USA > Michigan > Bay County > History of Bay County, Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 63
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FEET.
Extreme length, 287
Length of keel . 2813
Breadth of beam 40
Depth of hold. 21}
Lower hold 13
Between decks
83
In company with her owner, Capt. James Davidson, the Tribune reporter made a tour of inspection of her monster hold and from that genial gentleman obtained the following: Her keel is 14x10} inches; inside garboard strakes, 7x14; outside garboard strakes, 6x12. The frames are seventeen inches at the keel, fifteen and one- half inches at the bilge and eight inches on top. One long, extra piece of floor timber runs from bilge to bilge across keel, making a solid floor with the exception of two inch water space. She has thirteen keelsons as follows: Main keelson, 17x17; two assistant keelsons, 17x14 inches; five floor keelsons, 14x14 inches, on each side, running from main keelson to bilge, the entire length of the vessel. These immense pieces of timber are thoroughly edge-bolted, with three bolts of one and one-fourth-inch iron into every frame. The floor keelsons are securely fastened in the same manner with one-inch iron. There are five bilge keelsons, two at the turn of the bilge, 11x12 inches; two 10x10 inches and one 8x10 inches. The ceiling from the bilge keelsons to the clamp strakes is six inches in diameter, thoroughly edge-bolted between every frame. There are four strakes of clamps near the top of frames, seven and one-half inches thick by twelve inches wide, all cut out one and one-half inches and notched on to the frames.
The lower deck beams are 9x14 inches with three strakes of
shelf pieces six inches thick and twelve inches wide, with a ten-inch hanging knee under each beam, at every alternate frame, all bolted and forelocked. The upper deck beams are 8x12 inches, with 6x12 inch shelf pieces put on over clamps and let on to frame, kneed off and fastened the same as those previously described, ex- cept that the knees are placed at the other frames, which is equiva- lent to a knee to each frame in the ship.
On the upper deck, the water way is 12x12 inches, with solid rail, two and one-half feet from top of deck, planked inside and out and edge-bolted through both. The outside planking is five inches in thickness from the garboard strakes to the top of frames, where there are three strakes six inches in thickness. The upper deck will be of pine, three and one-half inches in thickness by five inches in width.
To obtain further strength Captain Davidson will introduce a new idea in the way of trusses, one of which will be placed in the center, about one-fourth way from the stem, another amid-ships and the third about one-fourth way from the stern. The fourth will be placed just forward of the boilers. A heavy truss will begin on either side at the bilge and proceed to the center of the upper deck, and thence to the main keelson. The truss first alluded to will be two and one-half inches in diameter, and will be firmly fastened at top and bottom with nut and washer set up tightly. The braces, from bilge to center, will be secured, screwed by a turn buckle. The first trusses are each calculated to support a 150-ton strain, and those beginning at the bilge, seventy-five tons.
The cabins will be arranged in a modern style, the pilot house and apartments for the captain, officers and part of the crew being forward, and the mess room, engineers' room, dining room, etc., aft. When completed they will resemble those of the steamship Siberia, completed in August last.
She will carry three spars, wire rigged, with steel wire lifts and all modern improvements in the way of such rigging, etc.
Her windlass will be of the American Windlass Company's manufacture, or, what is known as the Providence steam windlass, an improvement on any ever made. The windlass, pawl, etc., will all be one heavy iron bed plate, combining strength and neatness. All capstans on deck will work by steam. There will be a strong hoisting machine on deck for raising sails, freight, and for doing general heavy business. The anchors, two in number, are of the Boston patent make, one weighing 3,000 pounds and the other 2,600. They will be furnished with Sterling chain, one and three-fourths and one and five-eighth inches in diameter. Her machinery will be a duplicate of that placed in the Siberia, the engine being a fore and aft compound, 30x42, being the size of the high pressure cylinder, and 50x42, of the low pressure. It is being manufactured at the King Iron Works in Buffalo, and will be ready for placing in posi- tion by the time the new boat is ready to receive it. Her boilers, two, 8}x16 feet, are being made of Otis steel, by Ritter Bros., of Buffalo. They will be placed between decks, and furnished with a patent covering and a water tight ash pan.
An item that must not be overlooked is the diagonal strapping. The frames will be strengthened by an iron girt or cord ten inches wide and three-fourths inch thick, running fore and aft from near the stern to the stem. Another band of the same size is placed on the inside of the frames, and to this the outside band will be thor- oughly riveted. To the outside girt will be riveted bands, five inches wide and one-half inch thick, taking a diagonal course to the turn of bilge where it takes the floor. These diagonal straps will com- mence at every opening of frame, crossing twice, and are to be solidly riveted at each crossing. An iron arch will extend from around the fan-tail forward, making a perfect net work of iron bands around the boat, imparting great strength and firmness.
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HISTORY OF BAY COUNTY.
The shaft will be twelve inches in diameter and the wheel twelve feet.
Captain Davidson expects to have his fine new craft ready for business by June 1st. She will then have cost him in the imme- diate neighborhood of $140,000. Her estimated carrying capacity is placed at 2,600 tons, 90,000 bushels of corn or 1,500,000 feet of lumber. In her construction 1,500,000 feet of white oak and 300,- 000 feet of pine will be used. A. C. Rosa, builder of the steamships "Lycoming," "Conemaugh," "Oceanica" and "Siberia," is super- intendent of Mr. Davidson's yard.
DIXON'S YARD.
Directly south of Davidson's yard, William Dixon has the tug "Cora B." and the steamer "Luther Westover" hauled out upon the bank. The former is receiving extensive repairs to her ma- chinery, and the latter a complete overhauling, as follows :- Her cabin will be placed below, and all upper works cut away, except those that are positively necessary. This is done in order to lighten her up and make her more easily to be handled. Her boiler, en- gine and running gear, wheels, etc., are to be renewed. The cost of her rebuild will reach $5,000.
The tug "Witch of the West," belonging to William Gordon, which was burned last Fall, is being entirely rebuilt near Mr. Dixon's yard.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES.
The tug "Alanson Sumner," lying at the Industrial Works, is having her engine compounded. In the Spring she will be towed to the Bay City dry dock, and there housed in forward.
The tug "Annie Moiles," will receive a new smoke stack.
The little schooner "Dreadnaught," owned by A. Cunning, is being rebuilt at the foot of Twenty-fourth Street.
The tug "Music," is having her machinery overhauled.
The tug "Laketon," is receiving new decks and a general over- hauling.
The barge "Tailor," lying near the Gas Works, will receive a new windlass and foresail.
The barge "Oneonta," will be slightly overhauled.
The burned tug, "W. E. Quinby," lying at the foot of Fifth Street, is to have her upper works rebuilt and machinery overhauled.
The steamer "Emerald," is having her engine and machinery repaired and overhauled at the Industrial Works.
FISHERIES.
The occupation of a fisherman dates back to a very early period of the world's history, and the catching of fish to obtain food, as a sport, or as an industrial pursuit is an employment that has been engaged in wherever success crowned the efforts. The history of amateur angling would go much further than this and portray the motley throngs or solitary anglers upon piers and banks, impatiently dipping their baited hooks into the water where the presence of fish was unknown. Sport, in such instances, being the object sought, the adventure must be regarded as a satisfying suc- cess; for the fatigue is just as prostrating, the lunch basket as de- vouringly emptied, and the blistered nose flames gorgeously and smarts as lustily, as though the "catch" had been prodigious. It is, however, with fishing as an important industry that we present the subject upon these pages.
This trade has constituted a prominent and an important part of the business of the lakes and bays that hem this beautiful pen- insula for many years. Its extent and profit are not generally understood. It would be a difficult thing to establish the exact
time when this trade was first entered into upon the upper lakes, but its history as an industry dates back to a, very early period. As early as 1858, the lake and river fish exported from various points on Saginaw River, amounted in value to upwards of $40,000 a year. The principal fisheries noticed here are at Saginaw Bay and up the shore to Thunder Bay. The pioneer industry at Au Sable, Alcona, and Thunder Bay was fishing, and on the Saginaw Bay it was among the early pursuits. Au Sable was the most noted of the early fishing points, and there are few men living who can remember back of the time when fishing was commenced at that point.
We find this business reviewed for the year 1867 as follows:
"The fisheries of Thunder Bay constitute an important item among the resources of Alpena. Some of the trap net grounds in the vicinity being the most valuable and productive of any on the entire chain of lakes and the business generally successful and remunerative. The average yearly catch of fish in the bay and from adjacent islands is 6,250 barrels; of these one quarter are trout, worth $8 per barrel at shipping point, the balance white fish, worth from $11 to $12 per barrel. The season of 1866 being gen- erally unfavorable for the business, the whole catch did not exceed 5,000 barrels. There are regularly employed at the different fish- ing stations, in the aggregate, nine sail boats, seven trap net skiffs, requiring the services of 100 men. The value of the investment in the business is, for boats, nets, etc., $25,000; for grounds and buildings, $35,000. Average yearly product fully equal to the in- vestment, $60,000.
"At Au Sable there are forty sail boats for gill net fishing and four trap net operations. Average yearly catch 30,000 barrels; value of property in boats and nets, $50,000; number of men employed, 175. Fifteen tons of fresh fish are shipped from the Au Sable every week during the season of navigation, to Bay City and the Saginaws.
"At Harrisville, sixty men, four sail boats and appurtenances, and four trap net skiffs and appurtenances are constantly employed in the business of trap and gill net fishing. Average yearly catch, 5,000 barrels; value of product, $40,000; value of property in- vested, $40,000.
"The fishing interest in the Saginaw River has assumed a con- siderable degree of importance. The trade opened during the Winter of 1864-'65 through the efforts of Harvey Williams, the pioneer. The fish are caught under the ice by cutting a series of holes and passing the nets under the ice from one hole to another. The kinds of fish caught for the trade are pickerel, pike, black bass and perch. When caught they are packed in barrels and shipped to Detroit, Cincinnati, New York and other markets. The amount realized for these fish during the year 1867, not calculating those used for home consumption, was not less than $14,000. For 1865 and 1866 the average catch was about seventy-five tons each year, bringing an average price of $100 per ton. The catch on the river and bay for 1867 amounted to about $25,000."
In 1870, carefully prepared statistics compiled under authority cf the Legislature show the amount invested, the catch and value of the product to have been as follows:
CAPITAL.
BBLS.
VALUE.
Alpena
$25,000
3,800
37,000
Alcona
1,800
440
3,630
Iosco
89,900
9,300
92,800
Bay.
4,300
1,015
9,850
$121,000
14,555 $143,280
In 1873 the product of the Saginaw Bay amounted to 2,500 barrels, and of all the shore fisheries 20,000 barrels.
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HISTORY OF BAY COUNTY.
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The watch was an elegant one, with a gold chain attached. On one of the cases was the following inscription :
PRESENTED TO A. S. MUNGER, SUPT. B. C. & E. S. R. R., Nov. 23, 1867, AS A MARK OF ESTEEM BY FRIENDS.
The total money value of the gift was $350. The watch is still carried by Mr. Munger, and has faithfully ticked away the sec- onds of the fifteen and one-half years that have elapsed since lie received it under such memorable and gratifying circumstances.
The banquet and ball previously arranged was held at the Fra- ser House; on the evening of November 26th, and was an affair highly creditable to all concerned.
The construction of the road to this time had cost $215,000. The following Spring it was extended from Eleventh Street to the river.
About the time this road was completed, the Jackson, Lansing & Saginaw road was completed to Wenona, now West Bay City, and then the people of Bay City realized the importance of the Bay City and East Saginaw line.
Early in 1880 it became noised abroad in the county that some of the bonds issued by the county were outstanding and that the county was liable to be called upon for their payment. The Board of Supervisors appointed a committee to visit East Saginaw and interview Dr. Potter regarding the matter. Finding him absent, the committee returned and addressed a letter to him, to which he replied, giving all the facts in the case, and definitely settling all doubts in regard to Bay County's security. The letter was as follows :
FLINT & PERE MARQUETTE RAILWAY RECEIVER'S OFFICE, EAST SAGINAW, March 24, 1880.
B. F. PARTRIDGE, EsQ., CHAIRMAN OF BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF BAY COUNTY, BAY CITY-Sir :- Your letter of 20th instant received by me to-day on my return from New York. I regret that I was absent when you called, as I could have given you full particulars relative to the issue of bonds of Bay County, in aid of the Bay City and East Saginaw Railroad.
Bay County issued on Sept. 1, 1867, to the Bay City & East Saginaw R. R. under act of Legislature, approved Feb. 3, 1864, $75,000 of bonds, payable twenty years from date at the Importers and Traders' Bank, New York, with interest coupons attached at rate of ten per cent, payable semi-annually, on September 1st and March 1st of each year. The bonds and coupons were signed by Ransom P. Essex, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, and bear also the signature of the clerk, and the seal of the county.
As security for the payment of the principal and interest of these bonds, the Bay City & East Saginaw R. R. Co., mortgaged by instrument bearing date June 4, 1867, to James Shearer, Chauncey W. Gibson, and Ransom P. Essex, of Bay City, as trust- ees, the railroad of fourteen miles together with all the property connected therewith. This mortgage also secured $100,000 of the bonds of the road, which mature July 1, 1882. On the 30th of September, 1867, the Flint & Pere Marquette Railway Co., to whom the Bay City & East Saginaw R. R. had been conveyed, guaranteed the interest and principal of the Bay County bonds. Since the date of issue twenty-six coupons have matured and been paid by the F. & P. M. Railway Co., and the coupons canceled have been pasted in the bond book in my possession, and are open to inspec- tion. The aggregate amount thus paid is $97,500, being $7,500 per annum for thirteen years.
The County of Bay has not paid, and never will be called on to pay, one dollar of this interest, nor any part of the principal of these bonds, for the reason that the property of the company on which Bay County is secured by a mortgage, is too valuable to war- rant the owners in parting with it for so small a consideration.
The principal of the bonds would be paid at once for the sake of reducing interest, if the owners would consent to surrender, but as it is they cannot be paid until maturity, September 1, 1887.
The proceedings of the Board of Supervisors should appear upon the records, and it is very strange that with so many gentle- men still resident in Bay City, who participated in these negotia- tions and knew all the details, your committee should have failed to get the desired information.
You may assure the tax-payers of Bay County that they never will be called on to pay one dollar, principal or interest, of this debt, and that whether they are or not, the County holds a mortgage upon the railroad, which in any event would indemnify them.
If you will call at my office I will show you a copy of the bond and every coupon that has matured up to this date.
Yours, Respectfully, H. C. POTTER, Receiver.
The Jackson, Lansing & Saginaw railroad was extended from Saginaw to Wenona in 1867, and was completed about the same time as the Bay City & East Saginaw branch of the Flint & Pere Marquette road.
The progress of the road from Jackson north was as follows: During the Summer of 1864 a company was organized for the pur- pose of building the road from Jackson to Lansing, and during the Winter of 1865 the enterprise was completed, and regular trains were running to Lansing, a distance of thirty-seven miles. In the Fall of 1866 the company purchased that portion of the Amboy, Lansing & Traverse Bay Railroad which was then in operation between Lansing and Owosso, and by Jan. 1, 1867, regular trains were running between Jackson and Owosso, a distance of sixty five miles. Surveys for the continuation of the line from Owosso north to Saginaw and Wenona were commenced June 4, 1866, and the work of construction was commenced in November of the same year, and by January 1, 1867, the entire line from Jackson to Wenona, a distance of one hundred and sixteen miles, was in successful opera- tion. In May, 1870, the construction of the road north of Wenona was commenced, and fifteen miles were completed by January 1, 1871. By January 1, 1872, the road was in operation to Wells, a distance of forty miles north of Wenona, and up to date of December 20, 1872, one hundred and twenty miles of roadway was constructed north of Wenona. An average of ten miles of road- way per month was entirely completed during five months.
During the year 1872 the work was carried on under the gen- eral supervision of W. D. Thompson, of Jackson, with W. Donovan as chief engineer, and L. Mason and A. M. Bannister as assistant engineers on construction, and M. N. Wells, E. Treadwell, M. F. Temple, John A. Mitchell, P. R. B. Du Pont, and C. Donovan, assistant engineers on location.
In September, 1871, the road passed into the hands of the Michigan Central Railway Company. This company has extended the road to the Straits of Mackinaw, and it is known as the Mack- inaw division of the M. C. R. R.
The road runs through the townships of Bangor, Kawkawlin, Fraser, Pinconning, Standish, Lincoln, Deep River and Moffat. The road runs due North from Kawkawlin to Standish Station. From that point it takes a northwesterly course through Deep River and Moffat Townships.
The facts about the construction of the road from Saginaw to Wenona are as follows :- "In the Fall of 1866, Messrs. Sage, Mc- Graw & Co. and D. H. Fitzhugh, proposed to the Jackson, Lansing
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HISTORY OF BAY COUNTY.
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& Saginaw Railroad Company, that they would construct the road- bed, build the bridges and furnish the ties for the distance between the bridge at East Saginaw and Wenona, and contract to complete the same within twelve months for $80,000 in paid stock of the road. The offer was accepted, and the work prosecuted with great energy, and the agreement fulfilled. The cars were running upon the track in December, 1867. Much credit is due for the zeal with which so much work was accomplished, to Chas. C. Fitzhugh, Esq., acting as superintendent of this part of the route; J. F. Willey, who had the grading contract, and Mr. A. A. Wright, track layer. A delegation from Jackson and other towns, numbering 300 gentle- men, passed over the road in December, 1867."
The completion of this road was an important event in the history of West Bay City, or Wenona, as it was then called.
The Detroit & Bay City Railroad extends from Bay City to De- troit, a distance of about 108 miles, and was completed in 1873. It is an outgrowth of the Northern Michigan Railroad project, which began to be agitated in 1868. James F. Joy and others, of Detroit, and James Shearer, the Fitzhughs, William and John McEwan and other leading citizens of Bay City, interested themselves in a proj- ect of building a road from Detroit to Bay City, thence to Superior City, connecting with the Northern Pacific Railroad. About $50,000 stock was subscribed in Bay City. Meetings were held, estimates prepared and the enterprise fostered for some time. About 1872 the project was taken hold of in earnest by James F. Joy, and the Detroit & Bay City road built very nearly on the projected line of the Northern Michigan Road. This road was completed in the Spring of 1873, and the bridge across the river built.
All of these roads have important connections, and place Bay County in close communication with the surrounding world.
PROJECTED RAILROADS.
Like all new and ambitious business centers, a number of rail- roads have been projected that failed in becoming realities. A quite important railroad enterprise in which Bay City took an active interest was the projected Grand Rapids & Bay City. This was agitated about 1874, and quite a large amount of stock subscribed. The roadbed was graded from Bay City to Midland, and is now a foun- dation for some future railway enterprise. Railroads to Port Hu- ron, up the Bay Shore, and in various directions, have likewise, been built on paper.
COAL.
Discoveries of coal underlying portions of Bay County have at two different times produced considerable excitement, and led to the organization of companies for the purpose of mining.
In 1867 the Pioneer Coal Company was organized with the view of operating at Dolsenville, but beyond pefecting an organization nothing of importance was done. In boring for salt traces of coal had been discovered, and it was at first believed that mining might be successfully carried out.
The greatest excitement was produced in 1875 by the discovery of coal in the Rifle River region. The discovery was made in the Fall of 1874 and the following April, a company was organized by Bay City capitalists, called the "Eureka Coal Company," with a capital of $250,000.
The history of the discovery of coal, etc., is as follows:
"Some time in November, 1874, while prospecting in Section Three, Township Nineteen north, Range Four east, on the Rifle River, a stream tributary to the Saginaw Bay, Ira Bennett, a resi- dent of that section, found in the bed of the river (the water being at its lowest stage) a piece of something which resembled coal. He almost immediately communicated the fact to Leman L. Culver, of
Bay City, who forthwith proceeded to the spot designated and began an investigation. He dug down into the bed of the stream and found coal dust in large quantities. Knowing that the bed of the river had changed some time in the past, Mr. Culver ar- rived at the conclusion that the water had originally flowed over a coal bed, and that as it changed had washed portions of it into the newly formed stream. His belief was in due time communicated to Messrs. E. G. Sovereign, William Westover, H. P. Merrill and R. P. Gustin, of Bay City, and these gentlemen decided upon an ex- ploration. The company secured control of nearly 2,500 acres in that section of Bay County, and at once commenced prospecting.
Before doing this, however, they sent some of the pieces taken from the bed of the river to Dr. S. S. Garrigues, who analyzed the same and pronounced them very fine specimens. Experts in coal mining were also sent for and they expressed the opinion that large veins of coal existed there.
At the point where the specimens were taken from the bed of the river, the south banks rise abruptly to a distance of over 100 feet, while a little way above they rise almost perpendicularly to a height of 200 feet. This was known as the Pinnacle, a point 700 feet above the level of Saginaw Bay. Believing that if the coal vein existed throughout this section, outcroppings of it would be found on the bank of the river (where 100 feet less boring would be necessary) the company commenced boring.
The first hole bored was to the depth of 120 feet, and while a vein of only six inches of coal was struck, the miners discovered vast quantities of slate and fire-clay, which by many was thought to be as great a source of wealth as the coal. We subjoin a statement of the thickness of the different veins:
FEET
Surface clay
12
Sand rock.
30
Light gray slate.
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