properly ſelected, has nearly the strength of white oak, and the durability of the live oak of the ſouth without its weight) it is believed will give theſe veſſels the preference over any built of the timber commonly made uſe of, in any market where there are competent judges. This part of the country owes much to thoſe gentlemen, who, in a new and experimental line, have ſet this example of enterprize and perſeverance."[1] One ship from Marietta is said to have had the existence of her port of clearance questioned in Italy.
In 1811 we learn that ship-building was not prospering as might be supposed; misfortunes and accidents "have given a damp to ships building at present."[2] On an inland river, where the winds and the amount of rainfall at any time were very uncertain, it must have been a most difficult thing to cope successfully with low water and shifting sand bars and other innumerable obstacles to navigation in the Ohio. The times were ripe for another power, one which did not require
