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Show 3763 Stone- D 1784 BY MR. BLACKMAR: Q This skag you refer to, is that kind of a rudder? A No, it is a keel that projects from the under side of the boat down into the river, covering the lowest half of the boat, the rear, the stern. That was bolted on so we could detach that. It would be dangerous to try to run rapids -- we practically went down stern first in all the rapids -- we couldn't have done that with that skag on, so we detached that in the swift parts of the river, and put it back on in the more quiescent parts, so as to make it a good deal easier to handle the boats. BY THE SPECIAL MASTER: Q Whose idea was that? A I believe that was my own, sir. Q To your knowledge has that been tried on boats before on that river? A Not that I know of, sir. These boats were rather the outcome of Mr. Galloway's and my own experience, and were quite different from any that had been built for that purpose theretofore. Q Do you know whether that appliance was afterwards used on what has been termed the Galloway type of boat? A Yes sir. Q It was so used? A I have understood so, yes sir. |