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

getting too close to cradle-robbing and required some official investigating. A. B. was not interested in getting involved in this sort of messy situation and had boarded a westbound train, leaving Gow to face the music. The MacKay office told reporters that he had gone to Detroit to inspect two vessels that he had purchased. A. B. MacKay had now established himself as a ship-broker and as such, became involved with a number of vessels, some only briefly. For a short time, he managed the NATIRONCO until she went overseas. She was later sold to French buyers. In 1916 he acquired the SEGUIN and disposed of her the following year to Canada Steamship Lines Ltd. Also purchased was the SARNOR which caused MacKay much litigation when she was hi-jacked by some operators who were more crooked than he was. At this time too, A. B. became interested in the flurry of activity that was occurring in the old shipyards of Nova Scotia. The shortage of tonnage caused by the war had made shipowners aware of the ability of that province to construct wooden-hulled schooners suitable for deep-sea service. The schooner LETITIA L. MACKAY, a four-master, was built at Meteghan, N. S. by T. H. MacDonald and named for A. B. MacKay's second wife. The schooner measured 167.0 x 36.2 x 13.3 with tonnages of 545 Gross and 507 Net. Official No. 134168. Launched in 1916, her port of registry was Yarmouth, N. S. She appeared in Lloyds 1917/18 only, and the owner was listed as A. B. MacKay, 66King St. E., Hamilton, Ont. Sold French, she was renamed CAP BOULHAUT. A. B.'s next venture was the three masted schooner ADAM B. MACKAY, built in 1917 at Port Greville, N. S. by G. E. Wagstaff & H. Elderkin. Her dimensions were 147.4 x 35.8 x 12.1; Gross 394; Net 370. Official No. 138472 and she was registered at Parrsboro, N. S. In 1918 she was sold to the Niger Co. Ltd. The owners were the A. B. MacKay Steamship Co. Ltd., until sold British. The Niger Co. Ltd. sold to French buyers in 1922 and she was renamed CHEVALIER BAYARD. The three-masted schooner GENERAL GEORGE H. HOGG was built in 1918 at Canning, N. S. by Harvey MacAloney for Mrs. L. L. MacKay. She measured 146.5 x 34.5 x 12.5 and had tonnages of 407 Gross and 378 Net. By the end of 1922 she had been acquired by R. C. Elkin & Co. Ltd., St. John, N. B., who lost her on 12 January 1923, when she stranded on Cranberry Is., Maine. Another three-masted schooner was built in 1918 at Fox River, N. S. by G. M. Cochrane. Her dimensions were 152.6 x 36.0 x 12.6; 461 Gross and 436 Net. Her official number was 138476, registry Parrsboro and she was built for the A. B. MacKay Steamship Co. Ltd., who chartered her to the Niger Co. Ltd., London, for the West African nut trade to New Orleans. Sold to Nassau buyers in 1923, she was lost 1926. She had sailed from Bermuda on the 5 September and was not seen again. Her name was ALFRED OCK HEDLEY. The last schooner in which A. B. had an interest was the 4-master EUGENIE OWEN MACKAY, built in 1918 at Diligent River, N. S., by Messrs. Pugsley & Robinson. She measured 167.0 x 36.0 x 13.05 560 Net Tons. She was cold to W. N. Reinhardt who used her mainly in the island trade and she lasted until 4 January 1926, being abandoned at sea 260 miles N. W. of Bermuda. A. B. MacKay was smart enough to sell his schooners while there was still a demand for this type of tonnage. He could now turn his attention to steam vessels but unfortunately the shipping slump of the 1920's was already gaining momentum. The pickings would be lean and not easy to come by. He did handle the steamer COLORADO, (ex-IROQUOIS) renaming her DORNOCH, but he sold her almost -54-