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Ship of the M o n t h - cont'd. 8. KAMLOOPS and L E T H B R I D G E were dre ss ed in the livery of St ea mships Limited, with hulls painted all black, while the cabins were white. Their sm ok estacks were given what was to be come the typical o range-red of C . S . L., wit h a f a i r ly wide white band about two- th ir ds of the way up the stack, and a broad black smokeband at the top. Later in the brief career of KAMLOOPS, her f o r e castle was pain t e d white and her hull red, while the Canada St eamship Lines name was painted in large white letters " b i l l b oard-style" down her sides. Both package freig hters o r i g i n a l l y were regis t e r e d at London, England. In 1926, their r e g i s t r y was transf e r r e d to Canada, and it was at this time that the two si sterships were pain t e d up in full C . S. L. livery. Montreal, Quebec, became the port of r e g istry for both steamers, and K A M LOOPS was e n r o l l e d u n der C a n adian off icial num be r 147682, while LETHB R I D G E was C . 147702. K AMLOOPS s u c c e s s f u l l y ran her sea trials on Saturday, Jul y 5th, 1924, and then d e p arted the River Tees bound for Ko benhavn, Denmark. There she loaded a very unusual cargo of pebb le s d e s tined for the Calu me t and Hecla Mining Company, w hic h KAM LOOPS was to unl oa d at Ho ughton, Michigan. The oce an c r o s sing was uneventf ul , and K A M L O O P S arri v e d at M o n t r e a l e arly in September. Her British d e l i v e r y crew then was r e p l a c e d by a C a n a d i a n lake crew, and command of K A M L O O P S was handed over to Capt a i n W i l l i a m Brian, of Toronto, the only man ever to sail KA MLOOPS as her re gular master. On Saturday, S e ptember 13, 1924, KA MLOOPS left M o n treal to continu e her long m a i d e n voyage, and she d e l i v e r e d her load of pebbles to Houghton. Her s i s tership L E T H B R I D G E arri ve d sa fely at M o n t r e a l on Se p t e m b e r 18th, and she soon made her way up into the lakes. L E T H B R I D G E also bro ug ht a cargo of p e b bles from K o b e n h a v n for the same consignee. The reg ular trade of the two steamers w o u l d be the fast service from M o n t real through to the C a n adian Lakehead. On the up bound trip, they w o u l d touch at ma jor Canadian ports whe re the C . S . L. packa ge fr ei ghters regularly co llected and u n l o a d e d ge neral cargo. On the ret ur n voyage down to Montreal, they w ould carr y grain w hich was lo aded at the Lakehead. The October, 1924, issue of "C an adian R a i l w a y and Marine that K A M LOOPS had been on the drydock at C a n a d i a n Vick e r s for the o v e r h a u l i n g of her st eering con tr ol shafting. World" re ported Ltd., Montreal, C o n s i d e r e d to be st aunch ve ssels and quite capable of w i t h s t a n d i n g the r i gours of the lakes' severe la t e - s e a s o n weather, K A M LOOPS and L E T H B R I D G E n o r m a l l y ran ver y late into the autumn. Such was the case in De cember of 1924, as the pair f i n i s h e d their first se ason of operation. A severe w i n t e r - t y p e storm wit h high winds and sub-zer o temperatures found KAMLOOPS, alo ng with her f l eetmates LETHBR ID GE , M I D L A N D PRINC E and MIDL A N D KING, out on Lake S u perior. This small fleet of C . S . L. ships locked down thro ug h the Soo t o g e ther, only to find the lower St. Mar y' s River clog ge d w i t h slush ice. The Great Lakes Towing Comp a n y sent two tugs to assist, and they were su cc essful in forcing open a ch annel down the river and out into Lake Huron. The season of 1925 seems to have passed with ou t any undue p r o blems for KAMLOOPS, except for one inci de nt w h i c h was re ported in the "Detroit Free Press" of Oc tober 12th. The Eastern Ste a m s h i p C o m p a n y Ltd. bulk cana ll er W I L L I A M H. DANIE LS was agro u n d over the W e l l a n d River aqu ed uc t in the W e l land Canal, and she was hold i n g up the pas sa ge of ten ships, i n c l u d i n g K A M LOOPS. The DA NIELS was, however, soon released, and the other ve ssels were able to proc e e d on their way. Late in the au t u m n of 1926, the Great Lakes again wer e caught in the icy grip of an e a r l y and severe onset of wi n t e r weather. By De cember 1st, the St. Mary's River was fill i n g w ith slush ice whi ch was b e g i n n i n g to slow the progress of v essel traffic. D o w n b o u n d ships pus he d the slush along w ith them and it soon b egan to pile up at the hea d of the West N e e b i s h Cha n n e l ' s Rock Cut. By D e c e m b e r 3, several ships were firmly stuck in the ice w h i c h no w was up to 12 feet deep in spots, and tugs were w o r k i n g in an effort to break them free.