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MARINE NEWS 2. Marine Salvage, of Port Colborne, has recently acquired four historic U. S. hulls for scrapping. Two of them are the burned-out remains of the former Grand Trunk carferries GRAND RAPIDS and MADISON, which were built in 1926 and 1927, respectively, as Hulls 2 2 6 and 227 of the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Corp., Manitowoc, Wisconsin, for Lake Michigan service. Almost exact sister ships, they were 348.0 x 5 6 . 0 x 21.5 , 295-2 Gross and 15-88 Net, each powered by twin six-cylinder turbines. Both ferries departed Muskegon at 10:00 p.m. on September 6 , in tow. ANGLIAN LADY towed GRAND RAPIDS into Port Maitland on the morning of September 11 and left her there. CHIPPEWA and THUNDER CAPE arrived with MADISON at Port Colborne on the 11th, but when it was found that the ferry was drawing far too much water to permit her entry to the Ma rine Salvage scrapyard at Ramey's Bend, the tugs took her over to Port Mait land, where she arrived late on the afternoon of the 11th. Both ferries are awaiting overseas tows to foreign breakers. The other two Marine Salvage acquisitions are the cement barges SEA CASTLE, (a) KAMINISTIQUIA (16), (b) WESTOIL (25), (c) J. B. JOHN (I)(51). (d) JOHN L. A. GALSTER (6 9 ), (C. 1255-57 and U.S. 214 019), and MEL WILLIAM SELVICK, (a) SAMUEL MITCHELL (73), (U. S .11654 95), which were built in 1909 and 18 9 2 , res pectively, the former as Hull 8 1 9 of the Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson shipyard at Wallsend-on-Tyne, England, and the latter as Hull 5 -7 of the Globe Iron Works, Cleveland. Both had varied careers and latterly were owned by the Dundee Cement Company, of Dundee, Michigan. U.S. MarAd approval for their sale was sought by Kemma J. Walsh Inc., of Holland, Michigan. These two small hulls are unlikely to go overseas and we believe that they will be destined for dismantling at Ramey's Bend. It grieves us to see these two historic vessels consigned to the scrapyard, although we would be the first to admit that they have been barely recognizable as barges... As far as we know, the MITCHELL (as she was known for most of her life) was the oldest steel hull extant on the Great Lakes. A 26-year-old Toledo man was charged in connection with the June 21st fire that destroyed the efforts of Friends of the Boeckling to restore to opera tion the 80-year-old steam sidewheel ferry G. A. BOECKLING, which for so m a ny years ran from Sandusky, Ohio, to the Cedar Point Amusement Park. Chris topher Smalley was arrested by Toledo Fire Department investigators on Sep tember 8 in Oregon, and appeared the following day in Toledo Municipal Court, after which he was released on bail pending trial. It is alleged that the suspect set fire to the BOECKLING during a bout of drinking with several other persons near the Hocking Valley Docks at Toledo. The grief which all lake historians feel over the insensitive and totally irrational destruction of the BOECKLING by fire is only partially assuaged by the fact that the ar rest of the culprit has been made. It does not matter how many arrests or convictions there may be; nothing can bring back the international histori cal treasure of which the people of North America were robbed by the sense less acts of those who torched the BOECKLING. On August 27, 1989, the tug WILLIAM J. DUGAN and dredge NIAGARA, both former members of the fleet of the Dunbar & Sullivan Dredging Company, of Cleveland, were upbound in the St. Mary's River. They were bound for Duluth, where the new owner of NIAGARA allegedly planned to use her as a restaurant. The tow stopped at Lime Island for repairs to the tug, and was upbound through the MacArthur Lock on the night of August 2 8 , assisted by CHIPPEWA. Unfortunate ly, the tow never made it to Duluth. On the morning of August 30 , with westnorthwest winds of 20 to 25 knots and seas of four to eight feet, NIAGARA began to take on water. Nobody was aboard NIAGARA at the time, and the DUGAN reported that the dredge foundered at 7:00 a.m. in 7 0 0 feet of water, thir teen miles north of Grand Island. After the sinking, WILLIAM J. DUGAN pro ceeded to Marquette. A press report identified the purchaser of NIAGARA as B & B Contracting, of Duluth, and the same firm apparently had acquired the DUGAN as well. In our last issue, we mentioned the departure from the lakes of the four C. S. L. vessels which were sold for scrapping abroad. On August 9 , the tug FAIRPLAY IX departed Sorel, Quebec, with NIPIGON BAY and FORT CHAMBLY in tan