been. He was Capt. Moses Rogers
of New London, Conn., the pioneer of a new
era in ocean travel as well as a worthy exem
plar of the best traditions of the old days of
seafaring.
Even though Robert Fulton and others had
proved that the steamship was a practical and
reliable means of water transportation, the early
Nineteenth century regarded transatlantic voy
ages by this “new-fangled” kind of ship with a
great deal of skepticism. So that "foolhardy
Yankee,” Captain Rogers, had considerable dif
ficulty in persuading a group of Southerners to
back his plan for building a steamship to cross
the ocean. He had commanded a steamboat on
the Hudson river and had brought another ves
sel under steam from New York around to the
head of Chesapeake bay, a voyage considered
very dangerous in those days. But that was as
nothing compared to the dangers which awaited
such a ship out on the high seas.
Finally, however, Rogers convinced them that
he could make such a voyage safely and in 1818
the first transoceanic steamship company was
organized and incorporated at Savannah by the
Georgia legislature. It ordered the construction
of a wooden vessel 98.5 feet long, 25.8 feet wide
and 12.9 deep with a gross tonnage of 319.70, to
which was given the name of the Savannah.
Financed by Georgians, built by Feckett and
Crockett of New York city and provided with a
“steam engine” supplied by Stephen Vail of Mor
ristown, N. J., the ship was to be commanded by
a Connecticut Yankee. So this venture was an
all-American affair with both the South and the
North represented in it.
The builders did not have the same faith in
the steam engine part of it that Rogers did, so
the Savannah was provided with masts and sails.
But the captain seems to have regarded them
more as auxiliary power and as insurance against
discontent, or even possible mutiny, by the crew.
He arranged for protection of his iron paddle
wheels by having them made in detachable sec
tions and invented machinery by which they
could be switched on to the deck in case of a
bad storm.
^ The log book of the Savannah, now preserved
in the United States National museum, shows
that the Savannah left New York at ten o’clock
on the morning of March 28, 1819, and headed
for the open sea, bound for Savannah, Ga. It is
evident that the ship left under sail, for no men
tion is made of steam in the log. But the next
morning they "got the steam up and it began to
blow fresh; we took the wheels in on deck in
20 minutes." During the remainder of the voy
age the steam engine was used only intermit
tently and on April 6, eight days and fifteen
hours from New York, the Savannah reached the
fcort of its namesake.
T “On her approach to the city hundreds of cit
izens flocked to the banks of the river and.
while she ascended, saluted with long and loud
huzzas!", says an item in the Savannah Repub
lican for April 7, 1819, which continues: “The
utmost confidence is placed in her security. It
redounds much to the honor of Savannah, when
It is said that it was owing to the enterprise of
some of her spirited citizens that the first at
President Monroe
tempt was made to cross the Atlantic ocean in a
vessel propelled by steam. We sincerely hope
the owners may reap a rich reward for their
splendid and laudable undertaking.”
On May 1 the Savannah made a short trip to
Charleston, S. C., and there on May 11 she was
honored by having as guests President James
.Monroe and a party who spent the day on the
new ship cruising to Tybee Light. The Presi
dent was much pleased with tier performance
and requested that she be brought to Wash
ington on her return from Europe.
On May 19 the Savannah Republican carried
this advertisement. “For Liverpool—The steam
ship Savannah, Capt. Rogers, will, without fail,
proceed for Liverpool direct, tomorrow, the 20th.
instant. Passengers, if any offer, can be well ac
commodated. Apply on board." However, it
seems that the citizens of Savannah did not still
have “the utmost confidence in tier security” for
none of them “offered” to become passengers on
this historic voyage. The truth was, they were
afraid that the ship might either be set atire
by her furnaces or that she might be blown up
by an explosion of her boilers.
Nor did she sail "without fail” on May 20.
An accident to one of the crew delayed the start
two days. So it was not until nine o'clock on the
morning of May 22 that Captain Rogers’ ship
“hove up the anchor and started with the steam
from Savannah."
A week later, out in the middle of the Atlantic,
the captain of another American ship, seeing in
the distance a vessel which he believed to be on
lire, started to her aid. "Lint,” lie wrote in tils
log, “we found she went faster with fire and
smoke than we could do with all sail set! We
then discovered that the vessel on lire was noth
ing less than a steamboat crossing the western
ocean, laying her course, as we Judge, for Eu
rope, a proud monument of Yankee skill!”
A similar incident occurred on June 17 when
the boat was seen off the southern coast of
Ireland and reported as a ship on tire to the
admiral of the liritish fleet in the cove of Cork.
Thereupon he “dispatched one of the king's cut
ters to her relief; but greut was their wonder
at their inability with all sail set. in a fast ves
sel, to come up with a ship under bare poles.
After several shots were fired from the cutter
the engine was stopped and the surprise of her
crew at the mistake they tiad made, as well as
their curiosity to see the singular Yankee craft
can easily be Imagined. They asked permission
to come aboard, and were much gratified by the
inspection of this novelty.”
On June 20 later the “Yankee skill" of Captain
Rogers brought the Savannah safely Into port
at Liverpool. She had made the run In 29 days
and 11 hours but during that time the engine
had worked the paddle wheels only 40 hours.
According to a letter which the American min
ister at London wrote to John Quincy Adams,
then secretary of state, "She excited admlrntion
and astonishment nn she entered port under the
Capt Moses
Rogers
President Roosevelt
power of her steam. She Is a tine ship, and
exhibits in her navigation across the Atlantic a
signal triumph of American enterprise and skill
upon tlte ocean."
The coining of ttie Savannah excited other
emotions besides admiration and astonishment,
however. Soon after her arrival it was learned
that Jerome Bonaparte had offered a large re
ward to anyone who would curry off his famous
brother, Napoleon, then an exile on St. Helena,
and the British suspected the Savannah of be
ing concerned in some such plot. So she was
closely watched by ttie authorities all the time
she was in port.
On July 21 site steamed away from Liverpool
for a visit to Sweden and Russia and her visits
to those two countries were triumphal proces
sions during which site was visited by members
of tlie royal families who joined in the praises
of the daring Yankee skipper and His crew.
On October 10 the Savannah sailed lor her
home port. The voyage was a stormy one and
the engines were not used on any single occasion
during tlie trip until November 30 when, so the
log records, “('apt. Rogers took a pilot inside the
bar and at 10 a. m. anchored in the Savannah
river and Arid sails on the Ilude tale, got under
way with steam and went up and anchored off
the town.” Thus ended her historic trip. Again
the people of Savannah made a holiday in honor
of the ship which had carried the name of their
city to fame across the Atlantic.
The next year the city of Savannah was swept
by a great Are and, because of the losses suf
fered by the owners of the ship in this disaster,
she was sold, her engines taken out and she
tvas used ns a sailing packet between Savannah
tnd New York. Later the Savannah was driven
ishore on Long Island by a gale and pounded to
pieces, Just 21 days after the death of her gal
lant captain whose enterprise (ind brought her
nto existence and who had shared In all the
jlory of her great achievements of HO years ago.
• bv Wuiirn Nowipnper Union.
Unique “Primrose”
Rug to Crochet
By GRANDMOTHER CLARK
*
This rag rug measures 42 Inches
and requires about three pounds of
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made of six squares eneh of a differ
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alternating. Work Is started with
the center square about ft inches in
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Continue same way for third, fourth
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therefore requires smaller triangles
on sides than the others. Colors
should be so arranged that center Is
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This <s one of the twenty-six cro
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Address—UOMIO CRAFT COM
PANT. DEPARTMENT C, Nineteenth
and SL I^ouls Avenue, St. Louis. Mo.
Enclose a stamped addressed en
velope for reply when writing for
any Information.
To keep clean and healthy take I*r.
Pierce’* Ple«**nt Pellet*. They regulate
liver, bowels and stomach.—Adv.
Lo, the Poor Indian
She—If you don’t like this coun
try, why don’t you go back to where
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Little Peace in
Noisy Household
Home Tranquility Depend
ent on Thought Given
to Quietude.
The tranquility of n home Is de
pendent upon many things, accord
ing t<> whether this peacefulness Is
of the mind or the body. It is also
true that disturbance In either realm
affects flu* other. Unnecessary clat
ter, for example, is annoying and dis
tracting alike. It Jars the nerves
and turns tin* attention from what
one Is doing, or diverts a train of
thought which may be arriving at an
important decision or discovery.
It is not the ordinary hum of
sounds which prevail in certain lo
calities which Is bothersome, but sud
den racket or a persistent Introduc
tion of an unaccustomed noise which
permeates and Increases It. Such
hubbub may be impossible to avoid,
as It Is present In city streets and
cannot be entirely eliminated In
dwellings In crowded areas. Soci
eties are formed In metropolitan
cities for the suppression of unneces
sary noise, and they are helpful In
reducing the uproar.
In the quiet of the country suca
societies seem amusing to the inhab
itants. But so peaceful is the ntinos
phere in small villages not on the
through roads frequented by autos,
that lesser sounds than those usual
iti cities are noticeable. The lowing
of cattle, tlie sudden raucous cawing
of crows, the bark of a dog, are no
ticenble, and sometimes startling
Even to city dwellers who go to the
country for quiet, the calls of birds at
sunrise is as awakening as more
strident sounds in a city which Is
never actually quiet. There Is mel
ody, though, in the notes of birds,
which is pleasant, however interrupt
ing it may be to slumbers.
Indoors sounds which are not ea
sentinl to any task or work should
be kept in abeyance as much as pos
sible. Children should learn, and
adults remember, to close doors, uot
slam them. The way to turn radi
ators off and on with the minimum
noise should be studied by parents
and taught to children. It Is amaz
ing what a clatter the turning of the
screw of a radiator can make if care
lessly handled. If this comes in the
night or early morning, it may awak
en, not only those in one’s own apart
ment, but arouse those in apartments
above or below.
Kitchen sounds should be kept as
modified as possible. It grates on
the nerves to hear the clatter of
dishes, and of pots and pans, when
being washed. With this Is the ac
companying fear that articles will be
broken or dented, should they drop
In the careless handling. There Is h
certain reluctance to recommend a
kitchen inald who Is noisy. Home
makers should try to quell In them
selves a*y unfortunate tendency tr
!>e noisy about their work.
ffi. n<*l! Syndicate.—WNtI Service.
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