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9. Ship of the Month - cont'd. tions that PELEE's days were numbered. "Pelee Island, April 14 - (CP) - The Ontario Highways Department will be asked to grant a seven year franchise for operation of a ferry between the Canadian mainland and this island. In an unofficial vote taken during the weekend, islanders favoured a council resolution to ask for the franchise, 233 - 48. There are 286 voters here. The Pelee Island (sic) Shipping Co. Ltd. of St. Thomas, operators of the ferry service, told council if a long franchise were obtained it would speed construction of a proposed new $800, 000 ferry. Officials said the new ship, with room for 35 cars and 350 to 450 passengers, has passed the planning stage and is about ready for tenders. " In fact, the Pelee Shipping Company Ltd. had contracted with German and Milne Ltd., naval architects, to draw up plans for the new ferry in 1956. A very brief item appearing in the "Kingston Whig-Standard" on December 12, 1958, confirmed that a new ferry would be built to replace the "aging PELEE". Not such a nice way to speak of a vessel that had served for long periods, and which, for so many years, had carried the Royal Mail insignia on her bows... An unsourced clipping from Ivan Brookes' 1959 scrapbook: "February 10 - Pelee Islanders Vote to Tender for Ferry Line. Pelee Island, Ont. - (CP) - Residents of the island voted overwhelmingly yesterday in favour of permit­ ting the island township's council to submit a tender in competition with private bidders on the operation of a new ferry to Ohio and the Ontario mainland. The vote was 164 - 41 in favour of the measure. The issue will now go to Queen's Park (the Ontario Legislature), where William Murdoch, MLA for Essex South, has agreed to introduce a private bill permitting the council tender. The ferry which will replace the s. s. PELEE ISLAND (sic) is now be­ ing built by (for -Ed. ) the federal government at Erieau, Ont. It is expec­ ted to be completed by the end of the 1959 navigation season. Ratepayers turned down a proposal in 1956 that the township build its own ferry. Cost of construction was then estimated at $400, 000. " Another Brookes clipping, this one from his 1960 scrapbook: "Islanders Cheer New Ferryboat on Test Cruise. Leamington, Ont., June 3 - (CP) -The mo­ torship PELEE ISLANDER successfully went through a 12-hour shake down cruise on Lake Erie yesterday. The ferry, built by McQueen Marine, left Erieau ear­ ly this morning, stopped at Leamington and went on (to) the west end of Lake Erie and returned to Erieau. It passed within sight of Pelee Island and the islanders for whom it was built cheered the impressive looking (?? -Ed. ) vessel. Aboard were John Munn, superintendent of McQueen Marine Shipyards, and Alan Webster of Ottawa, of the Canadian Maritime Commission. Mr. Munn said the ship behaved well after a few minor adjustments but said it would be a few days before it would be ready for public service. The ship will re­ place the older PELEE ISLANDER (sic). A christening ceremony will likely take place at the Leamington dock within the next two weeks. Mrs. Richard Thrasher, wife of the Progressive Conservative member of Parliament for Es­ sex South, will officiate. " So McQueen got to build the boat that replaced his old competition on the Island route! Another Brookes clipping, from a few days later, indicated that PELEE ISLAN­ DER had entered service under the command of Capt. Carl F. McConnell, who had sailed the lakes for 35 years and who had commanded PELEE for ten years. The new boat made the trip from the north end of Pelee Island to Sandusky in two hours and 15 minutes, according to her master, compared with the nearly three hours that PELEE had taken for the same voyage. Once PELEE had made her last trip in June of 1960, and the more efficient but much less handsome PELEE ISLANDER had taken over the service, Vince Bar­ rie had the venerable PELEE taken around to Port Stanley, where she was laid up. He tried to find some use for the steamer that had served his company and the islanders so well for so many years, but his search was in vain. The 1961 Dominion List still showed her as owned by Vincent Barrie, but begin­