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7. CAR-WASH, Els e w h e r e pas s e n g e r ANYONE? concerning the Toronto Is land in his issue, we have r e p o r t e d news ferries T R I L L I U M and TH OMAS RENNIE. For those not i n t i m a t e l y f a m iliar wit h the fer ry service, we shou ld note that, for m a n y years, whe n the cold w e a t h e r of autumn arrived, the d o u b l e deck ferries W I L L I A M INGLIS (the forme r S H A M R O C K [II] of 1935, and laid down o r i g i n a l l y as COL UM BINE), SAM M c B R I D E (1939) and THOMAS REN NI E (1951), w o u l d have wooden bul k h e a d s i n s t a l l e d at the foot of their stai rw ay s to the upper (promenade) deck. The se bulkh ea ds , each of w h i c h was e q u i p p e d wit h two doors, were fitt ed in order to keep the cold w inds out of the mai n cabin. This autumn, however, the three fe rries b egan to sport bright blue curtains, made of h e a v y plastic, at the base of their stairways. These curtains were f a s tened acr os s the top and down the sides, w ith clear plastic wind o w s in them and a zi ppered o p e n i n g down the middle. C o n s i d e r i n g that there are two sides to each s t a i r w a y (s ep arated by a b a n n i s t e r down the centre), p a s s e n g e r s w i s h i n g to ascend to the pr o m e n a d e deck were force d to push aside one of the c u r t a i n flaps, duc k throu gh the small open i n g thus created, and dodge aro un d the n e w e l - p o s t of the bann is te r. All of this wo u l d be no m e a n feat for a pe r s o n c a r r y i n g bags of groceries. Island residents, no s t r anger to a d v e r s i t y or the v a g a r i e s of service, soon b e g a n to re fer to an e x c u r s i o n to the u p p e r deck through the c a r - w a s h " ! the ferry as "a trip It should be noted that, presiding over these festivities, we re the n a m e s a k e s of these three d o u b l e - e n d e d ferries. D u r i n g the past summer, large framed p h o t o g r a p h s of Messrs. Inglis, McBr i d e and Rennie were hung in the mai n cabins of the boats, each g e n t l e m e n a p p e a r i n g in the ship n a m e d for him. Inglis was the builder of the ferry w h i c h was r e n a m e d in his honour upo n his death, McBr i d e was an isl an d resi de nt and m a y o r of the Cit y of Toronto, and R ennie was at one time c h a i r m a n of the T o r o n t o T r a n s p o r t a t i o n C o m m i s s i o n (which, suc c e e d e d by the T o r o n t o Tran si t Co mm ission, o p e r a t e d the ferry service from 1927 unt il 1961). * * * * * T . M . H . S. AND THE G . S . T. Memb e r s who read the fin a n c i a l stat em en t in our Octo b e r issue and took to heart the m e s s a g e that an i n c rease in m e m b e r s h i p fees will be i n e v i t a b l e next year, may have bee n w o n d e r i n g ho w we mi ght be a f f e c t e d by the fe deral gov e r n m e n t ' s p r o p o s e d Goods and Serv ic es (or, more popu la rl y, "Gouge and Screw") Tax. One does not have to be a Libe r a l Se nator to a p p r e c i a t e the fa r - r e a c h i n g effects of the n e w tax w h i c h rep la ce the forme r fede ra l sales tax! In the past, the To ronto Ma r i n e Historical Soci e t y has, as a n o n - p r o f i t h i s t o r i c a l association, e n j o y e d an e x e m p t i o n from pay i n g bot h fed er al and p r o v i n c i a l sales taxes on, for instance, p r i n t i n g services. Our Chi ef Pur ser has made enq u i r i e s of the a p p r o p r i a t e feder al a u t h o r i t i e s and, bas ed upon the fact that the m e m b e r s h i p fees w h i c h we colle ct are used solely to pay for the publication of our members ' newsletter and to pr ovide f a cili ties for our re gular m e m b e r s h i p me etings, it w o u l d ap pear that we will not be r e q u i r e d eithe r to colle ct or pay the ne w G . S . T. Thus, it w o u l d appear that onl y the inevi t a b l e forces of i n f l a t i o n and Canada Post, plus the v a g a r i e s of the i n t e r n a t i o n a l e x c hange rate, wil l be w o r k i n g against our treasury. It is, howev er , too ear ly for us to e s t imate how large will be the fee in crease for next season. Suf fi ce it to say, however, that it u n d o u b t e d l y will be subst an ti al . * * * * *