Telephone (sternwheeler)

History
Name	Telephone
Owner	U.B. Scott
Route	Willamette; San Francisco Bay
Cost	$15,000
Launched	November 6, 1884
Maiden voyage	March 1, 1885
Identification	Original (1885) US registry #145400; following first rebuild (1887): 145477; after second rebuild (1903): 200263
General characteristics
Type	Inland passenger/freight, later, ferry
Tonnage	In 1885: 385 gross; 334 registered; in 1888; tonnaged increased later.
Length	As built (1885): 172 ft (52 m) (exclusive of fantail); (1888): 200 ft (61 m); 1903: 201.5 ft (61.4 m)
Beam	28 ft (9 m) (exclusive of guards)
Depth	7.2 ft (2.2 m) depth of hold
Installed power	Twin horizontally mounted high-pressure single-cylinder steam engines.
Propulsion	Stern-wheel
Speed	22 miles per hour (maximum)
Capacity	793 passengers (1905)

Telephone was a sternwheel-driven steamboat built in 1884 by Captain Uriah Bonsor "U.B." Scott for service on the Columbia River. Reputedly the fastest steamboat in the world in its time, Telephone served on the Columbia River and San Francisco Bay. Telephone was rebuilt at least twice. The first time was after a fire in 1887 which nearly destroyed the vessel. The reconstructed and much larger second vessel was sometimes referred to as Telephone No. 2. The third vessel, Telephone No. 3, built in 1903 and using components from the second steamer was larger but little used during its time on the Columbia river.