Steaming on the river
Description
Vocal Characteristics
Language
EnglishVoice Age
Young Adult (18-35)Accents
North American (General) RomanianTranscript
Note: Transcripts are generated using speech recognition software and may contain errors.
steaming on the river, along with the statue of Liberty and the skyscraper, The Mississippi steamboat, or paddle wheeler, is one of the classic symbols of the United States. The great river boats, with their tall chimneys and rotating rear paddles were unlike any other boats anywhere else in the world when they first appeared on the great River. It was not really surprising, of course, did not have any rivers, like the Mississippi, and boats have always been designed in function of the conditions in which they were to be used slow moving and often shallow, particularly in summer. The Mississippi required boats that more or less set on the water rather than in it. The flat bottom stern wheelers did just that, drawing only a few feet of water, in spite of their large size, even the stern well wheel was a result of the rivers shallowness both needed plenty of power to go upstream, but traditional side paddles would have had to go too deep. Great white stern wheels provided maximum trust, minimum debt. The first in boat appeared on the Mississippi in 1811. By 80, 50 thousands of steamboats were changing up and down the river carrying people between the riverside communities, cotton from the plantations and other agricultural produce. Competition was intense and ruthless as ship owners and masters competed for lucrative trade In the mid 19th century. There over there there were over 10,000 paddle wheelers on the Mississippi and its tributaries boats reach boats raised each other and were often pushed to their limits, and even beyond The average length of life of a Mississippi Steamboat was just 18 months, but the cost of a boat could be paid for in two round trips with a full load of passengers and cargo. Navigation on the river was, and still is frequently dangerous mud banks and set banks could shift rapidly and water levels rise and fall in many places, pilots were necessary to guide boats past difficult sections. All kinds of boats could be seen on the river. The great passengers boats of the 19th century were magnificently decorated like floating palaces with all the Luxuries that first class passengers could wish for. But other, more ordinary boats carried a mix of passengers and cargo. There were the legendary showboats to flow the cabaret, music halls and theaters that would bring entertainment to the towns and cities along the river and its tributaries. Today there are a few paddle wheelers left on the Mississippi and those that remain are for tourists. Nevertheless, one of them, the American Queen, is the largest turn wheeler ever built ever built. Launched in 1995. It has seven decks, a crew of 160 and a capacity for over 400 passengers. With two other large boats, the Mississippi Queen and the Delta Queen. The ladder built in 1926. The American Queen now carries tourists up and down the river between new Orleans and ST Louise