[1] “The Atlantic Ferry,” p. 175.

[2] If my recollection serves me aright, there were not more than a dozen cabin passengers, and the only one of them who ventured aloft with me was my now venerable friend, Mr. Robert W. Graham, of the Montreal Star.

[3] “Denis Papin,” by Henry C. Ewart, in Sunday Magazine, 1880, p. 316.

[4] Mr. Symington’s account of his interview with Mr. Fulton, as given in the “EncyclopÆdia Britannica,” is as follows: “When engaged in these experiments, I was called upon by Mr. Fulton, who told me he was lately from North America, and intended returning thither in a few months, but could not think of leaving this country without first waiting upon me in expectation of seeing the boat, and procuring such information regarding it as I might be pleased to communicate.... In compliance with his earnest request, I caused the engine fire to be lighted up, and in a short time thereafter put the steamboat in motion, and carried him four miles west on the canal, returning to the point from which we started in one hour and twenty minutes (being at the rate of six miles an hour), to the great astonishment of Mr. Fulton and several gentlemen, who at our outset chanced to come on board. During the trip Mr. Fulton asked if I had any objection to his taking notes regarding the steamboat, to which I made no objection, as I considered the more publicity that was given to any discovery intended for the general good, so much the better.... In consequence he pulled out a memorandum book, and, after putting several pointed questions respecting the general construction and effect of the machine, which I answered in a most explicit manner, he jotted down particularly everything then described, with his own observations upon the boat during the trip.”

[5] “The Story of Helensburgh,” 1894, p. 92.

[6] These cuts, copied from Stanton’s “American Steam Vessels,” represent first class Mississippi and Ohio light-draught, high-pressure river steamers. The J. M. White, of 1878, was deemed “a crowning effort in steamboat architecture in the West.” She was 320 feet long and 91 feet in width, over the guards. Her saloons were magnificently furnished, and all her internal fittings of the most elaborate description. She carried 7,000 bales of cotton and had accommodation for 350 cabinpassengers. Her cost was $300,000. She was totally destroyed by fire in 1886.

[7] “Our Ocean Railways,” p. 69.

[8] Sufficient importance was attached to this matter to cause the two Houses of Parliament, in Ottawa, to order a brass tablet, commemorative of the event, to be placed in the corridor of the Library of Parliament. The tablet, of which a facsimile is presented in our frontispiece, was unveiled with fitting ceremony by His Excellency the Governor-General, on the occasion of the opening of the Colonial Conference, June 28th, 1894.—Vide: “The Journals of the Colonial Conference” (Appendix); “Journal of the House of Commons,” 1894; “Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada.”

[9] Others say 10½ days.

[10] Fry’s “History of Steam Navigation,” p. 182.

[11] Encyclopedia Britannica, 8th Ed., Vol. xx, p. 657.

[12] “Our Ocean Railways,” p. 75.

[13] For at least a hundred and fifty years the Post Office Department had maintained a fleet of armed mail “packets.” They had stations at Dover, Harwich, Holyhead, Milford, Yarmouth and Falmouth, the last-named being the headquarters of the fleet. During the time of the American war, 1812-15, no fewer than thirty-two sanguinary battles were fought with American privateers by the Falmouth packets, which, in a majority of instances, successfully resisted their assailants.

[14] Sir John Burns in Good Words for 1887, p. 261.

[15] Fry’s “History,” p. 240.

[16] The invention is claimed for Canada in Chapter X., under the heading of “New Brunswick.”

[17] The St. Paul, St. Louis, Paris and New York have all been taken over by the United States Government and fitted up as armed cruisers, the names of the last two being changed to Harvard and Yale.

[18] Fry’s “History,” p. 193.

[19] The Germanic has since been overhauled and has now a set of triple expansion engines, making her a seventeen-knot boat. In July, 1895, she crossed from Queenstown to New York in 6 days, 23 hours, 45 minutes.

[20] Fry’s “History,” p. 180.

[21] A missionary of the Church of England, who ministered to a few poor fishermen at Terence Bay, at the imminent risk of his life put off to the wreck in a small boat and succeeded in saving the life of the first officer of the ship after all hope of further rescue had been abandoned, and when even the hardy fishermen forbade the rash attempt. Mr. Ancient had formerly been attached to the British navy, and during this heartrending scene acted the part of a hero in his efforts to save life and to relieve the sufferings of the survivors. Captain Williams was severely censured, and had his certificate suspended for two years.

[22] This was written before the Hispano-American war began; since then several of these vessels have been employed by the United States Government with a change of nomenclature.

[23] “U. S. A. Report on Navigation for 1896,” p. 104.

[24] Last April the great Kaiser surpassed her previous record, making the voyage from New York to Southampton (3,065 knots) in 5 days, 17 hours, 8 minutes, showing an average speed of 22.35 knots per hour.

[25] The “Bourgogne” Disaster.—Since the sinking of the Eutopia in Gibraltar Bay in 1891, no such marine disaster has occurred as that which recently befell the SS. Bourgogne—a, tragedy in some respects the most appalling that has ever been recorded. This vessel of 7,795 tons—one of the finest of the French line of steamers—sailed from New York for Havre on the 2nd of July, 1898, with a ship’s company, including passengers and crew, of 726 souls. Early on the morning of the 4th, when about sixty miles south of Sable Island, during a dense fog, and while running at the rate of some eighteen knots an hour, she came into collision with the British sailing ship Cromartyshire, of 1,554 tons, and in a very short time foundered, carrying down with her about 520 persons. Had it not been for her collision bulkhead the Cromartyshire must have sunk, too. As it was, she was badly damaged, but hove to all day in the hope of picking up survivors. In the meantime the Allan SS. Grecian came up to the scene of the disaster, the rescued passengers were taken on board, and the disabled ship was towed into Halifax harbour. The survivors were the purser of the steamship, three engineers, thirty of the crew, and 170 passengers—204 in all. Of the seventy-two ladies in the first cabin only one was saved. Captain Deloncle, commander of the Bourgogne, was a lieutenant in the navy, and a knight of the Legion of Honour, having under him a competent staff of officers who appear to have done what they could to save the lives of others. All of them went down with their ship into the sailor’s grave. The loss of life was appalling, but even more heartrending were the accounts given of the barbarous conduct of some of the steerage passengers and sailors in the terrible struggle for self-preservation.

[26] Fry’s “History,” p. 309.

[27] “Whitaker’s Almanack,” 1897, p. 543.

[28] “Our Ocean Railways,” p. 119.

[29] “Statistical Year-Book, 1896,” under Railways, p. 20.

[30] The Duke of Wellington was 240.6 feet long, 60 feet beam, 3,826 tons burthen, and 2,500 horse-power. She was engined by Robert Napier & Sons, Glasgow, with geared engines and wooden cogs, and made 10.2 knots an hour on her trial trip in 1853. The Rattler, of 1851, was 179½ feet long, 32¾ feet beam, had geared engines of 436 horse-power, and attained a speed of 10 knots.

[31] See also p. 90.

[32] Based on a compilation by Captain W. H. Smith.

[33] “Encyclopedia Brit.,” Vol. xvii., p. 581, 8th Ed.

[34] The Angloman was wrecked on the Skerries, in the Irish Sea, in February, 1897. The crew were rescued, but the ship, with her valuable cargo and a large number of cattle, became a total loss, though fully covered by insurance.

[35] The SS. Memphis, of the African Steamship Company, but employed by the Elder, Dempster Line, went ashore on the west coast of Ireland in a fog in November, 1896, and became a total wreck. Ten of the crew were drowned and 350 head of cattle.

[36] The Manchester ship canal is 35 miles long, 120 feet bottom width, and 26 feet in depth. The docks at Manchester cover 104 acres and have five miles of quays. It was estimated to cost £10,000,000 sterling, but cost over £15,000,000 before it was completed. Arrangements are in progress by a Manchester syndicate for the establishment of a weekly line of steamships of 8,500 tons capacity, to be provided with cold storage and the most approved equipments for carrying live stock. The best modern appliances for loading and discharging cargo, grain elevators being included, are among the attractions which enterprising Manchester presents to the shipping trade of Canada.

[37] “Montreal Board of Trade Report, 1897,” pp. 52, 88.

[38]

DIMENSIONS OF THE GREAT LAKES.

[39] These figures refer exclusively to vessels belonging to the merchant marine of the United States on the Great Lakes and are taken from official reports.

[40] Mr. C. H. Keep, in his report on the “Internal Commerce of the United States for 1891,” has given a graphic History of Navigation on the Great Lakes, and is our chief authority for these notes on the early American lake steamers.

[41] Robertson’s “Landmarks of Toronto,” p. 847.

[42] Bryce’s “Short History of the Canadian People,” p. 333.

[43] Hugh McLennan’s “Lecture on Canadian Waterways, 1885.”

[44] The setting-pole might be twenty-five feet long, heavily shod with iron at one end and at the other fitted with a rounded knob. This pole was dropped into the water at the bow of the boat, and the boatman having put his shoulder to the other end of it, facing the stern, and pushing with all his might, walked to the farther end, cleats being fastened to the deck to give him foothold. By the time he reached the stern the barge had advanced exactly its own length, when he withdrew the pole, dragged it to the bow and repeated the process. Two or three men on each side of the boat would be similarly employed, and so the barge dragged its slow length along, much after the fashion of the horse-boat, only that the horse tugged at a stationary post while the men pushed from it.

[45] Kingsford’s “Canadian Canals” (Toronto, 1865) contains an elaborate history of the Welland and the financial difficulties that attended its construction. The Imperial Government seem to have contributed some £55,555 towards it, while stock was taken in the enterprise by individuals in the United States for £69,625, and by English capitalists, £30,137. The first vessels to pass through the canal are said to have been the schooners Ann and Jane and R. H. Boughton, in November, 1829. On the 5th of July, 1841, during the first session of the United Parliament of Canada, Lord Sydenham announced that Her Majesty had confirmed the bill for transferring the Welland to the Provincial Government.

Mr. McLennan states that the first Canadian vessel to pass through the Welland was the propeller Ireland, Captain Patterson.

[46] The schooner Niagara, built by Muirs, of Port Dalhousie, was sent to Liverpool with 20,000 bushels of wheat about the year 1860. Captain Gaskin, of Kingston, built several sea-going vessels, one of which he took over to Liverpool himself and sold her there. But experience has proved that vessels suited to the navigation of the lakes will never be able to compete successfully with ocean steamships of 10,000 tons.

[47] “Report of Dominion Railways and Canals, 1895,” p. 256.

[48] “Montreal Board of Trade Report, 1897,” p. 70.

[49] Vide page 26 of said Report.

[50] “Buffalo Board of Trade Report, 1895,” p. 98.

[51] “United States Deep Waterways Commission Report, 1896.”

[52] “Chicago Board of Trade Report, 1895.”

[53] “United States Deep Waterways Commission Report, 1896.”

[54] “United States International Commerce Report, 1892,” p. 52.

[55] For these notes on the Erie Canal the author is chiefly indebted to Kingsford’s “Canadian Canals,” Mr. Thomas C. Keefer, C. E., Ottawa, and the Superintendent’s “Report on Canals in the State of New York, 1896.”

[56] The latest improvement in this direction is what is called the “Grain Sucker,” by which the process of loading and unloading cargoes of grain is accomplished with astonishing speed. The new appliance combines in its construction the main features of the ordinary elevator, and causes the grain to go through all the different movements above described, with this difference, that instead of the leg with the belt and bucket, the grain is elevated to the top of the structure on the principle of suction through a flexible pipe. The air being drawn off by pumps from the vacuum chamber, the grain is sucked up like water from a well. Machines of this kind, fitted with any number of these pipes that may be required, are used at the London docks, and are said to be capable of transferring wheat at the rate of a hundred and fifty tons an hour—Vide Strand Magazine for May, 1898.

[57] “The steamship Bannockburn and consorts left Fort William on the 3rd instant loaded with 220,000 bushels of No. 1 hard wheat for Mr. W. W. Ogilvie’s mills. This is the largest shipment that ever left the port.”—Montreal Gazette, June 5th, 1896.

[58] The weight that can be hauled by a locomotive depends largely on the gradients of the road traversed. Winnipeg and Fort William are nearly on the same sea level, but between them the line of railway ascends and descends some 800 feet, limiting the drawing power of a sixty-ton locomotive in certain sections to, say, 900 tons. On a level road a large American locomotive will easily draw sixty cars containing 1,000 bushels of wheat each, or a total weight of 3,000 tons. As with steamships, the tendency is to increase the size of the locomotive. There is this difference, however: the weight and power of the locomotive are limited by the strength of the rail upon which it travels.

[59] Since these lines were written, three stationary elevators have been erected at Kingston—one by the Montreal Transportation Company, with a capacity of 800,000 bushels; one by the Moore Company, for 500,000 bushels, and one by James Richardson & Sons, for 250,000 bushels. The Prescott Elevator Company has erected one at Prescott of 1,000,000 capacity, and still another has been built at Coteau Landing in connection with the Canada Atlantic Railway system, with 500,000 capacity. All indications are that the enlargement of the St. Lawrence canals is confidently expected to result in a large increase in the Canadian grain trade and forwarding business. There are sixteen floating elevators in Montreal harbour, capable of handling from 4,000 to 8,000 bushels of grain each per hour.

[60] The following paragraph, taken from the North-Western Miller for November 12th, 1897, doubtless reflects the opinion of the majority of Western grain dealers in the United States, with whom the feeling of sentiment for the “natural route” is of small account: “The steel barge Amazon left Fort William recently loaded with 205,000 bushels of Manitoba hard wheat for Buffalo, indicating that the Buffalo route is still at its best, and that the monster craft is cutting off the Montreal route as effectively as could be desired by any rival.”

[61] We have good authority for quoting the rates of the summer of 1897 as follows: Duluth to Buffalo, 1½ cents per bushel; Buffalo to New York, by the Erie Canal, 3½ cents; New York to Liverpool, 5 cents; elevator charges, ? of 1 cent; total, 10? cents per bushel. Fort William to Kingston, 3½ cents; Kingston to Montreal, 2 cents; Montreal to Liverpool, 5¼ cents, including port charges; total, 10¾ cents per bushel. In 1857 the average rate by lake and canal on a bushel of wheat from Chicago to New York was 25.29 cents per bushel; now it is less than 6 cents. The reduction in cost of transmission is due to improved methods of handling freight, deeper channels, larger vessels and more rapid conveyance.

[62] Mr. John Ross Robertson’s “Landmarks of Toronto” (Toronto: 1896) contains an account of nearly all the steamboats that have plied on Lake Ontario and the Upper St. Lawrence from 1816 to 1895.

[63] From notes by Rev. Professor Bryce, LL. D., of Winnipeg.

[64] Mr. J. A. Thomson, Inspector of Steamboats for British Columbia, furnished the information contained in these notes.

[65] Vancouver Island was at that time a British possession—leased to the Hudson’s Bay Company. When the lease expired, in 1859, the Island was made a Crown colony, and the old fort, with the large cattle farm attached to it, became the site of the beautiful city of Victoria, with its fine streets, electric railways, magnificent public buildings, palatial residences, a population of 23,000, and real estate valued at $20,000,000. The Island and British Columbia were made one Province in 1866, and entered the Dominion in 1871.

[66] Since these lines were penned the rush to the Klondike has given an immense impetus to the steamboat business of British Columbia.

[67] From notes by Rev. Robert Murray, Halifax.

[68] The largest graving-dock in the world is said to be the one built for the Clyde Trust at Govan, on the Clyde, and recently opened. It is 880 feet long, 115 feet wide and has 26½ feet of water on the sill. The Clyde Trust are evidently looking ahead. There may be no ships of 850 feet in sight at the moment, but there is no telling how soon there will be. The Govan dock is ready for them. In the meantime it has been partitioned off into two parts by still gates, the outer division being 460 feet in length, and the inner, 420 feet.

[69] Information furnished by Mr. Keith A. Barber, of H. M. Customs, St. John, N. B.

[70] Information supplied by Mr. W. F. Hales, of Charlottetown.

[71] By the kindness of Rev. Moses Harvey, D.D., of St. John’s.

[72] “Statistical Year Book of Canada, 1896,” p. 280.

[73] “Report U. S. Commissioner on Navigation, 1896,” p. 201.

[74] “Report U. S. Commissioner on Navigation, 1896,” p. 127.