STEAMER GRAVEYARD.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 451, 8 December 1904, Page 6

STEAMER GRAVEYARD.

New Jersey Town Where Sfeny Old . Eastern Vessels Lit* WeEWEjßowe Rlv»i CnA TIMU Bs** , »'■«■«>■ Worm Oirt Fl»d a. Km,., f~q.riMi iii. :>* /' '£•-.-. Bask*. *£ It &ppe&i* to hare been left for t&e residents of the !it4b town of Perth Amboy to prove that the Hindoo belief in the transmigration of souls is a reality, at lee*t, at far as boa t«. are oc*> oerned, say* the St. Lous. Republic Steam craft -which in years gone by made great record* in the local water* and later were dragged out of the busy swirl tired of the struggle, are to-day so mach a part of the B&riAan river town that their names are hoaaehold words there. The graveyard of old wsyili lilts I—B a day of resurrection. The valiant spirit of each has left cold boiler and peralyi&d engine to take up its abode in dwellings, decorations and the hundred and one thing* into which its dismembered but resur* recteftbody has been transformed. During the last-few years many wellknown, boats have been brought together on the shelving banks of the Karitan river, where the junkman decides their destiny. The giantess of them all ia the famous old Albany boat Drew. dose'beside her are the fire-ravaijed hulls of the ierryixiata £bsabeth and Plainfield. The worn-out ferryboat tkm t r*s and the ill-fated Northfleld axe rubbing I their noses in a friendly way with the rise and fal* of the tad* against the Drew's port quarter. The half-burned Thomas McManras keeps well under .weUr on -she rarer side of the fleet # The aide-wheel steamer Colonrai, of Philadelphia, which was condemned as. unseaworthy af terthelast international yacht races, and the famous old. feTTyboat Chancellor, the only craftto cross the bay during the blizzard of 188, hasabolh asttled hagh us> in the sands; These boats represent more than $1,000,000, m original cost, and ara fa all sktiifo3o§) dismantlement. the greases* boons that ever came to Perth Amber .vas the steamer Drew. She wa* towed to bar present fJ >s<li a little more than a year ago. From the outside she appeared to be a great unwieldy hulk of little value, but within ih& has proved to be a veritable treasure ship. Houses have been built hmsn S6(e well-seasoned planking of her superstructure. The panel work and rich carvings, of her 400 and more staterooms have been used for interior decorations, and the staterooms themselves for storehouses. There Is one stateroom whiafc has been left just where it was when the old river boat made her last trip. Money ssnnot buy it from the yank' man.

The pleasant memories ©I Urn ikxt" eymoon still linear with it. Prom one end of the craft to the oilier it is she only spot which will not feel the sharp, edge? of the wrecker*' tool*. "With the exception of that part of the Drew which hae heen used b»- the junkman himself in the construction of living- quarters for his men and a combination office and storehouse, in the heart of the town, aU the material hae been sold at a good price. An elderly widow is the proud owner of. a comfortable home made, entirely from the Drew. Her dog and chic ken* are also snugly housed within a portion, at the reanrrected craft So extravagant were the builders of the boat in the selection of materials used for her eoustruetkm that carpenters and decorators of the town have purchased almost the entire superstructure, although it is as yet not more than half dismantled. In the building trade there is a demand for "Drew timber** and among decorators a salt lor "Drew trimmings." The foregoing is the spirit of the Drew made manifest in Perth Amboy. It is not confined there alone, however, for aU over the country there is a demand tarn some par* of her construction. The giant porta of her engines have already gone to the steel works of Pennsylvania and Connecticut to be f ashinoed into car wheels, nit as and building masessaL _-. f -. Stde-Tnveke*. Epitaphs was the subjeetf the Biggs house, Washington, was the place, and * Laf e Pence, former represantatwe, wax the speaker. He said "I remember one that adorned the cemetery at Leadville, in the palmy days of that great mining camp. It seems that in the course of a barroom brawl one Jim O'Brien, a well-known character, had his existence terminated prematurely. He was a good fellow in the; main, and not without friends. One of the dead man's associates, in deep grief over his demise, erected a wooden slab over his grave, on whish he had written in large leters: " 'Jim O'Brien flssparted for heaven at 9:30 a. m.' "A local humorist happened alone soon afterward and appended the follojping: • '"•"Heaven, 4:20 p. m.—O'Brien no; yet arrived. Intense excitement. Tfctworst is feared.' Times. The German government propose; the acquisition of six private railwa;. •n Prussia. The railroad* of German. . re nr.rtly owned by the government sad rnrt "by private corporations.