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Ship of the Month - cont'd. 10. RICHARDS, SHIRLEY G. TAYLOR, WILL IA M C. WARREN and SHELTON WEED, while CHARLES R. HUNTLEY, JOHN S. PILLSBURY, JAMES STEWART and GEORGE L. TORIAN followed in 1926. This second generation of Eastern Steamship canallers were generally similar in design and dimensions to their earlier fleetmates, except that they could achieve a little more speed in regular operation, and each had a hold capacity of 133 , 000 cubic feet, an increase over the 1 30, 000 of the ships of the first series. In addition, the newer steamers had a much larger and more substantial texas cabin atop the forecastle, and an enclosed pilothouse was provided on the bridge deck. This gave them a rather more imposing profile and more comfortable navig at io n area. As with the earlier ships, they were fitted with a cellular double bottom, which extended all the way fore and aft, whe rein water ballast could be carried, as well as in the fore and aft peaks. All 21 of the steamers had large, un ob st ructed holds, wi th three watertight bulkheads and one additional bulkhead that was not watertight. A particularly interesting event took place in the spring of 1925, and two reports concerning it appeared in the June, 1925, issue of "Canadian Railway and Marine World". One of them read as follows: "The Eastern Steamship Co. invited a number of guests to a ch ristening ceremony of the fleet at M o n t real on May 2nd. The entire fleet of 17 steamships (the last four had not yet been built - E d . ) has been built in Great Britain, within the last 2 years, and 7 of them have arrived at Montr ea l since the opening of n a v i g a tion (this year). Nisbet Grammer, Buffalo, the president of the company, a c ted as sponsor for the ships. The party was then taken for a trip round the harbour on the tug SIR HUGH ALLAN, as guests of the Montrea l Harbour C o m m i s sion, after which a dinner was given by the company, the chairman being Judge Hart, of Buffalo, after who m one of the ships is n a m e d . " It is interesting to note that some sources, including "Green's Directory" into the 1930s, insisted on referring to JUDGE HART as the "Louis B. Hart". Researchers should not be confused by any such listing, for the steamer never bore that name. She was regis te re d of ficially as JUDGE HART throughout her lifetime, and JUDGE HART was the name that always was painted on her hull, both bow and stern. The Eastern Steamship fleet served its owners and manag er s well until the early 1930s, when the most severe effects of the Great De pression made the m selves felt on the lake grain trade. Many of the Eastern Steamship canallers were laid up at Port Dalhousie, either at the Muir Bros, shipyard or else on the long wall in Muir's (Martindale) Pond above Lock One of the old (third) Welland Canal. Each of the vessels was operated in rotation, thus ensuring that each would receive routine ma intenance and active care, so that all of them would be in good co ndition when the economy returned to normal and there would be enough grain movement to keep all of the steamers busy again, as they had been earlier. Unfortunately, such was not to be the case, for although the steamers managed to last through the Depre ss io n and live to run for many more years, the company itself did not survive. The driving force behind the Eastern Steamship Company, Nisbet Grammer, passed away at Buffalo on August 21st, 1935, and this event, combined with the con ti nu at io n of the depressed economy, led to the owners offering the fleet for sale. In April of 1936, ten of the Eas tern Steamship Company vessels were sold to James Norris and Gordon C. Leitch, two of the parties who were involved in the opera ti on of Toronto Elevators Limited. On acqui ri ng the Eas te rn canallers, they transferred them into the ownership of their Upper Lakes & St. Lawrence Transportatio n Company Ltd., Toronto. This group of vessels included the nine surviving members of the original group of ships built back in 1923 and 1924, plus the JUDGE KE NEFICK from the second generation. The Eastern Steamship Com pa ny h a l f-heartedly carried on operations through the 1936 season with its remai ni ng ten steamers, but in December of 1936, these also were sold to the Upper Lakes & St. Lawre nc e Tran sp or ta ti on