The Rothesay
The side wheeler, the Rothesay, was built in Carleton, Saint John in 1867. On February 7 the new 200-foot steamer with a capacity of 528 tons left the ways, while a "concourse of spectatory" shouted its encouragement. The installation of the machinery was completed at Indiantown. It is interesting to note that the Rothesay's engine had a horsepower rating of 275, nearly three times that of the Olive, that had been built for the same firm just a year and a half before, showing what a little competition can do. The interior furnishings were of the very best materials and some of them were imported from England. The floor of the 176-foot saloon was covered with 400 yards of tapestry carpet, and that of the Ladies' Cabin with Brussels carpet. Chairs and lounges were upholstered in rich English plush. In all these ornate and stylish furnishings, the emphasis was on elaborate comfort.
On June 13, the Rothesay left Indiantown for her trial run to the Devil's Back. Well over 200 passengers were on board, including stockholders in the Express Line. She proved to be remarkably fast and easy to handle. Two days later, she made her first trip to Fredericton and the event was recorded at some length in the Globe of June 18, 1867:
"We were told to be at the boat at 10 o'clock sharp and we arrived one half minute in advance...
The boat, the noble Rothesay, is not quite so punctual. There is not the least appearance of steam anywhere and the smoke that curls out of the smoke stack is faint and thin. A half hour passed in eager waiting. The tedium is scarcely relieved by watching the arrival of those who are to be our companions on the voyage, or by listening to the chaffing of the Fireman, or by witnessing the nonchalance with which he causes log after log to disappear into the open jaws of the furnace. Suddenly and before we expected, the whistle gives a slight scream, the bow line is cast off, the bow of the steamer swings out into the river and the stern is around the wharf. As soon as her nose clears the tier of wood boats, the stern line is let go from the pier, the warning bell sounds "go ahead" and we are away. The half dozen or more gentlemen who have been standing with watches in hand to time her departure - and none of those watches agree to the hour, which is not quite half past ten - speculate at once as to how long she will be making the trip...
Altogether there are about thirty gentlemen to enjoy this rare privilege of travelling the river at a rate of speed that men never travelled it before. The boat is no doubt doing her best, or at least as well as she will do until her engine has thoroughly settled down to its work, for Mr. Scott, the foreman for Messrs. Fleming and Humbert Foundry, is in charge and you can tell by his eyes and his few words and crisp sentences that he is a man who will do his work thoroughly and never leaves his post. But there are little checks and annoyances, not the least of which is the foaming of the boiler which we get over at last. We pass Harding's Point and we find that we are making a rapid run...
One never gets tired of looking at the varied scenery, at the long green slopes, at the hills starting abruptly at the river, at the patches and sky mirrored in the calm water, or the calm water itself, whose varied windings are beautiful, the wheezy little tugs darting hither and tither and the sluggish rafts creeping with snail-like pace are the subject of many a contrast when the breeze is stiff and the wood boats take advantage of it to skim along wing and wing. The air becomes cool and pleasant, but we look down with contempt on these useful if not handsome craft as we glide by. The halfway clump of trees is reached in two hours, twenty-seven and a half minutes...
The steward serves us dinner late, and we pass by Upper Sheffield, as we are eating it, in four hours. Along the Oromocto shoals the water piles up in a large wall and our speed is checked for a time sufficient to show us that we cannot get to Fredericton in five hours. We are in deep water again, but a run of a few miles brings us to the booms and the running logs make our course so zig-zag that we lose many minutes. The mills below Fredericton shriek out a joyful salute and we rush past the Cathedal's spire, the streets and town, and gently glide alongside the Fawn, having made the whole distance in five hours and fourteen minutes..."
The Rothesay returned from Fredericton in 5 hours and 51 minutes, despite encountering drifting logs just after she had started. She had proven herself to be the fastest thing on the St. John. Actually, the David Weston and the Rothesay were just about evenly matched. Both were fine, elegant, and fast. Naturally an intense rivalry now existed between the two first class steamers on the river. In a race against time, the Rothesay had beaten the best time of the David Weston. But the owners of the David Weston were not satisfied. They claimed that the Rothesay had turned down all freight for her record trip, and that she did not have any passengers at all except for about thirty friends of the owner. The upshot was a "boat against boat" race that summer when the two rivals went streaking up the river together. Although the Rothesay won by only three minutes, it had to be conceded she was the faster steamer. She was later to cover the distance in 4 hours and 51 minutes on a straight run. Her best performance downwards was 4 hours and 15 minutes actual running time.
The Rothesay showed more than once that she could do 18 miles per hour. But she had a hearty appetite and her voracious engine did away with 14 cords of wood during a round trip to Fredericton. This made her a good customer for the lengths of cord wood that had been cut and piled on the wharves by the farmers of the settlements.
Enoch Lunt, who was head of the Rothesay's owner Express Line, was expanding business on the St. Lawrence, and he transferred her in 1876 to the route between Montreal and Quebec City, and later to Lake Ontario.