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1 1 . Ship of the Month - cont'd. and Ontario. " So, putting two and two together and winding up with the usual answer in such situations of five, we come to the conclusion that ROLLER BOAT likely Became "Tubular Boat" at Canadian Shipbuilding's Toronto yard, and that there is, indeed, reason to believe the otherwise unsubstantiated reports that ROLLER BOAT did operate briefly in the coal trade. In fact, "The Cana­ dian Engineer", back in September of 1904, had indicated that ROLLER BOAT was to be converted into a coal-carrying boat for service between Toronto and Lake Erie ports. It also is interesting to note that, in 1906, none other than Guillermo Antonio Farini (remember him, as a backer of Knapp? ) received a Canadian patent for the building of tubular ships. Farini's design incor­ porated a conical bow, a transom stern, and a flat, raised top deck with hatches cut into it. Why did we mention our two and two adding up to five? Well, because we are not absolutely certain about all of this, you see. On July 4th, 1907, "The Globe", Toronto, reported: "Knapp's Roller Boat, after being in mud and slime at the Northern Docks for five or six years is again afloat. She will be remodelled and used for carrying coal. Polson Iron Works raised the boat with pontoons after patching many sprung rivets. She will have her bottom cemented, and will be towed between Toronto and the (Lake Ontario) south shore coal ports. " This would tend to indicate that nothing at all had hap­ pened to her in 1906 or, for that matter, since being towed up from Mont­ real, and the events of September of 1907 will, as we shall see, make it unlikely that the work was done as late as 1907. But a 1915 photo of ROLLER BOAT certainly does show a pilothouse of sorts topside, as does the third photo on this month's photopage (again from the Institute for Great Lakes Research). Regardless, ROLLER or "Tubular" BOAT did not enjoy much operation if, in­ deed, she ran at all. Over the years, she became infamous for her unmanned wanderings about the Bay when she broke loose from her moorings, as seemed to. happen frequently until, finally, she again sank. The most serious of these wanderings occurred on Saturday, September 28th, 1907. "The Mail and Empire" reported the event in some detail in its edition of Monday, September 30th. "At about seven o'clock Saturday morning a stiff wind broke the Knapp roller boat from her moorings at the Polson Iron Works wharf, and drove her down the Bay at a six-mile-an-hour gait, without a soul on board to steer her. She made straight for the Turbine Steamship Company's dock and collided with the (passenger steamer) TURBINIA, striking her just aft of the engines. Just before she struck, the wind luckily turned her sidewise, for had she come on straight she would, no doubt, have staved a hole in the TURBINIA's side. As it was, very little damage was done, and the runaway boat was caught by a number of TURBINIA's deckhands and secured to the dock. "Had the wind been in any other direction, the roller boat would, no doubt, have caused considerable damage in her trip around the Bay, for either the fleet of the Royal Canadian Yacht Club or of the Queen City Yacht Club would have been in her course. (Both yacht clubs had city-side waterfront club­ houses at that time -Ed. ) As it was, she barely missed colliding with a big freighter at anchor 100 yards west of the Polson Company's wharf. " The damage to TURBINIA may not have been severe, but the Turbine Steamship Company took action to recover its damages and eventually the Court gra­ ciously awarded TURBINIA judgment in the princely sum of $250, despite the argument raised by defence counsel that the undocumented ROLLER BOAT was not a ship within the meaning of the Canada Shipping Act. To satisfy the judg­ ment, ROLLER BOAT was sold in 1908, her fittings bringing the total sum of $295 and her hull $300. An interesting sequel to this story was run by "The Collingwood Bulletin" on Thursday, November 16, 1911: "The famous Knapp roller boat which was con­