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CITY OF ANGELES Shaw Island ferry dock San Juan Archipelago, WA. Barlow Marine Elevator aboard. Click image to enlarge. original photo from the archives of the Saltwater People Historical Society©
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The Barlow Marine Elevator made possible the loading or unloading of a vessel at a dock during any stage of the tide.
Captain Harry Barlow had invented the elevator in 1910; some were in use prior to 1920, but sales really took off after Capt. Barlow joined forces with the Colby Steel & Electric Co., in 1924.
In Nov. 1926, more than a hundred Barlow elevators were in service on ships, on docks, and in warehouses. In 1930, the familiar four posts of the Barlow Marine Elevator could be seen on nearly every freighter or freight and passenger vessel in the Mosquito Fleet.
Harry Barlow was born at Barlow Bay on Lopez Island in the San Juan Islands, on 1 January 1876. He was the younger brother of the well-known Capt. Sam Barlow, who had been born on the same spot, 3 April 1870.
Their father was the pioneer Lopez settler, Capt. Arthur (Billy) Barlow, builder, operator, and owner of the schooners Henrietta and Port Admiral.
Both boys were experienced seamen by the time they were in their teens.
Harry was 12 when he shipped on the 52-foot Henrietta as a cook. On that vessel, and on the Port Admiral, he advanced from cook to seaman to mate. At age 20, he shipped on the sealing schooner Florence M. Smith and spent a season with the sealing fleet.
In 1898, while the master of the Port Admiral, Harry was wrecked in a snowstorm in Southeastern Alaska. He then took the little steamer Mocking Bird from Puget Sound to Alaska, and ran her between Skagway and Dyea, during the gold rush.
When he returned to Puget Sound, he was hired as mate on the T. W. Lake, of the LaConner Trading and Transportation Co., headed by Joshua Green. With that company and its successors, he then served as master on the City of Denver, Port Orchard, Samson, and Rapid Transit.
In 1905, Capt Barlow transferred to the Merchants Transportation Co., as master of the A.W. Sterett. On 30 Nov 1906, however, he joined William A. Marmont, a pioneer marine engineer, in purchasing the freighter Transport.
In 1909, the partners purchased the Starr Steamship Co., and thereafter operated a fleet of freighters. One of the vessels acquired was the Fidalgo, and in 1910, Capt. Barlow installed his first elevator on that vessel.
In 1905, Capt Barlow transferred to the Merchants Transportation Co., as master of the A.W. Sterett. On 30 Nov 1906, however, he joined William A. Marmont, a pioneer marine engineer, in purchasing the freighter Transport.
In 1909, the partners purchased the Starr Steamship Co., and thereafter operated a fleet of freighters. One of the vessels acquired was the Fidalgo, and in 1910, Capt. Barlow installed his first elevator on that vessel.
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FIDALGO hauling grain before she was granted a Barlow Marine Elevator. Undated. From the archives of the Saltwater People Historical Society |
The years of freighting and freight handling had provided the captain and former deckhand with ample opportunity to experience the joys of wrestling sacks of wheat from ship to dock at low tide. The docks always remained at the same level, while the ship deck could drop a distance of 12 feet in six hours. In another six hours, it could return to maximum height, as the cycle was completed.
Unfortunately, ship operators couldn't wait for a favorable stage of the tide. To facilitate the movement of freight, inclined planes, called freight slips, were set into the faces of most docks. These extended from dock level to low tide, and deckhands were expected to haul freight up these incline on hand trucks.
Few slips were on a slope of fewer than 30 degrees, and owing to the tide, the lower half was made underwater during a part of every day. Bathed twice daily in seawater, the portion of the slip was as slick as ice and twice as nasty.
To speed the deckhand up the slip ahead of his heavily loaded hand truck, there was a memorable apparatus consisting of a hook and cable. A large pulley was secured to a ring and eyebolt at the top of the slip. The cable was then run through the pulley so that the hook could be dragged back to the freight deck of the vessel. The other end of the cable was also aboard the vessel, attached to a steam winch.
When the hand truck was in position, astraddle the cable, the hook caught in a loop of steel hanging from the axle. The deckhand was then propelled up the slip at a speed deemed prudent by the winch operator. Since no one wanted the load to stall halfway up the slip, the speed was more than adequate to forestall any such occurrence.
When the hand truck reached deck level, the winch was stopped, but momentum carried everything forward, as though it had been shot out of a slingshot. Meanwhile, the deckhand was trying to balance his load, while he sought to use the soles of his shoes for brakes, and at the same time, keep the projectile from running over him.
On some docks, the distance from the top of the slip to the warehouse was not great, and it often appeared that deckhand, load, and all would go clear through and out the back wall.
Capt. Barlow may or may not have been concerned about the discomfort of deckhands, but whatever his motive, someone was later to estimate that the Barlow elevator saved 50 percent in loading time. This attracted wide attention.
Like most inventions, however, the Barlow elevator had to prove itself before it was adopted. For two years, the only one in existence was on the Fidalgo.
On some docks, the distance from the top of the slip to the warehouse was not great, and it often appeared that deckhand, load, and all would go clear through and out the back wall.
Capt. Barlow may or may not have been concerned about the discomfort of deckhands, but whatever his motive, someone was later to estimate that the Barlow elevator saved 50 percent in loading time. This attracted wide attention.
Like most inventions, however, the Barlow elevator had to prove itself before it was adopted. For two years, the only one in existence was on the Fidalgo.
Then, in 1912, a Barlow elevator was installed on the north side of the Colman Dock. In that same year, Capt. Barlow sold his interest in the Starr Steamship Co to his partner, William Marmont, and from that time on devoted full time to the development of the elevator.
In 1914, the Canadian Pacific Railway Co., began installing the elevators in company terminals in Vancouver, B.C., and soon had 18 of them in operation.
Operators of Puget Sound freight boats were making their own appraisals of the elevator. The Merchants Transportation Co., former employers of Harry, were among the first to accept his invention. In 1916, for instance, they installed one on the freighter T. W. Lake.
Since the elevator supplied such a basic need on tidal waters, the business was bound to prosper, and in 1924, Barlow turned over exclusive manufacturing rights to the Colby Steel & Engineering Co., Seattle. The company then had an office in the Central Building, then later on Harbor Island.
Once the elevator was installed on a steamboat, there was no longer a need to drag freight up inclines. All movement was on the level, or horizontal. On the freight dock of a vessel, hand trucks were pulled onto the elevator platform at deck level. The platform was then raised to dock level, or just high enough to lift the outer end of a freight plank, extending out from the dock. The deckhand then pulled the hand truck across the plank, to the wharf.
Advertising in the Marine Digest in 1927, the Colby Crane and Engineering Co., invited ship owners to write in, describing their freight handling requirements. The company would then build an elevator to the requirements of the particular vessel. Thus, the elevators were tailored to fit vessels of the Mosquito Fleet, regardless of size or characteristics.
On the freight and passenger steamer Virginia V, a steam winch in the hold provided the necessary power for the elevator. The steam was piped from the source that supplied the main engine.
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T. W. LAKE with Barlow Elevator Built in 1896 for the LaConner Trading & Transport under Joshua Green and associates. Undated original photo from the archives of the Saltwater People Historical Society© |
Since the elevator supplied such a basic need on tidal waters, the business was bound to prosper, and in 1924, Barlow turned over exclusive manufacturing rights to the Colby Steel & Engineering Co., Seattle. The company then had an office in the Central Building, then later on Harbor Island.
Once the elevator was installed on a steamboat, there was no longer a need to drag freight up inclines. All movement was on the level, or horizontal. On the freight dock of a vessel, hand trucks were pulled onto the elevator platform at deck level. The platform was then raised to dock level, or just high enough to lift the outer end of a freight plank, extending out from the dock. The deckhand then pulled the hand truck across the plank, to the wharf.
Advertising in the Marine Digest in 1927, the Colby Crane and Engineering Co., invited ship owners to write in, describing their freight handling requirements. The company would then build an elevator to the requirements of the particular vessel. Thus, the elevators were tailored to fit vessels of the Mosquito Fleet, regardless of size or characteristics.
On the freight and passenger steamer Virginia V, a steam winch in the hold provided the necessary power for the elevator. The steam was piped from the source that supplied the main engine.
When the steamer Arcadia was launched in 1929, the engine from a Stanley Steamer automobile was installed in her to power the freight elevator. Steam, of course, was always available from the boiler, on steamboats. On diesel-powered freighters, however, power for the elevator was another problem.
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F. H. MARVIN (ex-HARVESTER KING) Former kelp-harvester; then remodeled as the first ferry for Capt. Crosby's Anacortes- Sidney ferry route. Rebuilt and fitted with Barlow Elevator and a square bow to carry the same beam her entire length to manage a cargo capacity of 300 tons. Original undated photo from the archives of the Saltwater People Historical Society© |
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SKAGIT CHIEF On her maiden voyage with her new Barlow freight elevator, 1935. Designed as a shallow-draft vessel for the Skagit River Navigation & Transfer Co. Launched at Lake Union Drydock & Machines to service the Seattle, Stanwood, Mt. Vernon, and LaConner route. Lost in 1956. |
On the Sea Tac, too, the Barlow elevator brought about another innovation in freight handling. In 1927, Fred H. Marvin, head of the Merchants Transportation Co, put a Hood tractor and five trailers aboard the vessel to replace the old hand trucks pulled by deckhands. Used with the elevators, this equipment was highly successful. So, without realizing it, perhaps, the company was moving in the direction of palletized loads.
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S. S. HARVESTER Built 1912 at Stanwood, WA., for Capt. H. H. McDonald of Skagit River Navigation & Trading Co. She had the Barlow Elevator and lots of freight capacity at 152-feet. Original undated photo from the archives of the Saltwater People Historical Society© |
In 1928, Capt. F. E. Lovejoy, of the rival Puget Sound Freight Lines, put Elwell Parker lift trucks aboard the freighter Skookum Chief.
These lift trucks were the forerunners of the modern forklift. A lifting platform slipped under a flat skid or loading platform. The skid and load were then lifted and wheeled aboard the vessel.
Three men could now handle 100 tons of freight per hour; one operating the Barlow elevator, the other two driving lift trucks. In 1929, the PSFL merged with the Merchants Transportation Co., and palletized
freight handling became standard throughout the combined fleets.
At the time of Captain Harry Barlow's death, in 1945, Barlow elevators were in use on the Pacific, Gulf, and Atlantic coasts, as well as in Canada, South America, and on the Mississippi River. Companies that had installed them included: the Erie Railway, the Union Pacific, the Munson Steamship Lines, Moore McCormack Lines, American President Lines, Canadian National Steamship Co., Crowley Tugboat Co., and Carnation Albers Co. A truly remarkable invention!"
Text by author/historian Roland Carey.
Capt. Harry Barlow
1876-1945.
Published by the good people at Marine Digest, Seattle, WA.
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