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9. Ship of the M onth - cont'd. Ne v e rt he le ss , in 1878 ST. JE A N BA PTISTE was brought to Tor on to by Capt. John Turner, who used her on the ferry route from Tinnin g's Wha rf to Ha nl an 's Point, where a c o m m u n i t y al re a d y had sprung up. ST. JEAN BA PT IST E also ran e x c u r s i o n service in the Tor on to area, and on July 15th, 1879, ST. JEAN B A P TISTE, along with the steamers FILGATE, MA X W E L L and EMPR ESS OF INDIA, was ch ar ter ed to leave her w h a r f at 3 : 30 p . m., pro ce ed in g out to meet the big Ni a g a r a si dew he el er CHICORA. On board C H I C O R A was Ned Hanlan, ar ri vi ng home as "Champ io n Sculler of Canada, the United States and England", after his most succe ss fu l tour abroad. CH IC O R A steamed into the ha r b o u r amidst huge ce lebrations, as the citizens of Toronto cro wd ed every ava il ab le boat and wh a r f to pay homage to their ho me - g r o wn champion. On one pa rt ic ul ar e x c u r s i o n trip, however, ST. JEAN BA PT I S T E suffe red an em ba r r a s s i n g accident. Ha v i n g run an ex c u r s i o n on Vi ct o r i a Day, May 24th, 1880, to V i c t o r i a Park, in the city's ea st e r n beaches, ST. JEAN BA PT IST E ran agr ou nd in the Ea st e r n Gap whilst at te m p t i n g to re-en ter Tor ont o Bay. She could not be re f l o a t e d immediately, and a c c o r d i n g l y her 300 pas se ng er s were taken in small ro wboats to the Island, and then ferried from there back to the city. The "Mills List" (C a na d i a n Coa st al and Inland Steam Vessels 1809-1930) i n d i cates that ST. JEAN B A P TI ST E was rebuilt in 1881, with Gross tonnage of 165, and it may well have been at that time that the steamer was given Ca na d i a n off ic ia l nu mber 41614. (At the time ST. JEAN BAPTI STE was built, re gi s t r y num be rs had only been in use for Bri ti sh vessels for three years, and hence many Ca na d i a n ships of the period were not o r i g i n a l l y as si g n e d such numbers.) In any event, C a p t a i n Tu rn er had ST. JEA N BA PT IS TE taken to the And re ws Sh ip ya rd at O a k v i l l e in 1885, and there she und er we nt a co mp le te r e c o n s t r u c tion. So com pl et e was it that the "Mills List" even shows that ST. JEAN B A P TISTE was "broken up 1885". In fact, the steamer emerged from the reb ui ld w i t h a new of fi c i a l number, 90563, and she was enro lle d at Toro nto under the name SADIE, w h i c h h o n o u r ed the wife of C a pt ai n Turner. Most re gi ste rs show SADIE as being an e n t i r e l y new vessel co n s t r u c t e d in 1885, but the 1892 issue of the Inland Ll oyd's Vessel R e gi st er carries the n o t a t i o n that she was "rebuilt from hull of ST. JEAN BAPTISTE", and this also is con fi rm ed by ma t e r i a l co n t a i n e d in John Ross R o b e r t s on 's La ndm ark s of To r o n t o (Volume 2), pub li sh ed in 1896. The 1892 Inland Lloyd's does not give d i m en si on s for SADIE, but does show that she was of 126 "New Tons". She was rated Class A 2 1 / 2 , and was then val ued at $ 6 , 300 for in surance purposes. We have no par tic ul ar s of her machinery, from this source. Robertson, however, no ted that SADIE was 112 feet long and 35 feet wide (over the main deck, presumably), and of 154 tons burthen. Her engine "by Doty, of Toronto, is of 50 horse power". R o b e r t s o n also noted that SADIE had c a p ac it y for 377 passengers, while the d o u b l e - e n d e d C A N A D I A N could only c ar ry 340. SADIE was a g o o d - l o o k i n g steamer, with a pl ea si ng sheer to her hull. She was m o s t l y open on the main deck, except for an encl ose d cabin located a m i d ships. Closed wo o d e n bulwarks of waist height ran around this deck. Large pa ddl eb ox e s e n c l o s e d the ship's radial wheels and, in a rather unu sua l touch, the name SADIE was pa in t e d in huge letters right across the pad dl eb ox itself, rather than down on the bul wa rk near deck level. The pr om en ad e deck above was ent ir ely open down the sides, wit h pr ot e c t i o n from sun and showers being p r o vi de d by a na rr o w shade de ck over the after section. There were wo od en rails around the deck, and the lifeboats were carr ied on either side abaft the pa ddleboxes. A very small and boxy p i l o t house, with only one large w i n d o w in each side and in the front, was placed at the forward end of the h u r r i c a n e deck. Quite close be hi n d the pi lot hou se rose the tall and thin smokestack. SADIE did not have a mast, but she did have a very tall st eering pole at the stem and an e q ua ll y tall fl ags taf f aft.