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SEP * OCT, 1982 Page 117 Sis ES --s The SNYDER JR. in the colors of the Interlake Steamship Company, for whom she sailed from 1967 until 1971. Lawrence River ports. There she would take on an upbound bulk cargo of iron ore before loading inbound containers again at Quebec and Montreal for return to Lake ports. An innovative idea had breathed new life into the aged Queen. Or so it seemed. Unfortunately, the sustained economic downturn of 1982 forced reconsideration and cancellation of the proposed project early in the year. j The now 70-year old steamer William P. Snyder Jr. was again abandoned. Again she must sit in limbo awaiting her fate. The William P. Snyder Jr. (official number 209662) was built as Hull No. 83 by Great Lakes Engineering Works at Ecorse, Michigan, where she hit the ways in April 1912. She joined her sister ship, the Col. James M. Schoonmaker (No. 209185, Hull No. 82, GLEW, Ecorse, 1911, now the Willis B. Boyer) in the Shenango Steamship Company fleet. Their overall dimensions of 617' x 64' x 33' made these two sisters the largest vessels the Great Lakes had seen so far, and earned them the title of Queens. Fittingly royally appointed, the Snyder Jr.'s Texas Deck contained a pipe organ. Interior bulkheads were mahogany-paneled, pro- lifically finished with lavish moundings in the style of the day. The Snyder Jr.'s engine room space in- cluded a triple expansion steam plant. Her not-so-typical shaft steering arrangement consisted of twin, off-center, steam operated steering engines, one acting as standby for the other. She shared the distinction of this unique type of steering system with her sister ship, the Schoonmaker. Early in her career, the Snyder Jr. set a record when she loaded 464,000 bushels of wheat at Duluth on July 10, 1913, for de- livery to Buffalo, New York. A stately working lady during her career, the Snyder Jr. carried iron ore, coal, grain and stone. At midsummer draft of 22'10" her three cargo compartments could hold an aggregate of approximately 15,100 gross tons. (Her capacity has been variously reported of 15,225, 15,100 or 14,925 Photo courtesy of Interlake Steamship Company