European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 23, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse The president an authentic River boat used for gambling draws crowds to its Dock in Biloxi miss. Riverboat gamblers helping fuel return of paddle wheelers i by Hugh a. Mulligan the associated press ormer Pilot Mark Twain declared Quot steam boating s dead Quot in 1882 when he returned to the River As a passenger after an absence of 21 years and saw Only a handful of other packets chugging Down to new Orleans. 1 but As in the words of the Cable he sent 15 years later to the associated press about reports of his own demise the celebrated author s obituary for riverboats was Quot greatly now More than a Century later shipyards All Over South Louisiana along the Mississippi Gulf coast and As far North As Elgin iii., Are raising ornamented smokestacks hanging paddle wheels and affixing Curlice railings and Gingerbread pilothouse on boats being launched at a frantic Pace to accommodate the Roll of the Dice More than the Roll of the River. In Louisiana alone 31 riverboats Are either under construction or have been delivered in the past year As a result of legalized riverboat gambling along the mighty Mississippi and its tributaries. Gaming experts predict 90 or More will be afloat before the Century is out. Quot this is the biggest Boom in riverboat building since right after the civil War Quot said Larry Hairston senior vice president of service Marine in Morgan City la., As he watched a huge Crane lift twin smokestacks onto the purple and Gold trimmed Shreveport Rose at the company s sprawling boatyard along the Atchafalaya River. Quot we re delivering eight boats a week working two 10-hour shifts six Days a week. We got six under Way Here now. Boats we built or converted Are in Louisiana Mississippi Missouri Iowa and Illinois. Indiana will be i be had quite a few inquiries from overseas. The latest was from the people s Republic of China for a 300-foot Terri Wheeler on the Yangtze. Donald Trump has been Here a couple of times looking around. The Donald has an application in for a boat at the foot of canal Street in new Orleans and another in Gary but gambling is not the sole reason Why All of a sudden there is a demand for Calliope players frosted Glass etchers experts in the hydraulics of paddle wheel buckets and other rare artisans who have been in decline since the . White was deemed the epitome of elegance afloat in 1878. A a / a just a mile of so up the River from the service Marine s Yard shipwrights Are adding deck upon deck to the All there la be some amenities Mark Twain never dreamed of. Like elevators a swimming Pool telephones and climate controls in every stateroom and an exercise room for the physically obsessed. A architect Tom Carman. Delta Queen Steamboat co. Steel Hull of the american Queen the largest overnight passenger vessel to be built in an american Yard since the liner United states in 1951. A a Quot now there s a boat Quot concedes Hairston in almost reverential Awe. Quot she carries a Price tag of upwards of $60 million while ours go for Between $12 million and $16 . Inspired by the . White but almost one third again As Long the 412-foot american Queen is a genuine Steamboat. Two steam engines taken from the 1930s steam dredge Kennedy turn its 60-ton paddle wheel. Its victorian decor features Gilt mirrors Marble top tables and overstuffed chairs in staterooms opening onto promenade decks and a grand Saloon including a theater with private boxes modelled after a 19th-Century opera House in a Small River town. A wide staircase under a stained Glass skylight sweeps Down to a dining Saloon lit by chandeliers. Cap n Mary s parlor re creating the Quot no Cussin or swearing Quot ladies. Lounge of the Steamboat gothic Era will have Quot carpets soft As Mush Quot to meet Twain s specifications. Quot there la be some amenities Mark Twain never dreamed of Quot says Tom Carman a naval architect and. Vice president of the Delta Queen Steamboat co., whirr has scheduled the newcomer to join its Quot pure Steamboat Quot Sisters the Delta Queen and the Mississippi Queen in plying the Mississippi and Ohio Early next year. Quot like elevators a swimming Pool telephones and climate controls in every stateroom and an exercise room for the physically Tom Norton project manager for the american Queen admits that Quot Ole Horace Bixby who taught Mark Twain the Art of piloting would be horrified to find a no smoking sign in the dining he confides that some on the design team Are pushing for Spittoon in the boiler room bar overlooking the paddle wheel the last Hurrah for the traditional men s bar where ladies now will be invited to Light up a Che Root. Steamboat purists tend to took Down on the gambling boats which Are powered by diesel electric engines As a lesser Marine species. But Roland Benoit of Thibodaux la., the Section Boss in Mill building no. 2 where the american Queen is taking form is Quot grateful so Many of my cajun buddies got their jobs Back in Yards up and Down . 90 after being Laid off when the Oil Industry went bust in 1982.&Quot in Louisiana shipyards alone Hairston figures there Are now roughly 5,000 people working directly on riverboats. That s not counting the steel furnishings an gambling equipment made elsewhere. All that fancy Fretwork and Gingerbread trim is fabricated in f repr00> metals at the Mill by computer controlled cutting Heads. We develop our designs from pictures of famous boats like the eclipse the Robert e. Lee and the Mary hous o and feed them onto computer Quot from the Texas Border to Mobile this part of the Gulf coast is the biggest shipbuilding area in the country accounting for something like 80 percent of All output. Of course that does t approach the buildup in world War ii when Higgins shipyard in new Orleans employed 28.000 and turned out on an average two it boats a . A a. A. A. A a. The Romance of building 19th-Century riverboats a Thralls shipyard workers accustomed to turning out Oil rigs service Craft and double skinned Oil tankers. Quot they say it s the most fun they be had in years Quot said service Marine s Hairston. Quot on their Days off they bring the kids Down to the Yard for a picnic near the boat. On vacation they drive up to St. Louis and Joliet so they can Tel the other tourists they Hung the paddle wheel on that there . In the Peak Steamboat Era just after the civil War when 3.000 riverboats annually called at St. Louis the faster More Maneu Merable Side wheelers far outnumbered Stern wheelers. Now the opposite is True. Quot paddle wheels on each Side take away space from gaming positions Quot Hairston says. Quot even those starboard Side windows you see on the Shreveport Rose Fren t real. They re assembled from a fibreglass kit. The owners Don t want patrons distracted from the Slot machines or Blackjack tables by the auditions have not been scheduled yet for one More bit of authenticity someone to play the world s biggest Calliope now under construction for the american Queen. A v a Quot a Good Calliope player is harder to find than a Good Pilot Quot capt. Bill Menke of the Golden Rod told River historian Beh Luci ii Burman. Quot you need the fingers of a Blacksmith to handle the steam pressure on that keyboard. And you must never play Home Sweet Home which according to River superstition brings worse Luck than having a Gray Mare and a preacher on among the greats at pumping out Quot real River music Quot shipyard worker Richard Duhon grinds a steel beam that will become part of the american Queen. Menke cited crazy Frank Dumaine Nelly Donnigan and band Leader Fate Marabel on the Dixie Belle who in 1919 recruited teen age trumpeter Louis Armstrong to make the run up to St. Paul Minn. Like the bagpipe the Calliope is not everyone s cup of culture. What has been called Quot an aggravation of eight to 40 steam whistles Quot can be heard 10 to 12 Miles away. Inventor . Stoddard of Worcester mass., received the first Patent Quot for an apparatus producing music by steam Quot on oct. 9,1855. Before the year was out Worcester passed an ordinance Banning Calliope playing within municipal limits. Quot when i be heard enough Quot confessed Cap. Lawrence Keeton on the Mississippi Queen Quot i got a switch up in the Pilot House that cuts the infernal thing off. I can always claim it drowns out communication with the Pilot on the even Steamboat purists sometimes have impure thoughts. Floating crap games Captain Lawrence Keeton stands at the Helm of the Mississippi Queen. Not everyone is thrilled with the increase of gambling on the Mississippi River capt. Lawrence Keeton the leathery faced master of the Mississippi Queen growls that the garishly lighted gambling boats Quot have destroyed the Charm and quiet of the River at night., Quot below Memphis you used to cruise past dark stretches of Woods and clumps of tall Trees along both Banks. Now along that peaceful stretch the sky is stabbed with arc lights like a Hollywood premiere and the Banks glow like a Little City with those Neon further complains that the Mississippi Queen which has no gaming aboard Quot except for that never ending Bridge game in the card room Quot lost its Quot Landing place at Natchez and had to move to the Louisiana Side of the River to make Way forthe gambling boats. At Vicksburg we were pushed farther up River Quot the riverboat operators sent Steamboat traditionalists farther round the Bend by dispatching free buses to pick up passengers who otherwise might have browsed through the antebellum mansions. Critics say it s even worse along the Mississippi Gulf coast where the Law does t require the dockside gambling facilities to even resemble riverboats. Resulting in huge Bolike casinos on barges a the largest longer than two football Fields. All Casino boats however must be seaworthy enough to be pushed by tugs to a Safe Harbor if a Hurricane approaches. Quot when Hurricane Andrew hit Quot recalls advertising manager Cathey Riemann of the president Casino an authentic riverboat built at the Lee vac Yard in Jennings la., Quot we had trouble coaxing the patrons away from the Slot machines so we could hurry the boat from Biloxi into a Back water of the intercostal canal Quot. A Hugh Mulligan 16 the stars and stripes monday a 23,1994 a
