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9. Ship of the Month - cont'd. by Erik Heyl, of Buffalo. H e y l 's profile drawing, which supposedly was based on a pen-and-ink sketch "at Toronto Public Library", showed BANSHEE with very little cabin on the upper deck aft of the paddleboxes, with prominent lifeboats set on the hurricane deck aft and, most interestingly, with arch truss frames to provide hog-bracing for the hull. All of this seems very strange indeed, and although cabin arrangements might change from time to time, it is not likely that arch trusses could either be removed or retro fitted. As well, their use was limited almost exclusively to wooden-hulled propellors, and sidewheelers usually carried hog-chains instead. Under the circumstances, we have no alternative but to believe what we see in the actual photograph, as opposed to a sketch of unknown origin or credentials. BANSHEE appears to have fitted out in the spring of 1855 and operated suc cessfully for the Bowen interests. However, during the evening of Saturday, July 28, 1855, BANSHEE sank in the Lachine Rapids after striking a rock. Her captain managed to run her ashore on Nun Island, where she settled. No lives were lost and the steamer subsequently was raised, the damage being esti mated at $500. Mr. McGillivary, the "mail conductor" from BANSHEE, and three men took the mail from the wreck in a jolly boat to Montreal, but it was reported that they nearly were lost between the piers of the Victoria Bridge. Fortunately, they escaped their predicament and landed safely. The "List of Canadian Vessels" in the "Globe" of August 4, 1856, listed BAN SHEE as commanded by Capt. Howard. She was shown as being of 300 tons, built in 1855 at Hatter's Bay, owned by Capt. Bowen, and valued at $40, 000. Her registry at Kingston gave her master as Thomas Howard, who formerly had sailed the steamer ST. LAWRENCE. The registry records also described the ship as being of 294 tons, 173 feet and 5/10 in length, 24 feet and 6/10 in breadth (of hull, not over the guards), and 9 feet and 3/10 in depth. She was carvel-built, with a square stern, and had a single mast and no bowsprit. Her engineroom was measured as 48 feet (in length), and 108 tons. The registry listed BANSHEE's subscribing owners as William Bowen, Thomas Howard, Mr. Smith, John Walker, John S. Hoist, Alex. Miller, John Breden, Alex. Summerville and Edward Garwood, executor to the estate of the late Henry Gildersleeve, of Kingston. We should note that the person listed as "Alex. Miller" was, in fact, Alexander Milloy, a native Scot who was a member of the Hon. John Hamilton's Montreal shipping agency for twenty-one years. Milloy owned a small share of BANSHEE, but his first major entre preneurial step was his purchase of the steamer MAGNET in 1859. In 1861, Milloy became secretary-treasurer of the Canadian Navigation Company when it took over Hamilton's Royal Mail Line. [13] In 1856, BANSHEE operated under charter to the Royal Mail Line, which operated passenger and freight service from Montreal to the head of Lake Ontario. The line then was run in two divisions. The steamers ARABIAN, MAGNET, KINGSTON and PASSPORT ran from Hamilton to Ogdensburg, via Toronto, Kingston and Brockville. (At the latter port, three steamer lines connected with the Grand Trunk Railroad for Montreal and Q u e b e c . ) The second division of the Royal Mail Line was comprised of BANSHEE, NEW ERA, OTTAWA and ST. LAWRENCE, which operated from Montreal to Kingston and the Bay of Quinte. Passengers transferring between the two lines did so at Kingston. [14] BANSHEE and the other ships of the "river division" of the Royal Mail Line were scheduled to leave Montreal's Canal Basin every day of the week, except Sunday, at 9: 00 a. m., and then proceeded up the canal to Lachine, from whence they sailed following the arrival of the noon train from Montreal. Arrival at Kingston was the following morning. There were no Sunday sailings of the line from Montreal. Commencing in 1857, the two Royal Mail Line divisions were amalgamated into the "Through Line", thus doing away with the need for passengers to change ships at Kingston. The "Through Line" advertised that service was provided from Montreal to Hamilton, with stops at Prescott, Ogdensburg, Brockville, Kingston, Cobourg, Port Hope, Darlington and Toronto. Originally, the H a m i l