Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. a large, clumsy shoe.

1903

‘Hugh McHugh’ I Need The Money 76: Didn’t I work like a beaver to put the sparkle on his ferryboats.

2. a large automobile.

1908

K. McGaffey Sorrows of a Show Girl Ch. xvii: Sabrina [...] alighted from a new big automobile. ‘Pipe the ferry-boat. It’s all mine; name on every piece.’.