TJ Potter! The Greatest Race of All.

So may the fate of the Bailey Gatzert have been nearly so cruel. Launched in Seattle in the year of 1890, it was claimed by its owner to be the fastest ship on the water, and would challenge any boat that dismissed its claim or got in its way. Thus it was, on that eventful day in history that the current title holder, the mighty “Greyhound,” accepted the Gatzerts challenge ... only to be stripped of its prestigious title and to limp shamefully away. This did not sit well with Capt. Jim Troup, of the T.J. Potter, who was the brother of the captain of the sadly defeated, “Greyhound.” A “grudge match” was, indeed, soon in the works and much anticipation was felt by all. The shores were lined with spectators as the two sternwheelers were neck-and neck at the halfway point. All was “a buzz” with the excitement at hand, when a horrifying explosion shook the Bailey Gatzert’s deck. Passengers, fearing that a boiler had exploded were soon to learn that the pressure had blown a nozzle out of the smokestack and into Puget Sound. None- the-less, crippled by malfunction, the Bailey Gatzert limped gallantly into port ... far behind it’s rival, the T.J. Potter.