AN HISTORIC STEAMBOAT.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 22, 26 January 1914, Page 4

AN HISTORIC STEAMBOAT.

The little steamboat Louise, which, according to cable reports, made • the first passage through the Panama Canal, is a relic of the French enterprise associated with historic recollections, ami the Figaro proposes a public subscription to enable the French authorities to purchase it from the United States, and keep it as a souvenir. The boat had been sent to Panama more than 25 years ago. She was baptised the Louise, and was intended to be used as a tug. On Feb-, ruary 23, 1886, the Louise, all cover-j fil with flags and bunting, conveyed Ferdinand de Lesseps ami his son. and a delegation oi members of the I Chamber of Commerce, to the mouth of the Rio Grande. The spot where she anchored was near the point where the works for the port of Balboa had just been begun. The arrival of the Louise was hailed by an army of black labourers. She returned to Panama, and for years the tug Louise was the regular boat used by the agents of the

French company in crossing the bay. When the disaster to the French enterprise came, the Louise was temporarily abandoned. Years passed before the works were resumed, and then, with the rest of the French material, the Louise became the property of the United States Government. The tug was at once used, and took an active and honorable part in the labours, and it was a piece of delicate attention on the part of the American authorities to arrange for the tug to make the first passage through the completed canal. The Louise, says the Figaro, ought henceforth to be sacred to France. and deserves a place of honour in a i French port on her coming retirement.