Bringing Back the Age of Steam

Ernie Smith’s Kezar Lake Steamer

A wise adage says that there is only one difference between men and boys, and that is in the price of their toys. The advent of the motorized age with vehicles to go on land, sea, and air has made this saying even more true.

It is hard to believe that until the age of the personal steam launch, which flowered for only a short time in the late 19th century, the only mechanically powered plaything available to men/boys were private trains, and these, for obvious reasons, were not for every man. 

Ernie Smith of Fryeburg, Maine, readily admits that his 25-foot steam launch is his toy. Acquired as a bonus when the Smiths purchased a camp on Kezar Lake three years ago, the mahogany and brass launch, circa approximately 1912 to 1920, has been painstakingly restored by Ernie. The large horizontal boiler and two-cylinder engine have been renovated and iron pipes replaced with brass until it is now in remarkable condition. “I have a lot of people come just to admire the lines of the boat and look at the engine,” said Ernie, who is the proprietor of Smith’s Big Bunch Restaurant and Dairy Joy in Fryeburg. Though raising a young family and busy from six in the morning until eight each night, Ernie still finds time to “play."

The use of steam to propel a vehicle or drive a motor is the true harnessing of fire, something that man has sought since the beginning of time. It was not until the 17th century that a workable steam engine was developed. Called the “miner’s friend,” this type of engine with two- to six-foot cylinders and four- to nine-foot strokes was used to pump water out of deep mines. During the 18th century, steam engines were greatly improved and attempts were made to use them to power land vehicles and boats. In America, the development of steam locomotives opened the West and steamboats plied the numerous waterways. 

Though popular legend attributes the invention of the steamboat to Robert Fulton, the development was, in fact, an eventual combination of individual efforts. Fulton had been accused of basing his steamboat plans on those of John Fitch, who ran a ferry service with steam launches of his own design on Collect Pond on the southern tip of Manhattan as early as 1795. Fitch died an impoverished suicide in 1798, while Fulton is remembered in history for establishing the first successful commercial steamboat line in 1807. Undoubtedly, Fulton’s success was aided by a 30-year monopoly of steam navigation on the Hudson, but Fulton’s first steamboat did achieve a steady speed of 4.7 miles per hour, which was by far the fastest way to get from New York to Albany at that time. 

The speed of steamboats has not changed much to this day. Ernie Smith says of his launch, “It definitely won’t pull a water-skier.”

But, until the steam age, the only means of power was either manpower, horsepower, or wind power. Early steam engines, though wasteful of fuel and an expensive conveyance, were a reasonably comfortable alternative to stages or slow canal boats. With the opening of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and the advent of the great paddlewheel steamboats, America jumped ahead of Britain in the development of steam engines for travelling purposes. 

The river steamships were not the most predictable means of travel, as the emphasis was on attaining speed and not on safety factors. Richard M. Mitchell, in his book Steam Launches, states, “On the Atlantic coast, 25-pound boilers were mounted out on the paddle guards to reassure lily-livered passengers, and mechanical failures caused public debate, litigation, and loss of patronage… On Western rivers (where every man carried a pocket pistol, and risks were to savor), grand dining saloons were built atop 90-pound boilers, and gruesome disasters became grist for jokes, brags, and Western-style stories.” 

The popularity of steam launches fits into a very brief period between the development of smaller, more efficient engines and screw propulsion around 1840, and the discovery of the internal combustion engine in the late 19th century. Private steam yachts were definitely for the rich and before this period, sailboats or manpower were employed. Prior to 1860, the cost difference was in favor of muscle power over steam power for smaller launches. Surprisingly, it was Queen Victoria who was so impressed by steam powered boats that she commissioned several to  be built for the royal fleet and relegated sailing yachts to frivolous racing use. The advances made in design of blockage running boats during the Civil War started the interest and the Queen’s endorsement set the tone for the golden years which coincided with the Victorian Age. 

In their abbreviated heyday, the steam launch became the recreational vehicle of the newly affluent of the industrial age. In 1890, the average $825 cost of a steam launch was equivalent to $15,000 to $20,000 in modern times. In Britain, keeping with tradition, it was customary to have a crew to attend to the boiler, engine, and navigation, while in America, the owner of the vessel most often was found behind the wheel and next to the boiler. 

The coming of the internal combustion engine brought about the understandable abrupt end of the popularity of the personal steam launch. As Richard Mitchell acknowledges in his book, “The little steamers were so warm and charming and companionable, so quiet and full of interest – but only a fool would carry a ton of iron and cord of stove-wood in the boat to accomplish what a 100-dollar engine could do with 10 gallons of gas. 

Steam launches disappeared much the way wood stoves did when the development of inexpensive central heat with gas or oil caused their obsolescence. Only a few clung to the older, more charming way in the face of new inventions and advancements. It was often on New England waters that old steam launches were preserved by the few that appreciated the “beautiful” engines, just as it was in New England that wood heat was first revitalized with the beginning of the oil crunch. Many of the men that helped in the rebirth of interest lived or had their roots in New England towns.

Fred Semple, who really launched the revival with the formulation of the Semple Engine Company specializing in steam engines in the 1950’s, summered every year on Kezar Lake in Lovell, Maine, and made his first experimental steamer from component parts to travel on the lake in 1937. Other characters associated with steam engines  proliferated in the Wolfeboro area, such as Oscar York, who from 1905 to 1930 plied the waters of Lake Winnipesaukee carrying passengers and delivering mail to the many islands that dot the huge lake.

Steam launches thrived in New England because they were often the only means of transportation available to bring vacationers from rail lines to resort hotels built on islands in the many lakes in the region or to bring loggers to and from inaccessible work camps. Entertaining hotel guests was often the only job of a steam launch and the four mph speed was just enough to provide a cooling breeze. 

Ernie Smith’s boat was in a sorry state when he first acquired it. He spent all of his rare spare time renovating the hull and learning about steam engines. “Until I got the boat,” he said, “I didn’t know anything about using steam for power.” Now, after running the boat for three years, Ernie is so fascinated by the functions of steam power that he dreams of constructing his own steam powered car using a Semple engine. 

Now called the EEGEE, with initials representing the different members of the Smith family (although a baby expected in a few weeks may change the name), the boat has been on Lake Kezar for 47 years. Ernie likens its appearance to the African Queen, and the gentle chug-chug sound it makes when on the open water immediately brings to mind the movie starring Katherine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart. According to steam launch authority Richard Mitchell, steam enthusiasts view this film frequently and argue whether the friction tape repair of the main steam line was really adequate to get the African Queen past the German fort. 

Ernie fires his horizontal boiler with wood-either regular cord wood, or for quick firing, wooden dowels. The great advantage of steam engines is that virtually any combustible material can be used to fire the boiler. Coal and wood are the most common, but oil can also be used. The smell of wood smoke while traveling smoothly across the water and enjoying the view can only be described as delightful. Though improvements have been made to the basic machinery, the technology has not changed much in 100 years and riding in Ernie Smith’s steam launch with its polished wood, brass trim, and rich character, is like taking a step back into a slower, gentler age. 

The lines of steam launches are often sleek with a shallow draft and narrow beam to counteract the weight of boiler and engine. It has been said they look like a fast boat going slow. “This old boat is certainly seaworthy,” said Ernie of EEGEE. “It has great lines, runs smooth and purrs like a kitten.” 

As noisy power boats roar past on the quiet waters of Kezar Lake, it is easy to understand why steam power enthusiasts long for a return to the age when it was inconceivable that any form of energy could take its place. If not for the advantage of using a renewable fuel, then for the ambience created by the wood fire, the gentle chug-chug, and the personal relationship of man to machine that is rarely possible with other power sources today.

Editor's Note: Ernest “Ernie” Walter Smith of Fryeburg, Maine, passed away on Nov. 16, 2018, at the age of 89.