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-68- Telescope idle ever since completion, and Davidson was doubtless glad to find an operator for them. He is believed to have agreed to favorable terms. Moreton leased land from the B & 0 at the foot of Warren Street in Sandusky, where he rushed a slip to completion. He proposed to use existing facilities of the Grand Trunk at Detroit and Windsor, plus slips of the Canadian Pacific and the Wabash, if he could get those roads to interchange with him. Davidson altered the two barges to carry three tracks on their decks. Each barge had a capacity of nine to twelve cars. Since they are reported to have had switches on deck, they were apparently designed to load from a two-track apron, such as his proposed connections used on both sides of the Detroit River. Moreton thought that his route of seventy-six miles was easier than the Lake Michigan Car Ferry Transportation Company's line, and he anticipated no difficulty in operation. He considered the tug HOWARD, but decided instead upon chartering the well-known tug CHAMPION for his service. His company never owned a tug, but Moreton contemplated ordering a large one similar to the LMCFTCo's S. M. FISCHER, which he admired greatly. Moreton hoped to establish service October 25, 1897, but neither his slip nor his barges were ready. CHAMPION towed the barges down to Detroit about November 1. Upon arrival, the two barges collided while berthing, breaking five frames of one of them. This was to be only the first of the line's difficulties. The barges had to be taken to the Detroit Dry Dock Company for repairs and about a week was lost. Meanwhile, freight was building up for the line in Sandusky. The first consignment had to be re-routed by rail because of the delay. On Sunday, November 7, CHAMPION and the two barges arrived in Sandusky. Frank T. Bareroft, chief engineer of the company, was on hand to observe the fit of the barges into the slip which he had designed. When two hoppers were loaded on TYCOON experimentally, it was found that the tracks were an imperfect fit, and the starboard rails had to be relaid. Similar relaying was necessary upon MIKADO. By November 17, the necessary changes had been made; another shipment was at hand, and CHAMPION left for Detroit with TYCOON and eight cars of coal destined for the Grand Trunk. The original proposal was to leave Sandusky daily at 8:00 a.m. and to leave Detroit returning at 8 p.m. On the first trip it was necessary to sail southbound with TYCOON empty. After one trip it was decided to replace the switch on TYCOON'S deck, delaying her northbound departure by a few hours. The service operated for about a month in 1897. On November 30, CHAMPION carried a deck cargo of package freight in addition to towing TYCOON. On December 14, Moreton announced that his barges would be laid up in Detroit for the winter, and called his first season--short though it was--a big success. In the long run, Moreton wanted to employ larger vessels--prefer-