Maritime History of the Great Lakes

Scanner, v. 33, no. 5 (February 2001), p. 6

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Ship of the Month - cont'd. 6. scrapbook comes an (unfortunately undated) advertisement placed by the Gua­ ranty Trust Co. of Canada, showing a photo of PELEE and offering the steamer for sale for $40, 000. Her owners apparently had lost her to the bank, pos­ sibly as a consequence of the lack of revenue during the years that ERIE ISLE had been on the Island route. Another 1942 clipping, under the headline "PELEE To Run Again", commented: "The PELEE will be back in service between Pelee Island and the mainland by pheasant hunting time (late October -Ed. ), according to the announcement of her new owner, D. (Dexter) L. Goodison, of Goodison Fisheries of Erieau. Since the PELEE was taken out of service last June, her run has been taken by the motorship BEVERLY R. (sic) of the Goodison Fisheries fleet. PELEE has a rated capacity of 300 passengers and 15 motor cars. She was built in 1914, is 146 feet long, 24 ft. beam and ten feet moulded depth. She is in Toronto at present being refitted for the Pelee service. Goodison said the service between Leamington, Kingsville and Pelee Island will be operated on as near to the former schedule as possible, and that the run to Sandusky, O ., will be resumed next year. " The "BEVERLY R. " referred to in the news report actually was the fishtug BEVERLY R. GOODISON (C. 156843), 63. 75 x 17. 25 x 3. 92, 29 Gross Tons, built at Erie Beach, Ontario, in 1938 and, like PELEE, registered to Dexter L. Goodison. It is difficult to imagine this fishtug carrying automobiles, but we have it on the best of authority that she did whilst substituting for PELEE. In any event, Goodison did indeed follow through on his plans to re­ activate PELEE, and the notes of the late James M. Kidd indicate that PELEE, after having been idle most of the season, returned to service on October 19, 1942. We are not certain what that date represented, but we suspect that it may well have been the date of PELEE's departure from Toronto. PELEE flourished during the wartime years with gasoline and food rationing, and by 1947, she was owned by Vincent A. Barrie, of St. Thomas, Ontario, and operated by the Pelee Shipping Company Ltd. Lloyd's Register showed PELEE then as being 141. 2 x 24. 1 x 10. 1, 461 Gross and 219 Net Tons. The Dominion List agreed, except for showing the steamer's length as 141. 3 feet. Vincent Barrie was a businessman and former boxer, one of whose companies operated all of the pinball machines in the St. Thomas area. He owned a hotel at Port Stanley as well as the Royal Hotel in St. Thomas. Not only was Barrie connected with "entertainment" ashore, but it would seem that there was much pleasure to be obtained aboard PELEE during the summer of 1947 as well. A press report indicated that "passengers sat around sun­ ning and drinking beer" while "twelve slot machines clanged briskly" as PELEE made a trip from Kingsville to Sandusky and return on Sunday, July 27th. Aboard, however, were two undercover Ontario Provincial Police con­ stables (wearing fedoras and trenchcoats? ), and the ship was met on her re­ turn to Kingsville by officers from the O . P. P. 's anti-gambling squad. Arres­ ted were Capt. Guy Hayes, of Courtright, Ontario, and three crew members. The captain and one of the crew were charged with keeping a common gaming house, while all three crewmen were charged with liquor offences in connec­ tion with the illegal sale of beer on a Sunday. The four were arraigned before a Justice of the Peace in Kingsville, and were remanded to an August 12th hearing in Windsor Magistrate's Court. Bail of $1, 000 per man was quickly posted by Mr. Barrie. Somehow, Barrie managed to avoid being charged as owner of the vessel, and PELEE's operations do not seem to have been affected, although we imagine that future Sunday excursions were made without the "joys" of beer or slot machines. The O. P. P. in Toronto described the PELEE affair as "out of the ordinary", and officials could not recall any other such raid against a ves­ sel in lake waters, or the laying of charges of that nature in connection with a vessel.

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