Maritime History of the Great Lakes

MacKay's Wharf: The story of a shipowning enterprise in Hamilton, p. 19

The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Kingston. Eight lives were lost. In November the propeller ZEALAND went missing and on the 9th of that month, word was received that her yawl-boat and a number of barrels of flour were sighted by a schooner heading for Oswego. Capt. Edward Zealand and 16 or 18 men went down with her. She had been rebuilt from the burned CITY OF CHATHAM, in 1875 by A. M. Robertson. In April 1881, the CELTIC, Capt. Thos. A. Green, was advertised for the MontrealChicago service together with the Merchants Line propellers OCEAN, Capt. A. McMaugh and PRUSSIA, Capt. E. Wright. The vessels of the Lake & River Steamship Co. were sailing under the banner of the Western Express Line. The appointments were: LAKE ERIE, Capt. Johnston, LAKE MICHIGAN, Capt. Wood and LAKE ONTARIO, Capt. Williams. Capt. John B. Fairgrieve's propeller COLUMBIA shifted her grain cargo and foundered off Frankfort, Mich. on the night of 10 September, while on her way from Chicago to Collingwood. She was operating in the New England Transportation Line, in which the Fairgrieve brothers had an interest. Capt. Jas. B. Malcolmson and his son, 1st Mate Robt. Malcolmson, of the St. Catharines branch of that lake-faring family, were lost together with 13 other persons. There were 7 survivors. The next bad news emanating from Lake Michigan directly concerned the MacKays and the Lake & River Steamship Co. Their propeller LAKE ERIE, also operating in the New England Transportation Line, had left Chicago for Collingwood in company with the steamer NORTHERN QUEEN. Owing to the lateness of the season, and the treacherous weather which is to be expected on the Upper Lakes, Capt. J. M. Johnston and Capt. Cameron, of the NORTHERN QUEEN, had agreed to stay within sight of each other. On the night of 2b November, when the two vessels were off Poverty Bay, the LAKE ERIE signaled that she was making an alteration of course. Heavy seas, high wind and blowing snow prevented the officer on the NORTHERN QUEEN from receiving the signal. The LAKE ERIE swung to starboard, and was rammed in the engine-room gangway by the NORTHERN QUEEN, which succeeded in removing all hands from the sinking vessel. One deckhand was scalded when a steam pipe broke, and died before the NORTHERN QUEEN could reach Manistique, where she sank as a result of the damage to her bow. This loss left the New England Transportation Line with only the CANADA and the NORTHERN QUEEN, on the Upper Lakes. The ARMENIA and the CUBA handled the Toronto-Ogdensburg section which connected by rail to Boston. In 1882, the CELTIC, Capt. Geo. Malcolmson, was operated in the Merchants Line's Montreal and Chicago division, together with the OCEAN, Capt. Archibald McMaugh and the PRUSSIA, Capt. E. Wright. The CELTIC began her season on the 5 May, when she loaded cargo in Hamilton, for Montreal. She had previously gone to Port Dalhousie for dry-docking. Three weeks later, she was back on Lake Ontario and took on 3,100 kegs of powder from the Hamilton Powder Co., at Burlington. In June 1882, R. O. MacKay was soliciting passengers for the annual Lighthouse Supply cruise aboard the propeller CALIFORNIA. She was due at Hamilton about the 10 July. For the season of 1883, the propellers LAKE MICHIGAN and LAKE ONTARIO were advertised to run in the Western Express Line's service from Montreal to Lake Ontario ports, with the L. SHICKLUNA. The CELTIC was still operating on the Merchants Line, between Montreal and Hamilton, together with the propellers OCEAN, -19-

Powered by / Alimenté par VITA Toolkit
Privacy Policy