LETTERS hands-on educational program . But we differ in two ways from those schools whom M r. Lee points out as hav ing suffered bad times. First of all , we are a vocational school. We see wooden boatbuilding not as a museum art, but as a trade at which our graduates can earn their livings in the marine industry today. And they do. Secondly, we do not , and never have, relied upon grants from trusts, foundations, or government agencies to maintai n finan cial solvency. It has been our experience that the sort of practical responses which Mr. Lee advocates are much more likely to arise for those organizations who are able to demonstrate their own financial responsibility than for those who do not. I too bemoan the fate of the schools in Beaufort , Boston , and New York . I know all too well the difficulties which a lack of dollars can cause. But I remain convinced that the application of sound management practices to the problem is the best way to solve it. Included in our perpetuation of skills should be an emphasis on perpetuation of financial self-responsibility towards these very programs which are so near to us. CLIFFORD G. H URST Business Manager The Landing Boatshop Kennebunkport , Maine
Mr. Lee notes that he agrees with each point made in these letters, and that he admires particularly the work of the Landing Boatshop, which does excellent design as well as construction work. The Apprenticeshop's present need, he notes, is a one-time matter of capital startup-or restart up,---- ED.
The Not-So Little Richard Peck A letter on the Sound steamer Richard Peck prompts me to send along this photograph of the vessel taken by a friend in 1930, as she slipped up the East River, about to go under the Brookl yn Bridge. As George Rogers identified her, back in those days inland steamers were describ-
SEA HISTDRY, FALL 1983
ed as: side wheel, stern wheel or propeller. She wasn't really a "saucy little" vessel , being 303 feet long. Having a typical Sound steamer profile, she was quite smart looking . ROBERT G. HERBERT, JR . East Northport, New York
bach Paper Co. as well as the foresight of Karl Kortum of San Francisco (who told us of Riversdale's existence) the parts and pieces were shipped to New York for installation aboa rd that beautiful ship. CAPTAIN ALBERT A . SWANSON MDC Historian Boston , Massachusetts
In the latter part of 1943 the government sold the Richard Peck to the Pennsylvania Railroad to operate on the Cape Charles , Old Point Comfort and Norfolk ferry run. The government had previously commandeered the Virginia Lee fo r wartime service, leaving the Eastern Shore without a boat to meet the train at the Cape Charles terminal. The Richard Peck, renamed Elisha Lee after a deceased vice president of the railroad , proved to be ideal for the cross bay run. She soon won the hearts of the many who made the trip frequently. The service this boat gave is remarkable when you stop to realize it was then over 50 years old. Service was provided by this wonderful steamer up until 1953 at which time it failed to pass government inspection , and was dismantled in Baltimore at the age of 62 yea rs. PHILIP W. BEWfE Dunedin , Florida
Captain Swanson did a hero's job on this ship and other floating objects early on in South Street. Richard Fewtrell led the restoration in Deroko's watch , stepping the missing mainmast and sending up the admirably executed topmasts. The contributions along the way of the late Captain William]. Lacey, George Demmy and Norma Stanford also seem important to us, along with the sterling efforts of her Hon. Master, Joseph Farr. The Wavertree needed them all, and called forth the best each had to give.-ED.
The Wavertree Needed Them All It is difficult to find anythi ng written about the restoration of Wavertree at South Street Seaport Museum , prior to 1979. I was working on Wavertree during the time the " restoration work languished." I have a difficult time recalling the eleven o'clock bullion I must have enjoyed while reclining in my deck chair on the quarterdeck . I do, however, recall fabricating va ri ous components for the vessel, splicing and seiz ing wire and sending topmasts aloft. I feel that an attempt has been made to alte r or eliminate that chapter in the history of the restoration of Wavertree and that the work that the crew of six accomplished has been disregarded . I would like to know why. CHARLES D EROKO New York, New York I was disappointed that Mr. Brouwer's article (SH26:9-12) didn't include my quest for equipment for Wavertree. In 1969 I was in charge of piers, ships, volunteers and other loose articles at South Street. I returned to the waterways of my youth (Puget Sound and the Straits of Georgia) to locate equipment for her. This included anchor windlass, boat davits and other gear from a later ship in the series, Riversdale. Through the generosity of the Dollar fa mil y, W.R. Grace and the Zeller-
CAR FERRIES. Anyone with information on the railroad car ferries which plied the Susquehanna between Ferryville and Havre de Grace is invited to be in touch with Richard E . Hall , 149 W. Netherfield Road , Wilmington DE 19804. HOWARD I. CHAPELLE. I am w ntmg a doctoral dissertation on Chapelle-as a maritime historian , author, architect, and curator-and his contribution to maritime preservation . Information , photographs comments would be appreciated. JoAnn King, 127 C Street SE , Washington DC 20003 : 202 546-0064. NOTE: It seems incredible, but in SH28 we identified "Greenock " as "Greenwich" in that wonderful (handwritten) letter from A.O. Jones in South Africa-the letter about using a bar top as a drawing board ("the barman ... silently wiped the bar counter dry, and handed the speaker a piece of chalk") to resolve ship construction details. "The two places," Mr. Jones remarks, "are of course poles apart, as fa r removed as Valparaiso is from Vladivostock. Greenock, in Scotland on the Clyde, was an important shipbuilding center; Greenwich , on the Thames below London, is home to the National Maritime Museum, and the Royal Observatory being there made it the prime meridian , the zero longitude from which all east-west measure starts. "Thank you fo r the most important work you and your associates do so very well," concludes Mr. Jones, generously, we feel. "It helps provide a necessary bulwark to prevent our all becoming numbers in a computer."-Eo. .i,
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