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From：USA
- Register：11/11/2008 8:17 AM
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Date Posted：11/21/2008 10:40 PMCopy HTML
STRECKFUS FLEET OF
EXCURSION STEAMERS
Continued~~Page 2
STEAMER ST. PAUL
The famous New Steamer St. Paul is one of the largest and best known excursion steamers on the Mississippi. It is noted
for its gigantic measurements--a block
long, five decks high, 5,000 electric
lights, 500 electric fans, two cafeterias,
600 tables and five refreshment stands
in addition to a fine, modern soda
fountain.
The St. Paul has the distinction of having
entertained more than 6,000,000 people to date on enjoyable Mississippi River
outings as St. Louis, and has earned for
itself a distinct place in the summer social
life of this city. During the winter of 1933-
1934 it was rebuilt at the boat yards in
Paducah, Ky., and upwards of $30,000
was spent on it in improvements. The St.
Paul is noted for its graceful lines, and
many splendid photographs of it have
been taken and published all over the
world as a model of the distinctive
type of Mississippi River steamboats.
STEAMER CAPITOL
Perhaps the busiest and hardest working
steamer in the Streckfus Fleet is the Steamer CAPITOL De Luxe. This
luxurious craft puts in its winters entertaining excursionists at New Orleans,
and its summers doing the same thing at
St. Paul, Minn. It has practically a year
'round schedule. It differs slightly from the
other vessels of the fleet in that it is a stern
wheeler--incidentally the largest stern
wheel passenger steamer on the
Mississippi--and is so arranged that its
dance cabin and upper deck restaurant
are glass enclosed and steam heated,
making the steamer practical for winter
service as well as summer. The CAPITOL
has the distinction of being the first
steamer to reach St. Paul after the
Mississippi was reopened to navigation to
that port in the summer of 1931, and was
welcomed with loud acclaim by the
residents of the Twin Cities as heralding
the return of river traffic which had been
discontinued some years before.
STEAMER WASHINGTON
Like the CAPITOL, the Steamer
WASHINGTON, a sister ship built along
the same lines, is also a stern wheeler. It
has its headquarters at Pittsburgh, Pa., and operates out of that city on the Ohio
River, bringing to the people of that part of
the country the same kind of delightful day
and night river outings so much enjoyed by
those living in Minneapolis, St. Paul, St.
Louis, New Orleans and other cities on the
Mississippi served by Streckfus Steamers.
The WASHINGTON spends part of its
time at Pittsburgh, and part visiting the
other cities along the Ohio. While at
Pittsburgh, it makes two trips every day,
an all-day outing forty miles down the
"Beautiful Ohio" to Rochester, Pa., and a
moonlight dance trip in the evening. The
all-day trip is especially popular for the
many unusual views it affords of the scenic
splendors of the Ohio, while the evening
dance outings are the mecca of the best
dancers of Pittsburgh.
The operation of the Streckfus Fleet is an
immense business, giving direct employment to many hundreds of people
and indirect work to many thousands
more. The management spends money
freely to keep all its vessels constantly in
first class condition, and to provide the
very best the markets afford in the way of
supplies and foodstuffs. As many as 5,000
meals are served daily on the boats of the
fleet at the height of the season, and the
purchase of these supplies as well as the
great quantities of coal and oil needed by
the boats represents no small share in the
prosperity of the cities in the Mississippi
and Ohio River valleys.
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This set is an exclusive and is not
to leave this site. All backgrounds
and images were created by me
Fiddlinsue. Image used is from my
own personal collection.
The above story was taken from the
Streckfus Steamers magazine-dated
1934-1935
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