Abstract of Enrollments and Licenses issued in the District of Pittsburgh, from 31st day of December, 1848, to the 30th day of June, 1850, for Steam Vessels built at Pittsburgh.

I certify the above to be a true copy of the admeasurement book, in the surveyor's office of the port of Pittsburgh.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal of office, [SEAL.] at the surveyor's office, Pittsburgh, July 22, 1850.

HENRY WOODS, Surveyor, &c.

Cross-examination.

Ques. Have you any interest in the result of this suit?

Ans. I do not know. I own property here, and have an interest in the prosperity of Pittsburgh.

Ques. Have there been any sailing vessels registered since the 16th of June, 1849 ?

Ans. The Martin Hoffman was registered here no other sailing vessel.

Ques. How does the actual tonnage of vessels compare with their custom house tonnage?

Ans. The registered tonnage is generally about one half of the actual tonnage. The list produced by me contains only the names of the vessels and steamboats, and their tonnage. The official record contains other particulars.

Anthony Beelen,

A witness sworn on the part of the complainants.

Ques. Has your deposition been heretofore taken in this cause? Ans. Yes; it is in the printed record, at page 234.

Question. How long have you been engaged in the forwarding and commission business at Pittsburgh?

Ans. Fifty-five years.

Ques. With what ports has your business been chiefly connected? Ans. Principally between Pittsburgh and St. Louis; but some with all the ports on the rivers Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri.

Ques. Have the size and capacity of steamboats engaged in the commerce on the Ohio river been greatly increased within the last few years?

Ans. Yes.

Ques. What has been the effect on the commerce by increasing the size of the boats?

Ans. The freight and commerce has increased with the size of the boats.

[The reference was adjourned to Beightler's tavern, in East Liberty, near Pittsburgh, the 24th of July, 1850. At that time and place the parties appeared before the commissioner by their counsel, and the reference was proceeded in there.]

Prescott H. Devol,

A witness sworn on the part of the complainants.

Ques. Has your deposition heretofore been taken in this cause? Ans. Yes; at page 215 of the printed record.

Ques. Have you been engaged in the navigation of the Ohio river, by steam boats, since the erection of the Wheeling bridge; and if so, in what capacity?

Ans. I have, as commander of steamboat Clipper No. 2, one of the Pittsburgh and Cincinnati packets.

Ques. Is she a regular packet, and how long has she been engaged in that trade?

Ans. She is and has been in that trade four years the 16th of last March. I think she came out on the 16th of March, 1849.

Q. Has she been obstructed by the Wheeling bridge-when, and at what stage of water?

Ans. She was obstructed on her downward trip, in February last, from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati. I think there was at Wheeling 31 feet 4 inches of water at the time the boat reached the bridge. The water covered the register marks at Wheeling at the time; and that is as near a calculation as I can make. I left Pittsburgh at a quarter before 11 o'clock on Friday morning, the river at Pittsburgh was falling at the time. In endeavoring to reach Wheeling before night, to effect a passage under the bridge, or to cut my chimneys off before dark, I refused to take freight at Wellsville or Steubenville; in order that I might be at the bridge before dark. I arrived at Wheeling about 4 o'clock in the afternoon-rounded to above the bridge-made a line fast to the shore-dropped down to the bridge stern foremost, for the purpose of using the bridge to cut off my chimneys. After making the necessary preparations for cutting off the chimneys, by making a sling to lower a man away from the bridge to the chimneys with a cold chisel and hammer, I took my crew and went on to the bridge by going ashore. After arriving on the bridge I was accosted by the toll keeper. He asked me if I was captain of the Clipper I told him I was. He said he was requested to say to me, by the president of the bridge company, that I could not make a convenience of the bridge for cutting off chimneys; as it was not built for that purpose. I then called my crew from the bridge and returned to the boat, and erected derricks and ladders, cut off my chimneys four feet, and passed under the bridge about 8 o'clock that evening. I found that I had been deceived a little in cutting off my chimneys; they caught, in passing under the bridge, some of the tie bolts, and came very near being pulled down; so nearly so, that it was difficult to keep them up in any ordinary wind, they were so much loosened; and they finally did go overboard three weeks afterwards, in a gale of wind at Cincinnati, and I had to get new ones.

Ques. What is the size of the Clipper, as compared with other boats in the line?

Ans. At that time she had the shortest chimneys of any boat engaged in the trade between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, except the Monongahela; her chimneys were of the same height.

Ques. Did you measure the chimneys of Clipper No. 2; and if so, state the height.

Ans. I did; and a correct statement of the height will be found in the table at page 202 of the record. The chimneys, before they were cut off, were 64 feet from the surface of the water.

Ques. Had her chimneys been at that height since 1846; when she first came out?

Ans. I do not know. There had been no change in the height of

the chimneys from the time I went on her in December, 1848, until they were cut off at the bridge as before stated.

Ques. Does the cutting off of chimneys expose those engaged in it, the crew or passengers, to any danger?

Ans. There is danger with the conveniences we had. We were not prepared for such business. I would not feel safe, myself, in cutting off a chimney in the way we had to do it at the Wheeling bridge. If a piece of the chimney should fall, there would be danger of its going through the hurricane deck. One of the pieces we cut off did fall; but being lighter than ordinary ones, it only cut the canvass. There was no one injured, but there would have been if they had been under it. The pieces cut off would each weigh, I should think, from 100 to 150 pounds. The iron was not over one-sixteenth of an inch in thickness; they were the lightest chimneys in that trade; I think they were about 44 inches in diameter. To keep the chimneys from falling, we had a sling from the head of the derrick to let them down by; the rope was put around the chimney at the top, with a slipping noose. The piece of the chimney that fell came down after dark.

Ques. What effect did the shortening of the chimneys have upon the draft of the furnace, and the speed of the boat?

Ans. I think it made a difference of from two to three hours in our passage up from Cincinnati to Pittsburgh. We could not consume as much fuel, and consequently could not make as much steam; the draft being lessened.

Ques. State what means of increasing draft were on the Clipper, and how long had they been on her.

Ans. The first season after she came out, it was found she could not make sufficient steam, and a fan blower was put on her; similar to those used at the east. That is now used on board of the boat, and made a greater draft and more steam-but it has been a great deal of trouble to keep in order, and a very great nuisance to the boat. The blower was worked by the doctor, and diminished the power; as the doctor was supplied from the boilers. The fan was a nuisance to the boat, from the fact that it made a very loud noise when blowing; and the chimneys being short, it blew out an unusual amount of soot from the coal, and of sparks from the wood. This I presume was the cause why the Clipper had a dirtier and blacker appearance than any other boat in the line. None of the other boats used these fan blowers; three other boats had used them, but they did not answer. Since I have been on her I attached the steam blowers; it was at the time I expected opposition, last fall; I attached it to get more steam. I got the steam blower at Cincinnati, at a cost of $100, or $25 for each boiler. I took the steam to supply these blowers from the steam pipe connecting the boilers and engine. There is a pipe leading from the steam pipe down to a cross pipe at the after end of the boilers there being two flues to each boiler; there is a short pipe, some eight inches in length, attached to this cross pipe, and leading into each flue of each boiler; at the end of each short pipe there is a

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