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14. SHIPS OF THE SAGI N A W We always are pleas ed to review in these pages books w hich are written, edited or pub l i s h e d by members of the Toront o Mar in e Histo r i c a l Society. Such works are, we believe, likely to be of interest to our other members, and even more so if they deal wit h a p a r t i c u l a r l y obscu re po rtion of lake shipping hist o r y whic h othe rw is e might rem ai n unkn o w n to pe rsons ou tside the specific locale involved. We are indeed ple as ed to have rec ei ve d a copy of Vess e l s Built on the S a g i n a w - Vo l u m e 1 - C o m m e r c i a l V e s s e l s , w h i c h has been p u b lished by and for the support of the Sa ginaw River Marin e Histo r i c a l Society. This 156-page softco ve r has been edite d (read " w r i t t e n " ! ) by longt im e T. M . H . S. me mber Ral ph K. Roberts, of Saginaw, Michigan, together w ith David D. Swayze, of Mt. Pleasant, and Donal d Comtois, of Bay City. In the wor ds of its editors, it is "an a n n otated listi ng of comm er ci al vess el s built on the Sa ginaw River and aroun d Sagi n a w Bay", and a c c o r d i n g l y it includes ve ssels co n s t r u c t e d by a nu mber of ver y famous shipyards, in c l u d i n g those of James Davidson, Frank Wh ee ler and Will i a m Crosthwaite. The m a j o r i t y of the m a t e r i a l in the book came from the editors' own files, and all of the nume ro us photog r a p h s are from Ral ph Roberts' ext en si ve photo collection. The editors have done an e x e m p l a r y job of u sing only rare and unus ual photos, c a r efully av oiding those views w h i c h have been pu b l i s h e d w i d e l y in the past. A p ol ogies are made for the fact that this vol um e has bee n p r o duced on a home computer, ph ot ocopied, and then s p i r a l - b o u n d bet we en c a rdboard covers, but the format does not in the sl ightest det ra ct from the va lue of the boo k as a major re fe rence resource. Not only are there detai ls of the ships t h e m selves, but also several appendices, i n c l u d i n g maps of the Sa ginaw River s ys te m showi ng the loca ti on s of the pl aces me ntioned, the nume ro us shipy ar ds and also a s s o r t e d wre ck s w h i c h re main in the area. In orderly series of boxes for each vessel are given off ic ia l number, type of ship, renames, date and place of launch, builder and hull number, hull d i mensions toget he r with Gross and Net tonnage, and a bri ef h i s t o r y of the vessel. The ships are list ed in a l p h a b e t i c a l order and, in u sual lake fashion, are liste d by last name whe n the name of the ship h o n o u r e d a person. The only anom a l y to this system, and we must avow that it is a somewhat co n f u s i n g one, with o u t maj or p r ecedent of w h i c h we are aware, is that ve ssels who se names beg in wit h "City of" (and these yards built a num be r of those), are filed under the last wor d in the name. Hence, CIT Y OF G L A S G O W app ea rs under "Glasgow", not u nder "City", and CIT Y OF BANGOR is foun d und er "Bangor". Ne ve rt heless, this volume is a maj or a d d i t i o n to the base of lake mari ne h i s t o r i c a l data, and we have bee n unable, at first review, to note any major errors of fact in the text. We most c e r t a i n l y re c o m m e n d this vol um e to a n y body i n t e r e s t e d in lake sh ipping history, and p a r t i c u l a r l y in boats built in the Sagi n a w area, whet h e r of w ood or steel hull. As the current boo k is s p e c i f i c a l l y sub t i t l e d "Volume 1", we as sume that fu rther vol um es are to be expected, and we shall await their a ppearance wit h great interest. Members w i s h i n g to ac quire Vess e l s Built on the S a g i n a w should ad dress the S agi n a w River Ma r i n e H i s t o r i c a l Society, 3123 South Conco ur se , Mt. Pleasant, M i c h i g a n 48858, U . S. A. Please remit U . S. $ 1 2 . 95 for e ach book ordered, plus U . S. $3 . 00 for pa cking and shipping. Det ai ls for bulk orders m a y be o b t ained from the publisher. * * * * * Stuck for a C h ristmas gift for any of your s h i p w a t c h i n g w is h to co nsider a gift m e m b e r s h i p in T . M . H . S.! * * * * * friends? You might