1.
SV Men unhitch rope, PAN TO the Delta Queen casting off
0.08

2.
LV Passengers crowding deck rails
0.14

3.
SV Calliope player
0.18

4.
GV Steam from calliope
0.21

5.
SV Cabin windows
0.22

6.
SV INT Passengers down stairs to lower dick
0.27

7.
GV Dining room (2 shots)
0.32

8.
GV Cabin
0.34

9.
LV Passengers crowd deck rails
0.37

10.
SV&MV Onlooker on wharf (2 shots)
0.42

11.
FV Girl in tears
0.48

12.
SV Paddle wheel turning
0.51

13.
LV Paddle wheel, ZOOM OUT TO vessel and river, salutes from other craft
1.15



Initials PAF/JF/MH/1625



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: The "Delta Queen" has sailed the Ohio and Mississippi rivers for over 25 years. Now it has fallen victim to a law which required passenger boats to be made of fire-resistant material. This week, the wooden riverboat started its final journey out of Cincinnati.

The "Delta Queen" carried almost 200 passengers on its final sentimental journey that will take it to St. Paul...and finally to New Orleans where it will tie up to await its fate. The owners of the Queen say only a Government subsidy could keep the riverboat sailing midwest waters. The money would make possible the construction of a new boat with a steel superstructure to comply with the law.

If such a subsidy is not made available, then the boat will either be sold to the highest bidder or donated to a historical organisation to be preserved as a reminder of more leisurely times.

One more romance of the river has fallen to the law of the land. The wooden-hulled "Delta Queen", the last stern wheeler providing overnight passenger service along the mississippi river has made its final journey.