[Shipyard Sam]

Having forsaken the engine room many decades ago for the deck, I'll take a stab at what Chief Jim McCoy's about. My feel is that he is holding onto the handle of the manual ship-up that controls the direction the paddlewheel will take. Look right below and to the right of the gizmo Jim's wrestling and you will see the forward half of an X-shaped part, painted gray, that's the "sawbuck". In the Up-Position the boat will back; down, of course, the BELLE will come ahead. The BoL has a steam-assisted ship-up jack that raised the valves before the engines are made to come-ahead or back with the long-handled lever (name?) that puts the engines ahead or astern. My take is that the handle Chief McCoy has hold of, is the manual version of what steam-assist makes so much easier. It's been nearly half a century since the last time I handled those engines, and I was entrusted with the privilege when I was only 17 y/o... and that's a brag.