Maritime History of the Great Lakes

Scanner, v. 22, no. 4 (January 1990), p. 15

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Four-Cylinder Triple - cont'd. NORONIC's engine was a particularly large four-cylinder triple, but it was not built on the Yarrow-Schlick-Tweedy system, in that the "Canadian Rail way and Marine World" description of the machinery mentions the fitting of counterbalances on the cranks, which would not have been necessary had the crank angles been altered. * * * * * SAM McBRIDE AGAIN In the November and December issues, we commemorated the fiftieth anniversa ry of the construction of the Toronto Island passenger ferry SAM McBRIDE. As far as we know, it was the most detailed history of the double-ended m o torship ever assembled, and we are grateful to all those who assisted us in the preparation of the material. Member Andy Douglas has been able to come up with one piece of information which we were lacking, and that is the date on which the McBRIDE ran her trials on Toronto Harbour and Humber Bay. Andy has pinpointed that date as Tuesday, November 14 , 1939. We should also note that, shortly before Christmas, 1989* the new windows were all installed in the McBRIDE's main cabin. Whereas the old windows each had two panes set side by side, the new ones each have an upper and lower section, and look rather better, in our humble opinion. It remains to be seen whether they will work any better... * * * * * DREDGE MYSTERY SOLVED! In the November issue, we noted Roger Chapman's question as to how a small dredge managed to make its way into the apparently inaccessible waters of Windermere Basin at the far east end of Hamilton Harbour. We are pleased to report that member Vince Sadler has come up with the answer and we now share the information with all of our readers. It seems that the small dredge arrived at Hamilton on a barge from Nova Sco tia. It was brought down the bay as far as the Windermere Cut, where it was placed ashore. Rails were laid down and the dredge was winched over the roadway by two bulldozers, and then was lowered into the basin. Gravel had been placed on the roadway to reduce any damage which the movement of the dredge might have occasioned to the pavement. At last report, it was anticipated that the work would be completed about January 15th, at which time the dredge would be removed from Windermere Ba sin the same way that it was brought in. * * * * * ADDITIONAL MARINE NEWS -- In the November 1988 issue, we presented a feature on the building back in 1911-12 of the grain elevator at Port McNicoll. On January 1, 1990, "The Toronto Star" published an article indicating that, as a result of the end of federal government subsidies for the eastward shipment of grain by rail, the Cargill Grain Company is closing the big elevator and in the spring will demolish the structure. The closure will effectively end almost eighty years of shipping activity at Port McNicoll and will adversely affect the town's fragile tax base. -- As of December 14th, communications from the U. S. Coast Guard indicated that all salvage efforts on U. S. C. G. MESQUITE had been suspended, and the vessel lay with a 23-degree port list and virtually the entire hull flooded. The rudder had become unshipped and was lying on the bottom, and pounding and rolling of the ship on the rocks had caused damage throughout. It was even reported that "pieces of hull have fallen off". By December 17, all equipment of value had been removed from the wreck, fuel removal had been completed, the vessel secured against vandalism, and all personnel removed from the scene. There is little doubt that MESQUITE is a total loss. * * * * *

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