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Ship of the M o n t h - cont'd. n ine w i n d o w s ( s e c t i o n e d h o r i z o n t a l l y ra the r than v e r t i c a l l y ) in its front and sides, and it s p o r t e d a s u nv is o r w h i c h seeme d c o n t i n u o u s l y to have s ev er a l r a t h e r l a r g e d e n t s in it. At the same time, the old r a k e d f or em as t was removed, no doubt be c a u s e it i n t e r f e r e d w i t h the u n l o a d i n g legs of g r a in el ev ato rs. In its place, set ab af t the f o r e c a s t l e r a t h e r tha n r is in g out of the texas, was a h e a v y but s t u b b y p ol e m a s t w h i c h h ad v i r t u a l l y no rake at all. The old m a i n m a s t also was t a k e n out an d in its s t e a d was f it ted a ra the r h e a v y but not tall pole mast, p l a c e d b e t w e e n the f o u r t h and fi fth hatches. A bo o m was fi tte d on the forema s t , w h i l e two b o o m s (one slung aft and one forwa rd) were c a r r i e d on the main. To m a k e w a y for this n ew c a r g o - h a n d l i n g gear, the four r e m a i n i n g w h i r l y c r a n e s w e r e r e m o v e d e n t i r ely. One a d d i t i o n a l s t r u c t u r a l c h a n g e occu rre d, this d ur in g the e ar ly 1920s. The s t e a m e r ' s o ld s t a c k w as r e m o v e d and a s ho rt er but m u c h he a v i e r f un n el was set in its place . Th is n e w s m o k e s t a c k had v e r y little rake, but did have a "liner" w h i c h v i s i b l y p r o t r u d e d abov e the top of the o u t s i d e stack. In the m i d - 1 9 20 s , C a n a d a S t e a m s h i p Lines, s ee ki n g a n e w image, r e p a i n t e d all of its vessels in n e w c olours, and most of the freighters were r e p a i n t e d a b o ut 1927. A p h o t o of M A P L E H I L L ta ken that ye ar showe d her with a red hull, a nd w i t h the c o m p a n y ' s name s p e l l e d out in large wh ite lette rs d o w n the s id e s of the ship, in the n a r r o w space b e t w e e n the spar d e c k and the h e a v y w o o d e n f e n d e r s t r a k e w hi ch ran al ong her hull. At the time of this p h o t o g r a p h , she h a d not as yet been g i ve n a w h i te fo r ec as tl e, but this was done s h o r t l y t h e r e a f t e r . H e r cabi ns w ere white, and her st ack w as red w i t h a w h i t e b a n d a nd a w i d e b la ck s m o k e b a n d at the top. The m a st s were buff, a n d the f o r e m a s t w a s g i v e n a w h i te top. M A P L E H I L L w a s a n e c e s s a r y p a r t of the C . S . L. fleet, but she was not a ship w i t h a p a r t i c u l a r l y l ar g e c a r g o cap acity, as a result of her s h a l l o w draft. Accordingly, she u s u a l l y w a s one of the first into l ay -u p w h e n c ar go es b e c a m e sc ar ce . H o w e v e r , w h e n the G re at D e p r e s s i o n hit the lake s h i p p i n g scene, it c l a i m e d M A P L E H I L L as one of its victims. She saw little or no service after 1931 a nd then lay idle, along with many other C . S . L. c a n a l l e r s , at K i n g s t o n , O n t a r i o . The m o r e m o d e r n an d e f f i c i e n t C . S . L. bu lk c a n a l l e r s w ere r e a c t i v a t e d as business conditions improved in the l at t er part of the decade, but M A P L E H I L L an d a n u m b e r of o t h er m a r g i n a l ve s s e l s had no future in the fleet. In 1937, C . S . L. d i s p o s e d of most of its excess ships, m a n y of w h i c h w e r e r u s t i n g a w a y at K i n g s t o n , as was MA P L E H I L L . The p u r c h a s e r of one gr oup of s uc h v e s s e l s , w h i c h i n c l u d e d M A P LE HI LL , was Les C h a n t i e r s M a n s e a u Ltee., of M o n t r e a l an d Sorel. T hi s f i r m was a f o r e r u n n e r of M a r i n e I n d u s t r i e s Ltd. W h i l e m a n y of the old shi ps w e r e p u r c h a s e d for the sole pu r p o s e of s c r a p p i n g them, MAPLEHILL managed to e sc ap e that fate. During 1938, the Sorel s h i p y a r d of M a r i n e I n d u s t r i e s r e b uil t the s te am er as a tanker for o p e r a t i o n by the n e w c o m p a n y ' s v e s s e l - o p e r a t i n g s ub si dia ry , B r a n c h Line s Ltd. D u r i n g the c o n v e r s i o n , an e x p a n s i o n trunk, e x t e n d i n g from the f o r e c a s t l e to the af t e r cabin, was added. A n e w and mu c h larger texas c a b in was p l a c e d on the f o r e c a s t l e head, and an e n t i r e l y new and m u c h mor e s pa ci o us p i l o t h o u s e was b ui l t on the b r i d g e deck. A m u c h taller and h ea vi e r s m o k e s t a c k was f i t ted, and the s h i p w as g i v e n two new and m u c h l ig hte r pipe masts. The o r i g i n a l B e r t r a m - b u i l t t r i p l e e x p a n s i o n s te am engin e was retained, but the old b o i l e r s w e r e r e p l a c e d by two S co tch b o il er s w h i ch had b een m a n u f a c t u r e d in 1918 by the A l l i s C h a l m e r s C o mpany. The r e b u i l t s te a m e r wa s r e t u r n e d to serv ice d u ri ng the s um mer of 1938 under the n ew n am e (b) O A K B R A N C H (I), w i t h r e v i s e d tonnage of 1749 Gross and 1278 Net. H e r hull, i n c l u d i n g the f o r ec as tle , was p ai nt e d black, w hi le the f o r e cast l e rail was w hite. The trunk, texas and after cabi n were p ai n t e d a dark