Large mills manufacture flour, staves, hoops and lumber,
And other industries exist in large number,
The plodding explorer finds reward for his toil,
As the land on the shores bears sulphur, gas and oil.
In the towns there are built fine ships of wood and steel,
By workmen as handy as ever laid a keel,
And these ships are handled by men as smart and brave,
As ever left a port, or rode upon the wave.
No bridge was ever built over this mighty stream,
But beneath a tunnel so strange as it may seem,
And cars by the hundreds pass thru it ev’ry day,
Bearing a large commerce upon its destined way.
Far greater the traffic that daily passes thru,
In the thousands of ships that sail thy waters blue,
Sailing ships and steamships, and boats of ev’ry form,
Fit to sail a river, or face an ocean storm.
How wonderful the change since five score years ago,
From the Indian canoe that was so small and slow,
To the mammoth steel ships of immense size and weight,
Large enough to carry eight thousand tons of freight.
Numerous are the styles, between these two extremes,
And various in size with which the river teems,
There are skiffs and light sculls, that carry only one,
And row boats, and yawl boats, with room for half a ton.
Sailing yachts for pleasure, quite safe when handled right,
Glide across the water and furnish great delight,
Fast electric launches and naptha boats are seen,
And beautiful steam yachts, nice enough for a queen.
Schooners, scows, sloops and brigs, navigate up and down,
And are a pleasing sight when sailing by a town;
While passenger steamers of great beauty and speed,
Carry many thousands and furnish what they need.
But greater the freight ships, full five hundred feet long,
With thirty feet of hold and in proportion strong,
And large are the cargoes these great ships can transport,
Food to feed a city, or supply a large fort.
A whole township of crops in one enormous load,
Or railroad rails enough for eighty miles of road,
A copper cargo worth three millions of dollars,
Or cloth enough to clothe four millions of scholars.