iro.
Captain Rodgers disapproved this plan also, and went to Cincinnati,
where he purchased and equipped the "Conestoga," "Tyler," and
"Lexington," and started them down the river. They were not iron-clad,
but were merely protected around the boilers with coal bunkers, and
provided with bullet-proof oaken bulwarks. Mr. Eads had warned Captain
Rodgers that he could not depend upon the Ohio to get his boats down to
Cairo, and his predictions were realized. The boats were started from
Cincinnati some time in July; they were detained on the bars of the Ohio
for six or seven weeks, and did not reach Cairo until about the first of
September; then the bottom of the "Tyler" was found to be so badly
damaged by sand-bars that she had to be put on the marine railway for
repairs.

In July, 1861, the War Department advertised for proposals to construct
a number of iron-clad gunboats for service on the Mississippi River. On
the 5th of August, when the bids were opened, it was found that Mr. Eads
proposed to build these boats in a shorter time and upon more favorable
terms than any one else. His offer was accepted, and on the 7th of
August he signed a contract with Quartermaster-General Meigs to have
ready for their crews and armaments, _in sixty-five days_, seven
vessels, of about six hundred tons each, each to draw six feet of water,
to carry thirteen heavy guns, to be plated with iron two and a half
inches thick, and to steam nine miles per hour. "They were one hundred
and seventy-five feet long, and fifty-one and a half feet wide; the
hulls of wood; their sides placed out from the bottom of the boat to the
water line at an angle of about thirty-five degrees, and from the water
line the sides fell back at about the same angle, to form a slanting
casemate, the gun-deck being but a foot above water. This slanting
casemate extended across the hull, near the bow and stern, forming a
quadrilateral gun-deck. Three nine or ten-inch guns were placed in the
bow, four similar ones on each side, and two smaller ones astern. The
casemate inclosed the wheel, which was placed in a recess at the stern
of the vessel. The plating was two and a half inches thick, thirteen
inches wide, and was rabbeted on the edges to make a more perfect
joint."

In undertaking to complete these vessels in sixty-five days, Mr. Eads
had assumed a heavy responsibility. The manufacturing interests of the
West were sadly crippled by the sudden commencement of hostiliti