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Ship of the M o n t h - cont'd. 10. Over the years, Jo s e p h G i l c h r i s t had numerous partners, including his cousin, Frank W. Gilchrist, of Alpena, and also John W. Moore and J. H. B a r tow, of Cleveland. Nevert h e l e s s , it was J. C. Gilchrist who was the driving force behind the fleet and the event u a l i n c o r p o r a t i o n of the Gilchrist Tr an sp o r t a t i o n Company. He also o r c h e s t r a t e d the second major expansion of the fleet, in the years around the turn of the century w h e n steel s h i p b u i l d ing was coming into its own around the lakes. In fact, the fleet had built to its order seven major "classes" of similar but e ve r- la rg er ste e l - h u l l e d bulk freighters, relying on the financing which Josep h Gil ch ri st was able to arrange quite easily in those boom times. This extensive c o n s t r u c t i o n pro g r a m m e made the Gilchrist T r a n s p o r t a t i o n Comp a n y into the nu mbe r two U . S . -flag fleet on the Great Lakes, second in size only to the P i t t s b u r g h S t eamship Company, but it also was one of the major causes of the eventua l failure of the company. Just wh en the G i lchrist fleet was w o r k i n g hard to pay off the cost of the con str uc ti on of the t w e n t y - s e v e n ve ssels that were built in such a few short years, the business panic of 1907 struck the lake shipping industry, and cargoes became very scarce indeed. In its struggle for survival, the Gil christ fleet might well have w e a t h e r e d the financial storm had the dynamic leadership of Jo seph C. Gil c h r i s t continued, but during that very same year, the fleet's ma na g e r s u f fered a severe and c o m p l e t e l y d e b i l i t a t i n g stroke. He never re c o v e r e d his health, and altho u g h J. C. G i l christ lived until 1919, he never ag ain was able to take any active part in the o p e ration of his own company. As a c on se qu en ce of the illness of J. C. Gilchrist, a new board of directors took office and F. M. Osborne, of Cleveland, was chosen as the new president of the G i lc hr is t T r a n s p o r t a t i o n Company. Osborne, however, was much involved with his own coal interests, and the normal oper ations of the fleet were left to J. C. Gi l c h r i s t ' s two sons, Jos e p h A. and John D., as well as to Frank W. Gi lc hr i s t ' s son, Frank W., Jr. A s s i s t i n g them were Capt. J. L. Weeks, who se rved as marine s u p erintendent, and James D. Mitchell, chief e n gineer. Things did not go well, however, and the d i rectors decided that the company's su rvi val d e p e n d e d upo n new and more v i g o r o u s management being se cured. Accor din gly, they a p p o i n t e d S. P. Shane, a former railroa d man, as general ma na g e r of the Gil c h r i s t T r a n s p o r t a t i o n Company. With Shane at the helm, the fleet str u g g l e d on, but cond itions were such that the com pany n ev er could re g a i n its p r e vious stature. Only a portion of the large fleet of wood and steel ships saw an y service during this period, and the compan y was unable to recover to the point where it could fulfill its very onerous fi nan cial obliga tions. R e f i n a n c i n g plans were considered, but the major s h a r e holders were not able to agree on a suitable course of a c tion, and the re f i n a n c i n g never was completed, leaving the fleet w i t h a crushing debt load. Late in 1909, it appeared that the sit u a t i o n was ge tting completely out of hand, and a c c o r d i n g l y the co m p a n y ' s vice - p r e s i d e n t , Frank W. Gilchrist, who was one of the largest shareholders, appl i e d for a receivership. On Ja nu ar y 17, 1910, the court a p p o i n t e d as r e ceivers S. P. Shane and General George A. Garretson, who was pre s i d e n t of the Bank of Commerce, and for whom one of the fleet's larger steamers ea rlier had been named in recognitio n of his financial ass is ta nce during the e x p a n s i o n years. The officers of the Gil c h r i s t Transportation Company hoped that the rece iv er sh ip wo uld be t e m p o r a r y and that the fleet could be r eorganized while it co n t i n u e d o p e r a t i o n s under Shane's management. Still, no concrete agreement am on gs t the s h a r e h o l d e r s could be reached, however, and on April 29, 1912, Judge Wi lliam L. Day a p p o i n t e d Captains Joh n Mitchell, Denis Sullivan and A. G. Smith as a p p r a i s e r s of the fleet's ships. In August of 1912, a ct in g under order of States, Eas te rn Divi si on of the N o r t h e r n the District District of Court Ohio, of the Uni ted Garretson and