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Ship of the Month - cont'd. shipowner in his own right when he acquired four veteran canallers from Cap­ tain George Hindman's Diamond Steamship Company. These he renamed PARKDALE (I), GROVEDALE (I), FORESTDALE and BROOKDALE (I). The Reoch-owned ships all carried names with the suffix "dale", reportedly in gratitude for backing provided to Reoch by the family of former C. S. L. president, W. H. Coverdale. Reoch added four more canallers to the fleet and then, in 1960, as the pa­ rade of superannuated, U. S. -flag upper lakers to foreign scrapyards began, the Reoch fleet began to purchase some of these ships, both straight-deckers and self-unloaders. The first of these was ELMDALE, the former Boland and Cornelius steamer STANDARD PORTLAND CEMENT. Fifteen more upper lakers fol­ lowed into Reoch colours over the years and, in 1962, GENE C. HUTCHINSON was acquired by a Reoch affiliate, Redwood Enterprises Limited, of Montreal. At that time, in order to protect Canada's shipbuilding industry, there was a prohibition against importing foreign-built ships into Canadian registry and, accordingly, the HUTCHINSON, like many other acquisitions by Reoch and other Canadian lake fleets, was placed under the registry of another country in the British Commonwealth. The HUTCHINSON was registered in Hamilton, Ber­ muda, under the name (e) PARKDALE (II), with British official number 316355. Her tonnage was then calculated as 8947 Gross and 6533 Net. What was the derivation of the name PARKDALE? Well, two nearby Ontario ci­ ties, Toronto and Hamilton, both have neighbourhoods known as Parkdale. It is our belief that the name came from Hamilton's Parkdale, that area once having been home to Norman Reoch. PARKDALE was painted up in what by then had become Reoch's usual fleet co­ lours (the green hull first worn by the canallers having been discontinued). PARKDALE had a black hull, white forecastle bulwark and cabins, and a black stack with a broad red band and a large, white letter 'R' on the band. The foremast was buff and the main was black. PARKDALE continued to carry the very large radar scanner and liferaft atop her pilothouse, and these two features, if nothing else, made her instantly recognizable from a distance. As well, she was the second-largest ship that the Reoch fleet ever would own. PARKDALE normally operated in the grain trade, but like all Reoch ships, any available cargo could find itself in her holds. In 1967, Canadian laws having been relaxed to allow foreign-built ships to be brought onto the re­ gister if the requisite import duty were paid, PARKDALE was brought under the Canadian flag and was registered at Hamilton. Her official number re­ mained the same. She was still owned by Redwood Enterprises, but the company which had assumed the operation of all the Reoch boats by then was another affiliate, Westdale Shipping Limited. In 1970, ownership of six of the Reoch ships, including PARKDALE, was transferred to yet another affiliate, the In­ ternational Cruising Company Ltd., but by that time PARKDALE was no longer in service. When the various Canadian fleets acquired superannuated U. S. bottoms in the 1960s, it was acknowledged that these ships were pretty well clapped-out, having served their American owners for many years, mostly in the punishing ore trade which took a severe toll on tanktops, side tanks, bulkheads and decks. But they still had a few years left in them, particularly when opera­ ted in the less-damaging grain trade. Enough upkeep was done to keep them in class for a few years but, before long, the years of hard use meant that, in order to pass inspection, major work would have to be done, and the cost simply was not warranted. So, as they came due for inspection (give or take the odd "ticket" extension or two), if much work was needed, they would in­ stead find their way to the scrapyard. They had made more than a few dollars for their Canadian owners in the years since they had crossed the border, and had cost their most recent owners very little to acquire. PARKDALE laid up at Toronto (as did many Reoch boats over the years, as they were favourites to bring storage cargoes of soybeans for Victory Mills) on