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Ship of the Month - cont'd. ton, Ontario, where they were cut up for scrap. WYCHEM 105, however, was sold by Kovalchick Salvage to the Merritt, Chapman & Scott Corp., of New York City, which used her as a temporary breakwater off Bay Village, Ohio, during the construction of the Clegg Road water intake in 1956 and 1957. After the job was comple­ ted, she was refloated and, on November 15, 1957, she was towed to Cleveland, where she lay idle. She was sold on October 20, 1958, to the Roen Steamship Company, of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, and it had her towed to Sturgeon Bay. She spent most of her time lying idle in Roen's "boneyard", but it appears that in 1959 she again was used as a temporary construction breakwater, this time on Lake Huron at Harrisville, Michigan. She saw more breakwater service in 1966, this time on Lake Michigan at Leland Harbor, Michigan, located approximately halfway between Charlevoix and Frankfort. As far as we know, this was the last time she was used. In the autumn of 1974, she was taken in hand by the Bay Shipbuilding Company, Sturgeon Bay, which partially cut her down for scrap. It is said that two 72-foot yard barges were made from the hull of WYCHEM 105, but that they, too, were scrapped by the shipyard during the winter of 1981-1982. Of the three big tandem-stacked Bessemer steamers, only one survives today. The hull of DOUGLASS HOUGHTON, still serves as part of the breakwater protecting Ontario Place in Toronto's Humber Bay, along with her former Upper Lakes Shipping fleetmates VICTORIOUS and HOWARD L. SHAW. * * * Ed. Note: This piece was fun to write. As usual, the records of the late John H. Bascom and Jim Kidd were of great assistance. Ron Beaupre and Capt. Gerry Ouderkirk both helped us looking for puzzle pieces that we were seeking. * * * * * HAVE THE FERRYBOAT FOLLIES CONCLUDED? Many years ago, when there was a vibrant residential community and business area on Toronto's Centre Island, a fun theatre event entitled "The Ferryboat Follies" used to be held in the theatre near the Manitou Road bridge every year. We have been reminded of the "Follies" this year when the Mayor of the C i t y of Rochester has been trying so hard to dispose of the fast ferry SPIRIT OF ONTARIO I, which an earlier mayor had the city purchase when its original private operators could not make a financial go of the ferry service between Charlotte and Toronto. The ferry might well have become a financial success if the city had really put its mind to the operation, but unfortunately city politics took over and the current mayor campaigned on a promise to dispose of the boat, whose operation most Rochester residents did not understand at all. (The old mayor under whom tie boat was purchased did not run for re-election in the last election. ) On April 2nd, current Rochester Mayor Robert Duffy announced that the city had sold SPIRIT OF ONTARIO I for $30 million to a German company, identified as FRS, based in Flensburg. A previous deal to sell the fast ferry to the British firm Euroferries Ltd. for $29. 8 million never was completed, alle­ gedly because the purchaser could not arrange the necessary financing. The sale of the ferry, currently laid up at Shelburne, Nova Scotia, will still leave the city with a ferry debt of some $20 million, to be paid back over the next 15 years. After the double failure of this ferry venture, despite the fact that the ship herself was very good and seemingly suitable for the route, although perhaps a bit too large, it is doubtful that anyone else will try a similar cross-Lake Ontario service anytime in the forseeable future. It also leaves the Toronto Port Authority, whose very existence has been much in question of late, with an expensive terminal building it built to serve the ferry, and which is otherwise very much under-utilized.