Aberdeen’s Shipbuilding Ambitions
The steam barge Clan McDonald slides into the harbor, signaling the town’s growing industrial influence.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The Clan McDonald, the new steam barge, first of the series to be built by the barge company here, was launched from the Weatherwax yard, Wednesday morning, at 11:37, with the stars and stripes flying from both fore and aft. At 11:30 the last of the keel block was removed, and with little pressure from the jacks she gracefully slid off into the water, with a large number of people aboard. The machinery is to be put in right away, and in a few days the Clan McDonald will enter the harbor trade.
“With little pressure from the jacks she gracefully slid off into the water, with a large number of people aboard.”
In the 1890s, Aberdeen was obsessed with establishing itself as a maritime hub. Shipbuilding was the engine of the local economy, and launches were celebratory civic spectacles that defined the town's pride.
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