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13. T. P. PHELAN REVISITED Our Sh ip of the M o n t h No. 182 in the A p ri l issue was the s te am er R O S A M O N D BILLE TT, w h i c h w as b u i l t as a s a n d s u c k e r for Lake W i n n i p e g service, w h i c h was br o k e n up a nd r e a s s e m b l e d at T r o i s - R i v i e r e s as the C . S . L. c an a l l e r T . P. PHELAN. She l at e r b e c a m e a san d boat once ag ain and e nd ed her days in tra gic m a n n e r on Lak e Er ie u n d e r the name H O W A R D S. GERKEN. We are p l e a s e d that our m e m b e r s o nc e again r al li ed 'round w he n we requested f u rt he r i n f o r m a t i o n a nd p h o t o s of this e lu si ve vessel, and we are h a p p y to p re se n t the r e s u l t s of t he i r e f f o r t s in this issue. D o n a l d M c C a r t n e y , of T o r o n t o , came up w i t h a p o s t c a r d w h i c h shows R O S A M O N D B I L L E T T m o o r e d at a pi er w i t h a l ig h t h o u s e on it, and we p r es um e that it was t a k e n at the e n t r a n c e f r o m Lake W i n n i p e g into the Red River . The B I L L E T T s e em s to be the o b j e c t of some c o n s i d e r a b l e int ere st, ju d g i n g by all the p e o p l e g a t h e r e d on the pier, and we w o n d e r w h e t h e r they might a c t u a l l y h a v e b e e n out on an e x c u r s i o n a b o a r d her. The p h ot o is s i g n i f i c a n t in that it confirms that the B I L L E T T had two spuds, one f or w a r d on the port side and one aft on the s t a r b o a r d side. A n o t h e r p h o t o of the B I L L E T T , l i k ewi se taken from a p ri v a t e post car d, comes to us f r o m Rev. R a y m o n d M. D o n a h ue, of Al g ona c, Mi ch iga n. It shows the B I L L ETT in the act of d i g g i n g sand, and i l l u s t r a t e s not on l y the s uc t i o n pipe s l u n g out o v e r the f an t ai l, but also the c o n t r a p t i o n of p ip es r a i s e d into p o s i t i o n an d c a r r y i n g d r e d g e d m a t e r i a l f o r w a r d to the hold. Of p a r t i c u l a r i n t e r e s t is the l a rg e pi le of c o r d w o o d on deck beside the af ter cabin. This was fuel for the s t ea m er , as coal was not then r e a d i l y a v a i l a b l e in the W i n n i p e g a r e a for s t e a m b o a t b u nk e rs. This p h o t o a lso m a k e s us w o n d e r w h e t h e r the house a top the a ft er c ab in a c t u a l l y was the p i l o t h o u s e . We b e gi n to susp ect that the st e a m e r was n a v i g a t e d f r o m the c a b i n on the fo re ca st le , w h il e the u p p e r ho use aft ma y have b e e n u s e d by the p u m p m a n d u r i n g d r e d g i n g op e ra ti on s. The ph o t o of T. P.PH EL A N, the best we ever have seen of her, comes to us from Do n Boone , of C o l l i n g w o o d . It is a H a y w a r d photo, ta ken at M o n t re a l, and D on a d v i s e s us that the date on the bac k of the ph oto is 1920, i n d i c a t i n g that it wa s t a k e n d u r i n g her last year of C . S . L. service. Ron B e au p r e , who originated the fe a t u r e on the PHELAN, a dv i s e s that T . M . H . S. m e m b e r G e o r g e A y o u b , of Ottawa, has fo und that the " st eam barge" T. P. P H E L A N went aground on September 15, 1918 (s ho r t l y af te r her commissioning), at Ile H a r t e l l e , b e t w e e n M o n t r e a l and Q u e b e c City. She a p p a r e n t l y w as r e f l o a t e d w i t h o u t s i g n i f i c a n t damage. This repor t was taken fr om the w r e c k r e p o r t s c o n t a i n e d in the 1919 S e s s i o n a l Papers. A s u b s t a n t i a l a m o u n t of i n f o r m a t i o n c o n c e r n i n g the A u g u s t 17, 1920, s t r a n d ing of T. P. P H E L A N at I r o q u o i s comes to us fro m W i l l i a m P. Pa lmer, f o r m e r l y of O g d e n s b u r g , N e w Yor k, and l a t t e r l y of R i ve r Falls, W i s c o n si n. C o r r e s p o n d e n c e f r o m Mr. P a l m e r was f o r w a r d e d to us by T . M . H . S. m e m b e r C. P a t r i c k L a bad ie, of Du lu th . Mr. Pal me r , a y o u n g b o y at the time, was s u m m e r i n g at Ir oq u o i s w h e n the P H E L A N s u f f e r e d h er 19 20 s t r a n d i n g. The i n c i d e n t o c c u r r e d just af ter dawn, w h e n y o u n g Pa lme r, a d m i t t e d l y , w as still "in the arms of M o r ph eu s" , and so he did not see the shi p go a s h o re . He did, howe ver , sp eak w it h local c o t t a gers w h o w i t n e s s e d the g r o u n d i n g and they said that the P H E L A N ma d e two complete circles in the w i d e r r e ac h of the river above I ro qu oi s Point be for e f e t c h i n g up on a s h o al some 150 feet or so and w i t h her bow fa ci ng u p r i v e r in the n i n e - m i l e c u rr e nt . Pr ess r e p o r t s i n d i c a t e d that the ship was 400 feet fr om shore, but P al mer is q u i t e c e r t a i n that s u ch w as not the case, or else the P H E L A N w o u l d have been in the c h a n n e l , and t he re was no b u o y out there m a r k i n g any sh oal in the n a v i g a b l e c ha n ne l .