1. "Fall River Line's "Pilgrim""
Posted by harry on Jul-22nd-03 at 10:23 PM

There's a nice 1895 photo for auction on eBay of the "Pilgrim" one of the Fall River Line steamers.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2184340960&category=423

Thanks Har!  That's a really nice pic!
Oh I would love to take that cruise...

That gave me an idea -- why didn't Lizzie take the parents
on a cruise & bump them off? Why do it in the living room?
Or kill them & then say they went out of town? Drag them
down to the basement & tell everyone they went on a little
vacation? Oh yeah, it had to be known that they were dead
and in what order so the goils could collect the ransom.

I was wondering if Andrew ever took the family out to eat.
Or if they ever took one of those day cruises together.

For that matter, does it look like Andrew ever did anything
that was fun? Even create children? I can't see him having a
mistress at all -- that would be too much fun, he doesn't look
like he would ever tolerate others having fun in his presence.
Did anyone grow up in a neighborhood where there was a grumpy
somebody who had all the kids afraid of them? That seems like
the sort Andrew was.

IMO Andy would not bear the expense of a mistress. He would look for females he could victimize when collecting rent, etc. Opportunity knocks.

I once worked with a guy from NY city who told of being propositioned once as payment for the goods he delivered. Bored housewives?

He doesn't look like he would enjoy "victimizing" a
woman. He was just too uptight. That is why him & Abby
didn't have any kids -- after all, she was only in her
30's when they married. I spose it could have been difficult
to be "romantic" sleeping in the dead first wife's bed too.

That reminds me -- they didn't live there when Sarah
was alive, did they? There is a story that mentions Andrew
moving Abby into his dead wife's bed, didn't they ever get
a new bedroom suite at all? It seems like even a miser would
get a new bed for the new wife.









(Message last edited Jul-23rd-03  7:45 PM.)

That famous picture if of him at 70. What was he like 30 years earlier? Or was it his religious upbringing responsible for his morals?

What would it be like if your question mark key broke for a few days?
Like quitting cigars, or coffee or ice cream, just to see if it's possible.

Can the same be said of me?

Yes dear.
You need to quit those cigars.

Oh no! NOT the cigars!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
No, it works just fine. You do realize the difference between a computer keyboard (electronic) and a mechanical typewriter???
Less mechanical wear and vibration!

This afternoon being pleasant my wife and I took a Sunday drive to the Connecticut shore. We stopped at Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison, CT, east of New Haven on Long Island Sound. As I stood on the beach and looked across the water toward Long Island (perhaps 15-18 miles distant) I thought of those Fall River to New York steamships, like the Pilgrim, making their daily and nightly runs. Pearson quoted this verse early in "The Borden Case."

No more I'll see the trawlers drift below the Bass Rock
  ground,
Or watch the tall Fall steamer lights tear blazing up the
  Sound.

I also recalled the song (at least the tune if not all the words) to "On The Old Fall River Line" a link to which Harry posted on the Forum a year or so ago. I never saw a Fall River steamer but a favorite aunt of mine who traveled on the Fall River Line with her mother told me some years back about that experience. It's funny how one memory can associate with another and another and another...

And:
http://www.marinemuseum.org/

(Message last edited Mar-1st-04  2:03 AM.)

Boy, would I have loved to see those ships as well Doug.

I have two .mp3 versions of the song. One recorded in 1913 by Billy Murray and one by Collins and Harlan in 1914. Here's the words to the Murray version:

"On The Old Fall River Line"
words by Wm Jerome & Andrew B Sterling, Music by Harry Von Tilzer 1913

Talk about your spooning, and mooning
Take a trip to Boston, it’s fine
Sailing up the bay boys, hurray boys
I was on the upper deck when I met mine
I said Sue in your sailor suit you look certainly cute

On The Old Fall River Line, On The Old Fall River Line
I fell for Suzie’s line of talk and Suzie fell for mine
Then we fell in with the parson and he tied us tight as twine
But I wish O Lord I fell overboard On The Old Fall River Line

When the boat is landing they’re standing spooners by the dozen, and more
While the captains calling and bauling
"Is there anybody wants to go a - shore?"
Everybody just answers then
"Turn the boat round again"

On The Old Fall River Line, On The Old Fall River Line
They make the trip in seven days just multiplied by nine
You could sail across the ocean
And be half way up the line
While you take a trip in a battleship
On The Old Fall River Line

On The Old Fall River Line, On The Old Fall River Line
I lost an eighteen carat watch, a super super fine
I got into someone’s trousers, then someone got into mine
You can lose your life, yes, and lose your wife
On The Old Fall River Line."

The Collins-Harlan version is the same up to the verse that ends "Turn the boat round again". Then there are about 3 more verses completely different from the Murray version.

Thanks Har!
I didn't want to search for the file with the words after getting the picture out I painted and finding the site!
I was hoping you'd come thru with the lyrics!
I am glad the newer members have been exposed or re-exposed to the Fall River Line!


(Message last edited Mar-1st-04  9:47 PM.)

What a delightful find, Kat!  I love the scratchy recording of "Fall River Line."  We have got to get down there.  Now I can bargain with my family to make the trip: See? It's not ALL about Lizzie!

--Lyddie

What a great song, Harry!  I love having the printed words, because you can't make out most of them on the recording, and they're really fun.

--Lyddie

Funny Lydia "bargaining with your family"...the one and only real
vacation my son and I ever had was the summer of 1992, I wanted to
go the the Lizzie conference so bad and see Fall River and all..
I planned the 2 wk vacation to spend the weekend at the conference and then to Williamsburg,VA.  To make the weekend enjoyable for Waylon
we visited the big ships in Fall River, we did back to school shopping
at the many outlet malls, great bargains!  We ate at "Lizzie's" Restaurant and had a great time getting lost driving
around Fall River, a very unorganized town!  He enjoyed the Fall River
Historical Society and it was a good time, he was 15 years old, I got
him at a good age for a vacation with Mama!  There is plenty to do there Lydia, I hope you can convince your family!    PS: later,Waylon wrote an essay about the case for a paper in college and got an A on it! 

Thanks, Harry, for resurrecting those lyrics. I can hum the tune but could not remember all the words. I have not been to the Marine Museum in Fall River but it has an interesting website. Some friends of ours have been on the battleship Massachusetts which is displayed at Fall River, too. Not far down the road in Groton, Connecticut, is the USS Nautilus and Submarine Museum. I have been there a couple of times; it has different and interesting displays. Mystic Seaport is a great museum and also nearby. And, anyone interested in American Indian/Native American history should see the museum at the Foxwoods Casino complex near Ledyard, Connecticut. It is a top-notch display!

Great picture of the 'Puritan,' Kat!

When this subject comes up, I picture you, Harry and William and me and Susan, all  together taking a jaunt on the 'Ole Fall River Line!

  It sounds like I already caused enough trouble on the Ol' Fall River Line according to the song! 

Kat, that sounds great! I have taken the Bridgeport-Port Jefferson ferry to Long Island and back but that is a quick excursion compared to a trip on a Fall River Line steamer.