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Ship of the M o n t h - cont'd. 8. and the only d i f f e r e n c e s be tw ee n them lie in the closed bulwark which a p peared forward on the upper deck, and the dark colour ( g r e e n ? ) on the hull. The ph ot og r a p h s used to i l lu st rat e pub li sh ed ad ve rt is em en ts for WI N O N A all seem to show her prior to the rebuilding, with the open rail and with the all-w hite hull. Early a d v e r t i s e m e n t s for W I N O N A ann o u n c e d "Fast passenger service between Cutler (at the head of Aird Bay on the mainland, not far west of Spanish, and the site of a C . P. R. stat i o n and post office - E d . ) and(Manitoulin) Island Ports. Daily except Monday, Cutler to Gore Bay; Monday and Thursday, Gore Bay to M e l d r u m Bay and C o c k b u r n Island. Capt. Jas. Purvis, P r o p . " One of the a d v e r t i s e m e n t s of w h i c h we have a copy, c o n tained the following detail: "Le av in g Gore Bay d ai ly at 10 a . m. for Cutler on the C . P. Ry. Soo Line, me et in g trains Nos. 17 and 18, and ret u r n i n g the same day i m m e d iately after the ar ri val of train No. 18, about 3 : 15 p. m., a r r i v i n g at Gore Bay at 6 p . m. The Str. WI NONA has a c c o m m o d a t i o n for all sizes of automobiles i n cluding sedans. Co m f o r t a b l e cabin for passengers. Meals served on b o a r d . " Other a d v e r t i s e m e n t s for the steamer showed the departure time from Cutler as 3: 00 p. m. in st e a d of 3 : 15. In 1931, w h i c h w ould prove to be her last year of service, WINONA was s c h e du led to b eg in her service b e t w e e n M a n i t o u l i n Island and the M a i n l a n d on Friday, May 1st. Her a d v e r t i s e m e n t s read as follows: "Leaving Gore Bay 1 0 : 00 a. m.; A r r i v i n g Spragge 1 : 00 p . m.; Leav i n g Spragge 3: 00 p . m.; A r r iving Gore Bay 6: 00 p . m. Fare: Pass e n g e r s $ 2 . 50, Return $ 4 . 00; Au t o m o b i l e s and Driver $5 . 00, Re tur n $ 8 . 00. A c c o m m o d a t i o n for 9 cars. Gang w a y Dimensions: Height 6'11", Width 7'9". Jas. Purvis & Son, P r o p r i e t o r s . " Over the years, WINONA also ran a great man y excursions, in addition to her sc hed ule d runs. She was k nown for her D o m i n i o n Day (July 1st) excursions, and of course the month of Jul y w ould not have been complete wi thout the annual outing for the Orange Lodge. There were e x cursions as far as Sault Ste. Marie, p a r t i c u l a r l y on July 4th, whe n she ran to the M i c higa n Soo, and she f re qu en tly took special trips to the horse races at Little Current. The WINONA was p a r t i c u l a r l y well known by the isolated residents of Co ckburn Island, for w h o m she p r o v i d e d an inval u a b l e link to "civilization". Leaving Gore Bay on M o n d a y mornings, she stopped at M e l d r u m Bay and Cockburn Island en route to Thessalon. Passe n g e r s b o a r d i n g at Cockburn Island (Tolsmaville) did so about noon, and for a r o u n d - t r i p fare of $ 1 . 50 could go to T h e ssalon for several hours of shopping, and could be home again in the early evening. The reside nts of C o c kburn Island were p a r t i c u l a r l y fond of WINONA's master, Capt. Casson, and the stea mer's chief engineer, Ronald McQuarrie. On Sunday, N o v e m b e r 15th, 1931, W I N O N A d e p a r t e d Spragge, bound back to Gore Bay, but she was forced to return as a consequence of the sort of un f a v o u r a b l e we at h e r which frequently is ex p e r i e n c e d along the North Channel. She tied up at Spragge for the night, and in the early mo rning hours of N o v e m b e r 16th, fire broke out over the boiler, and the steamer bur ned to a total loss. As WI NON A burned, the flames t h reatened to spread to lumber piles ashore. The steamer's crew and l u m b e r y a r d w o r k e r s fi nally m a n a g e d to get a line on the burnin g st eamer and tow her across the channel to Na r r o w Point, where the burned hull finally settled. It remains there to this day, submerged but still a ha zar d to boaters. Interesti ngl y, the end of W I N O N A came just as the town of Spragge itself was dying. Spragge, which grew up around a lumber mill establ i s h e d in 1883 at the mouth of the Serpent River, p r o s p e r e d for several decades, but by the 1930s, timber limits were depleted, there had been several disastrous mill fires, and the town simply closed up and disappeared. The most severe fire at Spragge o c c u r r e d on Sep t e m b e r 13th, 1932.