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3. Marine News - c o n t 'd . storms, and that he is trying to find r e p l a cement m o o r i n g s alo ng the C u y a g o ga River. It will be r e c alled that NO RMAC opera t e d as a re st aurant at T o r o n to from August of 1970 un til June 2, 1981, whe n she was struck in the Yonge Street slip by the e x c u r s i o n / f e r r y steamer TRILLIUM. NOR MA C sank ex actly two weeks later, and she spent c o n s i derable time lying on the bottom of the slip before she was raised and rebui lt for the C l e v e l a n d enterprise. Re c e n t l y elected Gra nd Pr esident of the Inter n a t i o n a l Shipmasters' A s s o c i a tion is Ca ptain John P. Welli ng to n, of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. John, a not ed marine c o nsultant and salvage master, and f o r m e r l y invo lv ed in the op e r a t i o n of the Sugar Island ferry, is per ha ps best k n o w n for his tugboat operations, most n o t a b l y W e l l i n g t o n Towin g Inc., whi ch ran tugs at the Soo from 1987 until 1990. John W e l l i n g t o n is a longtime member of the Tor on to Marine H i s t o r i c a l Society and a ve ry good frien d to man y of its members, and we wish him well in his posit i o n as head of the ISMA. The 1992 Grand Lodge C o n v e n t i o n of ISMA was hosted durin g J a n u a r y by Twin Sault Lodge No. 22, with nu merous a c tivities held in the Sault Ste. Marie area. * * * * * NATIRONCO REVISITED Our Ship of the Month No. 194 in the F e b r u a r y issue was the c r aneship N A T IRONCO, (a) PIONE ER (I)(13), and this feature has g e n erated si gn ificant reader response. Membe r Gordon Turne r has loca te d some items from "The St. C a tharines Standard" conce r n i n g the st eamer's a l t e r c a t i o n wit h the gates of Lock Three on the old Well a n d Canal, and we are pl eased to present this d e tail as it correct s what we had assum ed to be the seque nc e of events. The paper of May 3rd, 1917, re ported that "The steamer NA TIRONCO, own ed by A. B. Mackay, of Hamilton, ca rried away the two head gates of Lock 3 of the Well a n d Canal about 1 : 55 this afternoon. The steamer was bound up whe n s o m e thing went wrong wit h the co mp ressor (winch? - E d . ) abo ar d the boat and the helper ashore was unabl e to get the wire on the post so as to snub the boat, w hi ch was e n t ering the lock at a mo derate rate of speed. It is est i m a t e d that the damage will amount to somew he re betw e e n $ 2 , 500 and $ 3 , 000. "A portion of the banks at Lock 2 were wa s h e d away (by the re su lting flood E d . ). The pontoon and a gang of men were i m m e d i a t e l y taken to the scene of the accident and repairs sta rt ed at once. "The N A T IRONCO was in charge of Capt. McLeod, and was f o r merly owned by the Nat ional Iron Co. of Toronto. The foot (lower) gates were held in p o s ition by a device r e c ently placed on the gates. It is hoped to have n a v i g a t i o n resumed at an early hour t o m o r r o w . " On May 4th, the same n e w spaper reported: " Navigation was res um ed on the W e l land Canal about 2 o' clock this morning after havin g been tied up for about 12 hours due to Steamer N A T I R O N C O havin g car ri ed away the 2 head gates of Lock 3. The banks of the canal at the head of Lock 2 were quite badly washed out, but not enough to interfe r (sic) with navi g a t i o n throu gh this part of the canal. "When the steamer was washed out of the lock by the flood of water, Capt. M c L e o d si gnalled for full speed ahead and ran the nose of his boat up to the h e e l - p a t h bank and worked ahe ad on his engin es until the wat er had spent its force and lines could be got te n out to hold her. This saved strik in g the gates of Lock T w o . " N AT I R O N C O was not long de layed by the incident, for "The Mail and Empire" Toronto reported her up bound at Port Colb or ne at noon on Ma y 4th. of G o r don 's r e s earch w ould appear to cast c o n s i derable doubt on the report that N A T I R O N C O groun ded west of K i n gston on Saturday, May 26, 1917. The vessel passages in "The Toronto D aily Star" of May 26th show N A T I R O N C O upbo u n d at the Soo at 4 : 30 a. m., Friday, the 25th, so if there was a grounding, it e i ther o c c urred at a differ en t place or else on a di fferent date.