The Steamer Admiral
by Annie Amantea Blum, John N. Hoover
John Streckfus began his small Acme Company in 1889 with one wooden packet boat, the steamer Verne Swain, out of Rock Island, Illinois, carrying people and goods on the Mississippi River. His business grew, but each year brought competition from the growing railroads. He decided that excursion boats were the only way to compete. He built the steamer J.S. in 1901 and "tramped" her from town to town offering excursions and dance cruises. By 1910, the company comprised four boats and an office in St. Louis and offered excursion cruises on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. The flagship, the steamer Admiral, was far above the others. She provided excursions, fun, and memories for almost 40 years.
Paperback
English
Brand New
Author Biography
Annie Amantea Blum has lived close to the river in St. Louis, Missouri, all of her life. She is a retired teacher and school counselor and author. She worked for 16 summers on the steamer Admiral, the most wonderful excursion boat on the Mississippi River. The pictures in her book come from St. Louis Mercantile Library on the campus of the University of Missouri'St. Louis, which houses the Streckfus Papers, and from the personal collection of her husband, Capt. Jim Blum.
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