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7. Ship of the Month - cont'd. The crew was taken off the burning package freighter and MANITOBA may have assisted in the rescue. With reference to the loss of ALGOMA in 1885, we indicated that it was the only accident suffered by the C. P. R. lake service in which there was any loss of passenger lives. However, there was a crew fatality aboard MANITOBA when she was lying alongside her dock at Owen Sound in June of 1903. The "Owen Sound Times" of June 18th reported: "A terrible accident occurred on the C. P. R. liner MANITOBA yesterday afternoon shortly after one o'clock, by which Neil Currie, a promising young mariner, met instant death. "The MANITOBA was lying in front of number two shed, having arrived back from Detroit [where we assume she had been on drydock] in the morning, and the deckhands and lookoutsman, and the second mate had commenced to clean the masts. The mast is of steel, forty-three feet above the deck, and a woo­ den top fifteen feet long sets into the steel section. Currie was the first one up from dinner. Getting into the sling at the top of the ladders [ratlines in the shrouds -Ed. ], (where the topmast is stepped), he gave the signal to be hauled up, and swung himself out clear. Three of his shipmates were pulling the rope when they felt it give way. The strain on the topmast snapped it close to the steel and the unfortunate man fell to the deck, a distance of some fifty feet. The mast had been used for this purpose many times before. It is probable that water had got into the joint and caused the wood to decay, for in the centre of the stick the wood had a dozed appearance. " It was reported that, late in 1903, the family of the late Neil Currie set­ tled with the C. P. R., as a result of which, compensation of $500 was to be paid to the family. The value of life was cheap in those days. At about this same time, it also was reported that MANITOBA had carried a record cargo of freight westbound. She loaded 111 railway cars of general merchandise, the largest single cargo of that season. From the Annotated Time Table of the Canadian Pacific Railway, we have the schedule of the three lake steamers for the 1905 summer season. Westbound, a boat departed Owen Sound on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 5: 30 p. m., the boat train having departed Toronto at 1: 30 the same afternoon. After stop­ ping at the Soo, the ships sailed at 2: 00 p. m. Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. A call was made at Port Arthur at 11: 00 a. m. on Thursday, Saturday and Mon­ day, with arrival at Fort William at 12: 00 noon the same day. Connections then could be made by rail for Winnipeg and points west. In the same order, the boats left Fort William at 10: 30 a. m. on Friday, Sunday and Tuesday, eastbound, calling at Port Arthur at 11: 00 a. m. Departures from the Soo were at 12: 30 p. m. on Saturday, Monday and Wednesday. Arrival at Owen Sound was scheduled for 8: 30 a. m. on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday, with the boat train arriving at Toronto at 12: 55 p. m. However, which ship sailed on which day, we do not know. The passenger and freight traffic carried by MANITOBA, ATHABASCA and ALBERTA continued to grow during the first decade of the new century, and MANITOBA was no longer the wagon's fifth wheel. Indeed, things were so good for the line that, to meet the increased demand, two new and much larger ships were put into commission in 1908, and were to serve the C. P. R. until the service was shut down sixty years later. The arrival of the handsome, Clyde-built KEEWATIN and ASSINIBOIA heralded a considerable improvement to the service. The new ships, each of which featured two decks of passenger staterooms in­ stead of just one, as well as dedicated dining saloons, sported very large smokestacks and new funnel colours were adopted for them. Like the Canadian Pacific's coastal and ocean steamers, KEEWATIN and ASSINIBOIA had their stacks painted buff with a broad black smokeband. The three smaller lake sisters soon were given the same funnel colours. Capt. E. B. Anderson had sailed the MANITOBA from the time of her entry into