After launching / motion picture

"Taken near the Union Works, San Francisco, Cal., immediately after the launching of the Japanese Man-of-war "Chitose." The scene opens with the pleasure yacht "Unadilla" passing in the immediate foreground, her decks loaded with passengers. The boat slowly passes, until the stern is directly to the audience. The water in the wake of the yacht is churned by her screw propeller into a milky stream. As the yacht recedes and the perspective widens, a fishing smack shows on the left, while in the right foreground is a small row-boat. Sharp and clear"--Edison films catalog, March 15, 1898.
"Southern Pacific Company series: The Southern Pacific Company ("Sunset Route") offers special inducements to winter travelers, by reason of its southern route, thereby avoiding the extreme cold of the winter months. Its course lies through a section of the country that presents a variety of beautiful and picturesque natural scenery. It is also the direct route to the popular resorts of Southern California, thereby making it a favorable route for tourists. The following subjects were taken by our artist while traveling over the very extensive lines of the Southern Pacific Railroad Co., to whom we are indebted for many courtesies, and without whose co-operation we should not have been able to bring before the public these animated photographs of interesting and novel scenes"--Edison films catalog, no. 105.
16426 U.S. Copyright Office
Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 10Mar1898; 16426.
Camera, Frederick Blechynden.
Duration: 0:27 at 30 fps.
Filmed January 22, 1898, at the Union Iron Works shipyard in San Francisco, California.
The description in the Edison films catalog indicates that the ship depicted is the "pleasure yacht Unadilla". However, the ship depicted appears to be the U.S. tugboat, Unadilla, which was stationed at Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California at the time this film was taken.
Paper print shelf number (LC 0981) was changed when the paper prints were re-housed.
Additional holdings for this title may be available. Contact reference librarian.
Available also through the Library of Congress Web site as digital files.
Sources used: Copyright catalog, motion pictures, 1894-1912; Musser, C. Edison motion pictures 1890-1900, p. 386; Niver, K. Early motion pictures, p. 3; Edison films catalog, March 15, 1898, p. 15 [MI]; Edison films catalog, no. 105, July 1901, p. 43 [MI]; NavSource Naval History WWW site, viewed November 13, 2015.
Early motion pictures : the Paper Print Collection in the Library of Congress / by Kemp R. Niver. Library of Congress. 1985.