By JAMESV. SWIFT
WJ Contributing Editor
Capt. Greg Menke, who directs the
inland river training at the Seaman's
Church Institute in Paducah, Ky., has
brought a lot of music back to the town in
the form of a calliope. It all beganwhen an
effort was made to restore an instrument
that the late GeorgeH. Astononceplayed
in Paducah parades and festivals in the
1940sand took with him whenhe movedto
Michigan. His daughters,PeggyAstonand
Dori Aston McPherson,knew their father
would like it to go back to Paducah,and
after his deaththey contactedGayle Frye,
directorof the PaducahParksDepartment.
The calliope camehome in 13 boxes.
Enter Greg Menke.He had beencaptain
of the Belle of Louisville and had restored
its calliopeand later played it on the Delta
Queen. He raised $6,000 to restore the
instrument from the Associationof Retired
Marine Personnel,the PaducahRiverport
Authority, the PaducahPropeller Club, the
Lone Oaklions Club,Capt.Luke Moore of The Paducah calliope in red and gold.
Paducah,and GraceAllen, a memberof the
Seamen'sChurchboard. SimonMichelson, steamboat pilothouse and is a popular
ownerof Friendly Storage,donateda truck attraction. It is featured at the River Herto move the calliope to the Miner Manu- itage Museum, which op'enedrecently in
facturing Companyin Donnellson,Iowa, a Paducah.
makerand restorerof calliopes.
Another Calliope
The instrument, which has43 keys,now
sits in a handsometrailer fashionedafter a
Then, strangely,we have the story of
,
another calliope, also in a replica of a
steamboat pilothouse. It is up the Ohio
River from Paducah in Newburgh, Ind.
Charlie Straeffer bought it some eight years
ago. He is 80, and his wife Helen plays the
keyboard and sets the instrument so it will
play by itself and "works the crowd" with
her husband; they both wear Uncle Sam
outfits on July 4.
The calliope at Newburgh has 42 whistles and was made by Tangley Calliaphone,
!i Donnellson, Iowa. It came to Newburgh
in eight boxes; an engineer friend helped
assemble it. The calliope cost $10,000 but
the attention it gets makes it well worth the
price, Straeffer said. The Indianapolis Star
ran an article about the instrument July 5,
2000, calling it "patriotic, proud-and very
loud."
An Old River Family
Calliope Queen in Newburgb Sununerfest parade.
Charlie Straeffer is from an old river
family. His great grandfather, Capt.
ThomasC. Coleman,wasmasterof the Saladain; the Colemans also operated the
Louisvilleandthe TelegraphNo.1 and No.2.
The TelegraphNo.2 wasthe first boatto
have a device that could lower its smokestacksto get under low bridges.
It was Capt. Tom Coleman who "kidnapped"PresidentZacharyTaylor from the
-SEE CALLIOPE PAGE
21
Calliope
(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 22)
boat that wassupposedto pick him up, the
Tennessee.The Colemansand the Taylors
were old friends, and choosing the Tennesseeto carry the new president didn't
setwell with the Colemans.The president's
party eventuallyrealizedthey were on the
wrong boat, but Taylor stayedon the Saladain until the Tennesseecaught up near
Memphis. The storyis documentedin two
articles Straefferenclosedwith his letter.
The First Calliope
Polly Newman of Paducah,will be in the
River Heritage Museum,consistingof 16
oil paintingsof boatsshedid in 1977-1978.
Subjectsof some of the paintings includeth
John S. Hopkins, Tennessee,Leroy,
Paducah,Dorothy, John L. Lowry, Delta
Queen and Belle of Louisville. Newman
won her first blue ribbon in 1966 with a
bow view of the Delta Queen.Shehashad
several"one man shows"in Paducah.
The Stanley Petter
To end with Paducah,we are still looking
for that elusiveboat,the StanleyPetter. No
one seemsto havea picture of it.
Speakingof calliopes,backon November
7, 1908, the WJ had a letter from C. A.
Dodds statingthe JamesRaumondwasthe Letters
first boat to haveacalliope,in the summer
and fall of 1866,towingthe FloatingPalace (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4)
of Spaulding and Rogers,pioneer show- Hunter MarineTransport,CGBEnterprises
people on the river. Dodds wrote that he Inc., BeelmanRiverTemlinals Inc., Inland
was on the boat that later turned the cal- Marine SelVice,BussenQuarriesInc., Goldliope over to the Banjo, also owned by stein & Price, ARS of Missourl,Homer &
Shifrin Inc., McDonough Marine Service,
Spaulding and Rogers.
However, in the November 21, 1908, CargoCarriers,NormanBros.,OrgulfTransJ.B.Marine,andCarlCannon.
issue George Alter Sr. writes it wasn'tso. port Company,
Lastly,we want to thank JamesV. Swift
He wrote that the first calliopewas on the
Denmark when he was a berth maker in of TheWaterwaysJournal,who hasserved
the St. Louis and St. Paul trade, and he as honorary chairman both years of our
also wrote that in his business around annualevent. Mr. Swift promotesthe fesMemphis he recalledthe Melnotte, out of tival throughout the year and provides
the Ohio, had one before 1861,and so did information and advice along with his
the Cincinnati-Memphis packetGlendale. charmingpresenceat our planning meetings.We look forward to June 2002.
Paintings To Museum
Debbie Wedding
Grafton,Ill.
We understandthe "River Memories"of