The River: (Remembering) riverboat folk yearning to hear the ‘ready whistle’ and engines warming up

The riverboat captain is a storyteller, and Captain Don Sanders will be sharing the stories of his long association with the river — from discovery to a way of love and life. This a part of a long and continuing story. The story first appeared in March 2021.

By Captain Don Sanders
Special to NKyTribune

Since last week, the Ohio River’s simmered down after cresting at 56.82-feet on the Cincinnati Gauge. The water lapped at the business houses on the hill above the bight of Aurora Bend. And though a basement or two closest to the riverbank got some water, the rest of the town was spared the playful slap of the Ohio’s incursion above its usual boundaries.

At the end of the Lower Mississippi River System, however, the impetus of the waters plunging downbound from thousands of miles above caused the river to “raise five-feet in only one day at New Orleans,” according to Captain Clarke C. “Doc” Hawley, the “dean” of steamboat men and women residing and laboring along the predominant fluvial flow on the North American Continent. 

While I had the “doctor” on the line, he added he was attending the christening of the American Queen Steamboat Company’s newest passenger riverboat carrying tourists in the overnight trade, the AMERICAN COUNTESS. The COUNTESS, a former casino boat in the once red-hot riverboat gambling business, was saved from the breaker’s torch when she was bought and remodeled into the AQSC’s latest sleep aboard cruiser.

Interesting-enough, the owners of the American Queen Line recently announced:

“[We] will require all guests and crew members to be vaccinated against COVID-19 before coming aboard beginning July 1.”

Though I, and many others concerned with the health and welfare of ourselves and others during the COVID-19 Pandemic, lauded the AQSC’s decision to require proof of inoculation against the virus, others threatened to “take their cruise money elsewhere.”

Judging, however, by the verbiage used by many of the dissidents rallying against the vaccination ruling, I would venture to guess that they were not of the usual cruising crowd. Let’s not forget that the CD-19 Virus played hell with the seaborne cruise industry about a year ago. Who in their right mind wants to be cooped up in tight, restrictive quarters with a gaggle of anti-vaxxers and, quite-likely, anti-maskers?  Ich Nicht…

Though I watched an entire video of the AQSC CEO, John Waggoner, articulating his prestigious passenger boat business, I prefer to deal directly with Madison Berry, a young riverboat buff from Paducah, Kentucky, at the lower end of the Ohio River. Madison always seems to have the latest scoop on what all the riverboat operations are proposing. Besides, he is easier to contact than the chief operator of a major cruising enterprise.

I wonder if the AQ Company realizes what a positive voice Madison Berry is for their product? If I were one of Mr. W’s honchos, I’d make sure that young Berry is well-received and welcomed aboard every time one of their boats land at Paducah. The hospitality accorded Madison would return in spades… if not more.

Shortly before Captain Doc had another call he needed to answer, we talked about the “dog whistle” the Steamer AVALON blew in the days we worked aboard together. The miniature whistle, also called a “ready whistle,” emitted an ear-splitting signal the steamboat’s engineers blew to alert the pilot and crew that the engineroom and all its machinery were prepared to get underway. Once the tiny screecher sounded, everyone within hearing distance dropped everything and hurried to their duty stations.

Although the AVALON was spared the wrecker’s block when the city and county governments of Louisville and Jefferson County ponied up the cash to purchase the steamboat at auction on the Cincinnati Public Landing, what wasn’t permanently affixed to the steamboat was “liberated” on the tow downstream to the boat’s new berth. Among the stolen booty was the small, brass “dog whistle.”

By some strange coincidence, I wondered, recently, how it would be to replace the tiny screecher on the former AVALON that, in 1962, was promptly renamed the BELLE of LOUISVILLE after arriving in the “Falls City.” At the same time of my concern, the BELLE’s Port Engineer, Chief Daniel Lewis, was harboring similar thoughts as was Mr. Frank X. Prudent. Frank, an expert steamboat historian, a former crewman on the BELLE and DELTA QUEEN, and the son of a renowned steamboat Chief Engineer, the late William Richard “Bill” Prudent. Chief Bill’s last steamboat assignment was in the Louisville riverboat’s engineroom between the Rees Variable Cutoff High-Pressure Engines still in service today though older than the 107-year-old excursion boat itself.

According to Captain Hawley, the AVALON’s “ready whistle” may have been on the boat since it was launched as the IDLEWILD in 1914 at the James Rees & Sons boatyard along the Allegheny River close to where it and the Monongahela meet to give birth to the Ohio River. Cap’n Doc further explained that in the days before the steamboat had an “Engine Order Telegraph (EOD)” signaling between the Pilot in the lofty “knowledge box” high on the roof and the Chief Engineer stationed on the aft Main Deck, the two departments communicated with a system of bells and gong.

The distinct, shrill “dog whistle” became the perfect communication device blown when the engines were warmed-up, and all was prepped on the propulsion end to allow the Pilot and the rest of the crew to know that the steamboat was ready, at both top and bottom, for the departure.

Sometime around 1952, or later, the predecessor to the DELTA QUEEN, the Steamer GORDON C. GREENE, retired from the passenger-carrying business. Much of the GORDON’s equipment went to the AVALON, including the EOD. However, the traditional engineer’s whistle remained on-station and continued in service until it was stolen on the delivery trip to Louisville a decade later.

It seemed logical to force my mind to visualize the AVALON “ready whistle” mounted atop the steaming-hot boilers ahead of the engine room. Captain Doc corrected me, however, and said the single-chime, brass whistle was, instead, mounted overtop the blazing-hot, portside “staterooms” of the crew in a space known as the “barricade.”

My memory of the barricade was a most uncomfortably-heated space where durable items unaffected by the extreme temperature found a home. Somewhere within that area, clues should remain revealing the location of the original whistle. 

Frank Prudent’s “dog-caller” is a distinct, one-of-a-kind mixture. When I asked Frank to tell me more about it, he answered:

“The whistle has two bells. Both diameters are the same – about an inch. One bell might be two inches high, and the other a little over an inch. They’re all brass with proper nuts over both bells. Originally, they were both the same height, but Dad cut the one down. Each of the two whistles was a boiler low-water whistle from the old steam boilers at the Cincinnati Water Works pumping station.”

As it’s been said, “Great minds think alike.” Although Dan, Frank, and I may not be rivaling Albert Einstien or Nikola Tesla in the gray matter department, the three of us do think alike when it comes to steamboats. We are all hoping that as soon as possible and practical, the high-pitched scream of the “ready whistle” aboard the BELLE of LOUISVILLE will again announce that the engines are warmed-up. While at the same time, the engineers are prepared, standing-by, and ready for departure.  

“Give that ‘dog whistle’ a long, sweet blow,” Chief Dan…

Captain Don Sanders is a river man. He has been a riverboat captain with the Delta Queen Steamboat Company and with Rising Star Casino. He learned to fly an airplane before he learned to drive a “machine” and became a captain in the USAF. He is an adventurer, a historian, and a storyteller. Now, he is a columnist for the NKyTribune and will share his stories of growing up in Covington and his stories of the river. Hang on for the ride — the river never looked so good. 



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Enjoy Captain Don Sanders’ stories of the river — in the book.

ORDER YOUR RIVER BOOK HERE

Capt. Don Sanders The River: River Rat to steamboatman, riding ‘magic river spell’ to 65-year adventure is now available for $29.95 plus handling and applicable taxes. This beautiful, hardback, published by the NKyTribune, is 264-pages of riveting storytellings, replete with hundreds of pictures from Capt. Don’s collection — and reflects his meticulous journaling, unmatched storytelling, and his appreciation for detail. This historically significant book is perfect for the collections of every devotee of the river.

You may purchase your book by mail from the Northern Kentucky Tribune — or you may find the book for sale at all Roebling Books locations and at the Behringer Crawford Museum and the St. Elizabeth Healthcare gift shops.

Order your Captain Don Sanders’ ‘The River’ book here.