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THE EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK The April M e e t i n g was well at tended and me mbers en joyed an in t e r e s t i n g p r o gramme of photos pr e s e n t e d by Don Evans. Featu r e d were Toron to Islan d f e r ries, past and present, Lake Ontar io pas s e n g e r steamers, and other i n t e r e s t ing subjects. Our thanks to Don for his efforts. Also featured was the draw for the G . L . B . C. freig ht er trip, the res ul ts of which are repor t e d else wh er e in this issue. As well, to benefit the S o c i e ty's coffers, we c o n tinued sel li ng publ i c a t i o n s and ph o t o g r a p h s from the M c C a n n e l l Collection; this will continue over the next few meeti n g s until all of the excess m a t erial has found new homes. We hope readers will like our special 25th A n n i v e r s a r y cover on this issue. We have featured special covers on our 10th and 20th an ni ve rsaries, but we w anted this year 's most s ignificant m i l e s t o n e to be m a r k e d in a v ery special way in our newsletter. The draw i n g of the be loved N i a g a r a sid ew he el steamer C H I C O R A is from the pen of your Editor, whi le the cover layout is the work of Bas Headford, of Min et t Ph ot og raphic, longtime fri en d of T . M . H . S. and printer of our stationery, covers and photopages. By the time you read these words, the Annual Di nner M e e t i n g will have come and gone. We will have enjo y e d a tasty J A D R A N meal and Russ Brown 's SEG WU N programme, and the Soci et y will begin its "summer vacat io n" . As usual, there will be no regu la r m e m b e r s h i p me etings u ntil October. Your Editor will take some time away from the typewriter, and there will be only one "Scanner" be tween Ma y and October; the M i d - S u m m e r issue will, as usual, appear in August. However, we will be c o llecting marine news t h r o u g h out the summer, so please re member to let us kno w if s o m ething of interest happens in your area. We look for wa rd to he aring from you. And we ma y see you at one of the b o a t w a t c h i n g spots aro un d the lakes during the summer! * * * * * M A R I N E NEWS A l t h o u g h shipping got off to an ear ly start this year, the seaso n did not begin well for the Canada S t e amship Lines s e l f - u n l o a d e r HALIFAX, (a) F R A N K CLIFFE HAL L (II) (88). Just be fore 2:30 p . m. on Tuesday, Apr il 6th, H A L I F A X was u p b o u n d in the lower St. Mary' s Riv er be tween Nine Mile and Six Mile Point. She had w i n t e r e d at Th under Bay, ca rried a cargo downbound, and was r e t u r n i n g up light. Three cr ewmen were w o r k i n g in the tunnel b e l o w No. 1 cargo hold w h en there was a sudden e x p l o s i o n and fire. Two of the men were able to esca pe but one, a 4 2 - y e a r - o l d St. Catha r i n e s man, died as smoke filled the tunnel. The ship's crew q u i c k l y contr o l l e d the fire, but calls for assi s t a n c e brough t U . S . C . G. BR ISTOL BAY and KATMAI BAY to the scene. H A L IFA X was allo w e d to run full speed up Li ttle Ra pids Cut and the tugs A V E N GER IV and M I S S O U R I helped her to moo r at the Car bi de Doc k at the M i c h i g a n Soo, where she r e m ained for two days whil e the inciden t was in ve st igated. It was found that acetylene and oxyg en tanks in the area, whi le emptied, were intact. A l t h o u g h the fire p r o d u c e d enough smoke that it could be seen on deck abaft the forward cabins, damage was rest r i c t e d to the inside of the tunnel and about 35 feet of the conve yo r belt. Apart from the fatality, the only other c a s u a l t y was the Soo police chief, who trip pe d whi ls t cl imbing over a fence ashore! The 1993 n a v i g a t i o n seas on sta rt ed off m u c h like the au t u m n of 1992 for the Port of Toledo, Ohio. Read er s will re call that, last November, win d and w a ter c onditions caught the Al g o m a Cen tr al s t r a i g h t - d e c k e r ALGO NO RT H, d o w n bound from the Cargi ll e l e vator in the Ma u m e e River, and swung her aw ay from the draw of the Conra il swing bridge. Fort un at el y, that inc id en t delayed rail traffic but ca used little significant damage to ship or bridge. At about m i d n i g h t on Friday, April 2, 1993, the ULS C o r p o r a t i o n ' s s t r a i g h t - d e c k bulk carrier M O N T R E A L A I S was doi ng exac t l y the same th ing - leavi ng the C a r gill elevator w ith a load of whe at - whe n flood cu rrents in the river swung her out of p o s i t i o n just as her bow was into the draw. The ship was fre ed by