The Fall River Line boats were the pioneers of the modern type of Hudson River steamers, the first of them being the famous _Bay State_, plying between New York and Fall River. She was 315 feet long and 40 feet beam and of 1500 tons burden. Her engines were of 1500 horse-power. The _Bay State_, being intended for Long Island Sound work, was much more strongly built than those boats which were confined to the Hudson River Line. This vessel was both the largest and fastest craft of her day. She ran the distance from Fall River to New York in nine hours fifteen minutes, including a stop at Newport. In 1864 she was dismantled, and her hull was converted into a barge, her machinery being placed in a new steamer named _Old Colony_. Vessels followed each other in rapid succession, but although rival companies sprang up with considerable frequency, few of them lasted very long and their boats, if good enough, were sometimes acquired by the Fall River Company. One of the most dangerous competitors was the Merchants’ Shipping Company, which controlled fifteen steamers, and for which William H. Webb, the famous American shipbuilder, constructed those two historic boats, the _Bristol_ and the _Providence_. The line lost two or three of its steamers in rapid succession, and had to suspend payment. The _Bristol_ and _Providence_ had each two hundred and twenty-three state-rooms. They were lighted by gas throughout, and were afterwards steam-heated. Each boat carried a band of music, and for the first time on an American merchant vessel the officers and crew were in uniform. In 1883 the first iron steamboat in Long Island Sound, the _Pilgrim_, was built. She had a double hull divided into ninety-six water-tight compartments. The _Puritan_ followed her. The _Plymouth_ was launched in 1890, and was burnt in dock ten years later, and in August of the following year the present _Plymouth_ was launched. All these vessels were side-wheelers, the later ones being of steel, and having a speed of twenty miles an hour. One of the finest vessels now afloat is the _Commonwealth_. She is 456 feet in length, 35 feet moulded breadth, 96 feet breadth over the guards, and has a depth of hull of 22 feet. She has sleeping accommodation for 2000 persons. Like all steamers on the Fall River Line, the _Commonwealth_ is built of steel. Seven doorless bulkheads extend to the main deck. The hull is double, and the space between the bottoms is divided into a great many water-tight compartments. She has also collision bulkheads on each side at the guards and a bulkhead athwart ship. Her engine is of the double inclined compound type, with two high-pressure cylinders 96 inches in diameter, all having a common stroke of piston of 9 feet 6 inches. The wheels are of the feathering type with curved steel buckets. Besides the usual auxiliary steam pumps, there is a large pump for use only on the fire-sprinkler system. Her speed is twenty-two miles an hour.