[The State – Columbia, SC – March 21, 1904]

The Columbia (S. C.) State contains nearly two columns of compact matter describing the government work on the Congaree river and the advent at that city of our old acquaintance, the Highlander, in command of our former townsman, the veteran river navigator, Captain James C. Smith. The closing part of the article will be found very interesting to our people, and is as follows:

While examining the work on the dams the party from Columbia observed a light far off down the river. The watchman declared this to be fishermen out on the stream, but presently there was a noise unmistakably that of a steamer, and for an hour the lights were watched eagerly as they ##### closer to the city. First there was one tiny speck, then two, and finally the signal light was seen clearly, and then the outline of the boat from bow to stern. The Highlander stopped several hundred yards down the river from the dam and tied up at the landing at old Granby—one of the forgotten towns of South Carolina, a place once populous, now as deserted as is Hamburg, once Augusta’s competitor.

As there is a broad creek between the government works and the old Granby landing the visitors from the city engaged the services of a boatman and went down the river in a skiff to be the first to board the boat of which so much is expected in behalf of Columbia’s upbuilding.

THE HIGHLANDER A NEW BOAT.

The Highlander is a new boat, built in November, 1901, and every day that she has been in service she has been handled by the veteran river master, Capt. Jas. C. Smith, who has seen 32 years’ service on inland waterways, and yet is willing to admit that he does not know all about river channels. However, his successful trip with the Highlander adds to his fame as a river captain, and he has brought the boat through in great shape. It is over a month since the steamer left Wilmington, having been tied up at Southport for nearly three weeks waiting for the Atlantic ocean to offer a favorable opportunity for the run down the coast to Georgetown. With Capt. Smith are the following officers of the crew: LeRoy Smith, mate; James Peeples, chief mate and F. T. Gaskill, ship carpenter. Mr. Gaskill is the builder of the boat, and Capt. Smith declares it to be the sturdiest river craft he has ever managed in his 32 years of navigation. The hull is four inches in thickness and will stand a lot of hard knocks.

Henry Izard, a colored pilot, came with the boat and showed the way to Columbia, for he had made the trip before, with government tugs. Mr. LeRoy Smith stayed by the wheel all the time and made a careful chart of the stream, giving in detail the location of every apparent and every suspected obstruction. On the return trip he will use these memoranda as a guide and will note the appearance of other obstructions. In this way it may be possible to shorten the time in which the trip can be made.

It is 49 miles from Columbia to the Santee, and this part of the trip is made easily, for having bucked the 15 foot rise in the Santee the skipper found that the current of the Congaree had been checked by the high water in the larger stream.

AN EXPLORING EXPEDITION.

“From the way they tried to discourage one in Georgetown,” said Captain Smith, “one would have thought that there was a stick of dynamite at every turn of the river, but we got through all right. We are on what is virtually an exploring expedition, and had to keep a sharp lookout for snags. I don’t know yet where the best water is and can shorten the trip when I learn the river a little better.” He has been a boat captain on the St. John’s and St. Mary’s rivers in Florida and the Cape Fear and Northeast rivers in North Carolina, and has the air of a man of rare intelligence upon matters of river navigation.

There was but a small cargo aboard, the first people to receive consignments of groceries being Messrs. J. B. Friday and J. B. Gallant, who have aboard a shipment of molasses, and Mr. L. B. Dozier gets a consignment of fixtures for gas pipes. The Highlander will not return until a good consignment is aboard, as the initial trip has been very expensive. The river was low yesterday, one foot and nine inches above the very lowest, and Mr. Love is gratified that the boat has made the trip with no mishap in such conditions.

The Highlander will be tied up at old Granby today, and Mr. Love will have the boat in readiness for inspection by visitors. It is not an ocean steamer, not a pretentious vessel, but it will answer every purpose required of it, and it quite a “find.” Columbia was able to get the use of this boat without making a purchase, for there are too many boats operating on the Cape Fear between Wilmington and Fayetteville. If this venture pays, a second boat will be arranged for. Mr. Love stated last night that all he asks is a reasonable amount of freight at a fair rate of toll.

THE BOAT’S DIMENSIONS.

While essentially a freight boat, the Highlander will carry passengers and has berths for 37. There are two nice staterooms for passengers in addition to the officers’ quarters and there is also the ladies’ cabin with berths and the gentlemen’s cabin with a number of cozy bunks. The Highlander is 136 feet long over all, 100 feet at the waterline, and 23 feet wide on the beam. The wheel and the machinery are in the stern. Capt. Smith makes the assertion that a side wheeler like the Clark would be almost useless on the river. The Highlander draws 23 inches and loaded to its full capacity of 123 tons will draw but 3½ feet. The tonnage is equivalent to the capacity of six box cars, and with two trips a week, as it is expected the regular schedule will afford, the Highlander should do a lot of hauling between Columbia and the coast, the consignments being transferred to ocean going vessels at Georgetown.

When the Columbia party got aboard the mate by request gave three long pulls at the whistle, and the deep, musical notes reverberated over the forest telling the city of Columbia that at 8:30 p. m. on the nigh of the 20^th of March, 1904, she had become an “inland port.”

[Fayetteville Observer – Thursday, April 7, 1904]


HIGHLANDER’S TRIP

WAS LESS THAN A DAY.

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A telegram received last night bore the cheerful information that an agreement had been reached for the thorough traffic arrangements with the Clyde line. Manager Love, who returned to Columbia yesterday from a trip to New York, Wilmington, Georgetown and other points, is now soliciting freight shipments among the merchants here.

Capt. Tamplett is accomplishing good work with the government snag boat on the Congaree and hopes to have the river entirely free of obstructions in the near future. He has removed half the longs on Congaree shoal, where the Highlander struck trouble and bottom on the occasion of its first trip down the river and is fighting the remainder gallantly.

The navigation committee of the Chamber of Commerce meets at noon today. The directors’ meeting will be held on Monday.

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The Highlander, which is now at Georgetown, will leave that port tomorrow, arriving here Wednesday night with a cargo of molasses and canned goods.

The boat will put in the remainder of this week here, making daily excursions down the river.

On Monday week the operation of the regular schedule begins. This will be: Leave Columbia Mondays at noon, arrive at Georgetown Wednesdays at noon; leave Georgetown Thursday 5 a. m., arrive Columbia Saturday nights and lay over here Sundays.

The committee made arrangements looking to the erection of a terminal warehouse at the old Granby landing and the establishment of a dray line from the warehouse to the doors of the Columbia mercantile houses. This method will be used until the completion of the government dam and the establishment of the Gervais street landing, when another warehouse will be built, another dray line established and more boats put on the river.

Clyde line steamers leave New York Saturdays and arrive Georgetown Wednesdays, and the Highlander’s schedule was blocked out to fit into the Clyde line’s schedule. The Highlander will carry out a cargo of cotton goods from Columbia Monday week.

The Highlander will make stops at the regular landings along the river going and coming, and it is expected that a fine local freight business will be done at once and that this will rapidly increase.
[The State – Columbia, SC – April 10, 1904]


THE BOAT SUBSIDY

TO BE INCREASED.

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These reports showed that while the business is steadily increasing it is still far short of what it should be and it was decided to ask for an increase of the subsidy. A majority of the Columbia merchants have already subscribed, but there are still many who have not.

The committee will at an early date personally see these merchants whose names are not on the list, and in addition will ask subscriptions from other classes of business men. The boat needs more outgoing business. She could also haul more incoming freight, and plenty of this could be obtained if the merchants would take the precaution to instruct shipment via the Clyde line in care of the Highlander.

The inability of the Highlander to secure business enough to meet expenses is due in a large measure, however, to the generally slack season in the movements of freight.

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The boat was on its way to Georgetown at the time and had no cargo. The vessel was practically new, having been built only three years ago, and was valued at $12,000. It was insured for only $3,000, with J. H. Boatwright & Son at Wilmington, N. C. Although the telegram says “total loss,” Manager Love is of the opinion that much of the machinery may be saved. The loss falls heavily on Mr. Love – he and not the Chamber of Commerce being the owner.

The Highlander was the first and only boat on the line the Chamber of Commerce instituted this spring to give Columbia water connection with the coast. The business has steadily increased since the first trips and arrangements had just been made for hauling cotton, which would greatly relieve the situation and for which the Chamber of Commerce had been working for several months.

Just what steps will be taken to put another boat in commission on the river cannot be said at this time, but there is no doubt but that this will be done as quickly as the Chamber of Commerce can make the arrangements.

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An OUTLOOK man interviewed Capt. J. R. S. Sian, who was making a trip with the boat, in regard to the accident. He said no one knew how the fire originated. One of the deck hands first saw the fire and gave the alarm.

“Both Capt. Smith and myself,” said Capt. Sian, “were sick and lying down when the alarm was given. Buckets of water were thrown on the blaze and in a few minutes the pumps were started, but the boat burned like tinder, having a strong head wind, and in thirty minutes she was completely destroyed. The fire was first seen over the boiler.”

In getting out Capt. Sian lost a gold watch and a rifle. Capt. Smith lost about $300 in personal effects. Capt. J. C. Smith, Capt. J. R. S. Sian, Mate Leroy Smith, Pilot Henry Izard and eight deck hands were on board. All escaped without injury.

As soon as it was found that the boat could not be saved, she was ran ashore and the crew jumped off. Capt. Sian said that the negroes were completely panic stricken and could not get them to do anything at all. The Highlander only had a very light load of freight. She was valued at $12,000 and had $3,000 insurance. Capt. Smith hired a cart and brought the crew to the city. They got in about 9 o’clock Thursday night.

Mr. E. C. Haselden had about $100 worth of goods lost on the boat. Information from Columbia advised us that another boat will be secured and put on from Columbia to Georgetown.

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Since the Columbia newspapers have stirred up the local merchants to the importance of patronizing the line the business has grown by leaps and bounds the past few weeks. So much so that Secretary Clark said last night that probably three or four boats could be operated on the river at a profit in a short time. At the meeting yesterday the whole situation regarding river navigation was gone over and thoroughly discussed, and it was clearly shown by the experience of the Highlander that the river is comfortably navigable at lowest water, and that the boat can be operated at a profit as well as result in a great indirect saving to the merchants. Especially is this true since the necessary arrangements as to insurance have been made for the shipment of cotton goods on the boat.

The committee yesterday sent telegrams to Charleston, Savannah and other port towns making inquiries for another boat, which will be put on the river as soon as it can be purchased. The committee determined to lose no more time than is necessary. Among the shipments now waiting at the Georgetown docks for the line are: 506,000 pounds of starch, 2,000 cases of tomatoes, 20 barrels of lead traps, five crates of earthenware and 200 barrels of molasses. Much more is on the way.

Members of the committee thought the Clyde line people might be induced to put a boat on the river, but those who know something of this company’s relations with the railroads were of the opinion that the Clyde line concern would not be enthusiastic about such a proposition. However, it will be made; correspondence has already begun to that end.

The mill people have made a proposition to the Chamber of Commerce to finish the Washington A. Clark, on which $18,000 has already been expended. The mill people are willing to put $7,000 more into the boat if Columbia will put in $20,000, but it is thought this scheme will not be feasible, insasmuch as the town is hardly prepared to spend so much just now on a boat, and because it is thought the Washington A. Clark being a sidewheeler will not be able to get through the docks.

The only particulars obtainable yesterday about the burning of the Highlander came in a special to The State from its Georgetown correspondent:

“The steamer Highlander was destroyed by fire on the Santee river this afternoon at or near Fawn Hill, about 25 miles by water from Georgetown. The captain and crew arrived here at night by private conveyance too late to telegraph the news. They report the steamer a total wreck. Nothing was saved.

“The fire originated from a spark catching the lightwood on deck and the efforts of the crew to extinguish the flames proving unavailing, the boat was run ashore and the crew gotten ashore safely.”

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Just how much salvage there will be in the sunken Highlander’s hull cannot be said until the boat is raised, but it is confidently hoped that the most valuable parts of it, the machinery, are yet in good condition. The work of raising and rebuilding the Highlander, if this turns out to be practicable, will begin as soon as Mr. Love gets his insurance adjusted, which he hopes to do now in a few days.

If all efforts fail to get a boat from one of the nearby river lines, arrangements will be made to buy a small boat of good drawing capacity and haul the freight with a barge attached until more satisfactory arrangements can be perfected.

It is understood the government boat now on the river here will be sold at an early date and the Chamber of Commerce has its eye on this. The boat will answer the purposes of the barge scheme admirably, it is thought. It goes through the locks against current with heavily loaded lighters with graceful ease.

The Chamber of Commerce is fully determined that the new river line shall be without a boat no longer than is absolutely necessary.
[The State – Columbia, SC – June 21, 1904]


Steamer Highlander.

The Wilmington Dispatch of Friday evening says:

The burning of the steamer Highlander, near Georgetown, S. C., will be much regretted here by the scores of friends of Mr. T. D. Love, of Wilmington, the owner. The steamer, formerly one of the Cape Fear fleet, was running between Columbia and Georgetown and was doing a nice business. With the spirit of the people of Columbia and the energy of Mr. Love it may be safely depended on that it will not be long before another steamer will take the Highlander’s place.
[Fayetteville Observer – Thursday, June 23, 1904]


After “City of Fayetteville.”

Yesterday afternoon’s Columbia Record said: “Negotiations are now on foot for the magnificent steamer, “City of Fayetteville,” for the river work here, and to-morrow a representative of the company from Wilmington will come here and confer with the boat committee. To-day a telegram was received from Mr. W. S. Cook, the president of the Merchants and Farmers’ Steamboat Company, of Fayetteville and Wilmington, offering the boat provided satisfactory arrangements can be made for its running on the same commission as that given Mr. T. D. Love. One of the company’s representatives will be here and the whole matter will be discussed at the next meeting.”

The stockholders of the Merchants and Farmers’ steamboat Company held a meeting in Wilmington yesterday, with Mr. Oliver Evans, of this city, presiding, and decided to rebuild the Highlander, which was recently destroyed between Georgetown and Columbia, S. C. Bids for the purchase of the machinery of the burned steamer “Highlander” were received and opened, but none of them was considered satisfactory. The stockholders decided to recover the machinery from the river near Georgetown, S. C., for themselves and to rebuild the boat as early as practicable. The machinery will be brought to Wilmington and the boat will be rebuilt there.

Capt. S. W. Skinner has purchased the business of Messrs. Cumming and Swinson, and will conduct it on a greatly enlarged scale under the name of the Carolina Copper Works. It will embrace copper work of every description, including stills, worms, steamboat piping, brazing under a new process; also plating in nickel, bronze, silver and gold. This is a comparatively new enterprise here, and the STAR wishes it all success.