Drew at once put a
boat called the "Water Witch" in her place, and Mr. Drew, to oblige his
friend, advanced one thousand dollars toward the enterprise. Commodore
Vanderbilt was not willing that any rival should contest the river trade
with him, and built a steamer called the "Cinderella," with which he ran
a sharp opposition to Mr. Drew. The contest was so sharp that fares and
freights were lowered to a ridiculous figure, and both parties lost
heavily. At the end of the season, the owner of the "Water Witch" found
himself ten thousand dollars in debt, and sold his boat to Drew, Kelly &
Richards for twenty thousand dollars.
Finding that Mr. Drew was not frightened off by his opposition,
Commodore Vanderbilt urged him to withdraw from his attempt, telling him
he knew nothing of the management of steamboats. Mr. Drew refused to be
intimidated; however, and continued his efforts. Since then, there have
been fifty attempts to run him off the river, but all alike have failed
of success.
In 1836, the "Water Witch" was replaced by a fine steamer called the
"Westchester," which was subsequently run as a day boat to Hartford,
Connecticut.
Pages:
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302