The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

THE SCHOONER "OAK LEAF" OF GIHRALTER By Loudon G.Wilson The year might be 1908. You are on the lower Detroit River on a sparkling summer afternoon.A brisk breeze is blowing down river and before it, wing-an'-wing, comes a trim little lady in black and green,with a white belt. She has a bone in her teeth and is no slouch. Overtaking her on her port quarter is the steamer OWANA bound for Sugar Island. You watch this little schooner,and as she walks away, you read "OAK LEAF", of Gibralter across her transom. Perhaps named in honor of a real old time lake brigantine of that name, built in the sixties and twice her size. "OAK LEAF", of Gibralter,was built at the once-thriving port by Daniel Munro. She was 93 tons, gross, 82 net. Length 86*, Beam 2*f', Depth 7'* Built in 1895 she tied with the schooner CHARLES CHAMBERS, built at Grosse Ile, for flace as the last trading schooner built on the river. The CHAMBERS, ten feet shorter,was a problem child from the start.Being a standing keeler, she got stuck in the launching and later proved too small to be profitable in the river The*"OAK LEAF" was a shallow lake-style centerboarder and she joined the "mosquito fleet", carrying sand and gravel for Detroit's rising towers. When about 16 years old she was sold. Sail was giving way to steam, even in this lowly trade. She was converted into a lumber tug and renamed "DOLPHIN", operating out of Escanaba for B.J.Gallagher, and later was listed as a dredge,and still later,1932 listed as abandoned. When we went in search of the Muno family in the thirties, I first met Daniel's grandson,Hazen, and my wife and I went for a sail in his pound-boat "Comanche", built according to lake tradition from a former rum runner by his dad, William, and his uncle, Hector. We talked forhours and listened to many yarns told by these two ols lake sailors. When I took to Bill Munro my drawing of "OAK LEAF" that I had made from several pictures of her sailing in company with other sand hookers but had given her a fore topmast and all the rigging, he ignored my artistic efforts completely and pounced on that fore topmast. "She netfer had one, Etc.,Etc.,..too much trouble shifting a fore gaff topsail every tack in the river work..." I said,"Well, she's got cross trees and the stump of a topmast in the photos". "Never had one! says he. So, young and proud, I retired with my rejected masterpiece. Well, time cures these wounds, so when Captain Johnston asked for a cover for Telescope, * dug up my old picture and, in memory of an old lake sailor. I carefully obliterated the offending spar so that we could show "OAK LEAF" as she should be----and as Bill Munro would want her to be for the record. MUSEUM NOTES As we go to press this month the question uppermost in the minds of all our members, subscribers, and the general public is, "What is new regarding the proposed building for the itiaritime Museum?". On that subject we can report that committees are being formed to undertake raising of the necessary funds. We hope that there is some significance to the fact that interest in the undertaking is increasing throughout the whole Great Lakes region. Not a day goes by without our receiving an inquiry regarding the project and some token of approval of it. Regarding new exhibits there is not too much to be said, for the simple reason that there is no more space available. We added three large cases late last summer, and two small ones have been just completed and installed where two similar cases were last sea-sone. Now we have to find a place to put each of the older ones,-If we can. We have begun our series of exhibits on motive power, and before mid-summer will have added many new and interesting items, -models and drawings of marine engines, past and present.