THE ST. LAWRENCE ROUTE.
The Allan, Dominion, Beaver, and other Canadian Lines
of Ocean Steamships—Sir Hugh Allan—A Fast Line
Service, etc., etc.
Were it not that the St. Lawrence is hermetically sealed for five
months of the year, it would undoubtedly be a more formidable rival
to the Hudson than it now is. That great drawback, however, is not
the only one. The navigation of the St. Lawrence has always been
somewhat difficult and hazardous. The seven hundred and fifty miles
of land-locked water from Quebec to Belle Isle is notorious for swift
and uncertain tides and currents, for treacherous submerged reefs
and rocks, and shoals in long stretches of the river, for blinding
snow-storms and fields of floating ice in the lower reaches at
certain seasons of the year, for icebergs which abound on the coasts
of Labrador and Newfoundland, and for bewildering fogs. With such a
combination of difficulties it is not to be wondered at that shipwrecks
have been frequent; that they have not been more numerous must be
mainly attributed to good seamanship and an intimate knowledge of
the route. Nautical appliances and charts are very much better than
they were thirty or forty years ago. The efficiency of the lighthouse
system has been greatly increased, and, what is vastly important, the
masters of mail steamers are no longer restricted to time, but on the
contrary are instructed that whenever the risk of life or of the ship
is involved, speed must be sacrificed to safety.
The St. Lawrence route has some advantages over the other. It is nearly
five hundred miles shorter from Quebec to Liverpool than from New York.
Other things being equal, passengers by this route have the advantage
of 750 miles of smooth water at the beginning or end of their voyage,
as the case may be. For these and other reasons many prefer the St.
Lawrence route. It has become popular even with a good many Americans,
especially from the Western States, and will certainly become more so
if the contemplated “fast service” is realized, by which the ocean
voyage—from land to land—would be curtailed to three days and a half!
In the discussions that have arisen on the subject, the danger of
running fast steamers on this route has, in many instances, been unduly
magnified. Past experience tends to show that the actual risk is not
necessarily increased by fast steaming. Shipwrecks in the Gulf of St.
Lawrence during later years have been confined to cargo and cattle
steamers. Not one of the faster mail boats has been lost during the
last sixteen years. The chief difficulty in the way of establishing
a twenty-knot service for the St. Lawrence is that of the ways and
means. Would it pay? Certainly not by private enterprise alone, but the
favour with which the project is regarded by the Imperial and Dominion
Governments leaves little doubt that it will be accomplished in the
near future.
[Illustration: CAPTAIN W. H. SMITH, R.N.R.]
Captain W. H. Smith, formerly Commodore of the Allan Line, in command
of the _Parisian_, and who, from long service on this route, is
well qualified to express an opinion, states in his report to the
Government that he sees no reason why there should not be a fast line
of steamers to the St. Lawrence. “If,” he says, “the St. Lawrence
route is selected for the proposed fast line, there should be no
racing in competition with other large steamers, and the same amount of
caution must be taken which has been exercised of late years by senior
officers of the Allan and other lines trading to Canada; and it will be
absolutely necessary for the safety of navigation that the commanders
and officers of any new company should be selected from the most
experienced officers of existing lines.”
In 1853 a Liverpool firm, Messrs. McKean, McLarty and Lamont,
contracted with the Canadian Government to run a line of screw
steamers, to carry Her Majesty’s mails, twice a month to Quebec in
summer, and once a month to Portland during the winter, for which
the company was to receive £1,238 currency per trip, under certain
conditions, one of which was that the ships should average not more
than fourteen days on the outward, nor more than thirteen days on the
voyage eastward. The ships of the first year were the _Genova_, 350
tons; _Lady Eglinton_, 335 tons; and Sarah Sands, 931 tons. Their
average passages were wide of the mark. Next year the _Cleopatra_,
_Ottawa_ and _Charity_ were added to the line. The _Cleopatra_ made her
first trip to Quebec in _forty-three days_; the _Ottawa_ never reached
Quebec at all, but after dodging about some time among the ice at the
mouth of the St. Lawrence, made for Portland. The _Charity_ reached
Quebec in twenty-seven days. As a matter of course the contract was
cancelled.
THE ALLAN LINE.
The failure of the Liverpool firm to fulfil their contract opened the
way for Canadian enterprise, and the man who was destined to see it
carried out to a successful issue was already awaiting his opportunity.
That man was Hugh Allan (the late Sir Hugh), a man of intense energy
and force of character. The Allans came honestly by their liking for
the sea and ships. Their father, Alexander, was a ship-owner, and
himself the well-known captain of the _Favourite_, one of the most
popular vessels then sailing from the Clyde to the St. Lawrence. The
five sons were born at Saltcoats, in sight of the sea. Two of them,
James and Bryce, followed the sea for a number of years and reached
the top of their profession. Alexander took up the shipping business
established by his father in Glasgow, where he was afterwards joined by
his eldest brother, James, under the firm name of James and Alexander
Allan. Bryce, on retiring from the sea, became head of the shipping
house in Liverpool. Hugh, the second son, became a partner in the
well-known firm of Miller, Edmonstone & Co., afterwards changed to
Edmonstone, Allan & Co., Montreal. His brother Andrew joined the firm
some years later, when its name was changed to that of Hugh and Andrew
Allan. The three firms, in Glasgow, Liverpool and Montreal, had become
the owners and agents of a large fleet of sailing ships; but the time
came when it was evident that mails and passengers must be carried to
Canada, as elsewhere, by steam power.
[Illustration: CAPTAIN McMASTER.]
The opening of the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railway between Montreal
and Portland in 1852 was one of the most important events in the
commercial history of Canada. It gave Montreal a winter port; for as
yet neither Halifax nor St. John had any railway communication with
the western provinces. Given a good winter port, there seemed to be
no reason why a line of steamships should not be established to
ply between Liverpool and Montreal in summer, with Portland for the
winter terminus. The Allans, seeing that the time had come for a new
departure, succeeded in forming a joint stock company, under the name
of the Montreal Ocean Steamship Company. As its name implied, it was
virtually a Canadian enterprise. The principal shareholders, besides
the Allans, were Messrs. William Dow, John G. Mackenzie and Robert
Anderson, of Montreal; George Burns Symes, of Quebec, and John Watkins,
of Kingston. A few years later the Allans became sole owners of the
concern, which then became known as the ALLAN LINE.
* * * * *
The first two steamers of the Montreal Ocean Steamship Company were the
_Canadian_ and _Indian_, built by the famous Dennys, of Dumbarton. They
were pretty little iron screw steamers, of about 270 feet in length,
34 feet wide, and of 1,700 tons burthen each. The _Canadian_ made her
first voyage to Quebec in September, 1854, but the Crimean war having
commenced, steamers of this class were in demand, and these two were
taken into the service and profitably employed as government transports
as long as the war lasted. In 1874 the _Sarmatian_ and the _Manitoban_
of this line were similarly employed to convey troops to the west coast
of Africa, to take part in the Ashantee campaign. On both occasions
they did excellent service.
When the Canadian Government next advertised for tenders for carrying
the mails, an agreement was made with the Allans by which they were
to receive £25,000 a year for a fortnightly service in summer and a
monthly one in winter. Two other boats, similar to the _Canadian_
and _Indian_, were built by the Dennys—the _North American_ and
_Anglo-Saxon_. The new service was commenced in April, 1856, by the
SS. _North American_, which arrived in the port of Montreal on the
9th of May. Two years later it was decided to establish a weekly
service, the Government promising an increased subsidy of $208,000
per annum. This implied double the number of ships; accordingly, four
others were built, the _North Briton_, _Nova Scotian_, _Bohemian_ and
_Hungarian_, all after the same model as the pioneer ships, but 300
feet long and 2,200 tons register. Their speed was from 11 to 13 knots
in smooth water, and even in heavy weather they seldom fell short of
8 knots an hour. Their average passages westward from Liverpool to
Quebec were 11 days, 5 hours; eastward, 10 days, 10 hours. The quickest
passage eastward was made by the _Anglo-Saxon_, in 9 days, 5 hours,
and westward, by the _Hungarian_, in 9 days, 14 hours. In the same
year (1859) the Cunard Line to Boston averaged 12 days, 19 hours going
west, and 10 days, 15 hours eastward. The average speed of the Canadian
steamers during the entire season of the St. Lawrence navigation
in that year was 9½ knots. At this time there were already twelve
different lines of steamships plying across the Atlantic, affording
almost daily communication between England and America by steam.
In 1859 the company represented that, owing to the depression in trade,
they were unable to continue the service, without further assistance.
The Canadian Government stood by this Canadian enterprise, and doubled
the subsidy in consideration of the increased service, which was
admitted on all hands to be a complete success. The new ships were
beautiful models and well adapted to the trade; but the company had
to learn from bitter experience how hazardous that trade was. To say
nothing of minor accidents, up to the year 1885 no less than fourteen
of their steamers had come to grief. Since that time, singularly
enough, none of this line has been lost, though many belonging to other
lines have been wrecked.
The _Canadian_, Captain Ballantine, on her first trip to Quebec, in
June, 1857, through the negligence of her pilot, was stranded on
South Rock, off the Pillar Lighthouse, forty-five miles below Quebec.
No lives were lost, but the ship defied every effort to float her.
The _Indian_, Captain Smith, bound for Portland, in December, 1859,
struck a rock off Marie Joseph Harbour, seventy-five miles east of
Halifax, and went to pieces. Every effort was made to save the lives
of the 447 persons that sailed in her, but twenty-three perished.
The _Hungarian_, Captain Jones, on the night of February 20th, 1860,
during a blinding snow-storm, struck on the South-West Ledge near Cape
Sable Island, 130 miles east of Halifax. Every soul on board, to the
number of 237, perished with the ship. The cause of this sad disaster
is not correctly known. The captain was one of the best seamen in
the Allan Line, but it has been stated that the light upon Cape Sable
was not exhibited that night, in consequence of the sickness of the
lightkeeper, who is said to have confessed this on his death-bed.
The second _Canadian_, Captain Graham, came in contact with a piece
of submerged ice, outside the Straits of Belle Isle, in July, 1861.
The ship was proceeding cautiously, but so hard and sharp was the ice,
a rent was made in the ship’s side below the water-line, and it was
soon seen that she was done for. This is how she went down, as told by
Captain Graham: “The wind had increased to a gale. About 9.30 a. m. we
came up to heavy field ice closely packed. We had been going half-speed
till we saw the ice, when we stopped altogether, then turned her head
to the west, steaming slowly through a narrow passage between heavy
ice on the starboard side and what appeared to be a light patch of ice
on the port side, which scratched along the bow for sixty feet. The
concussion was very slight, and I had no apprehension of any damage;
went below to see what was wrong, and found the water rushing along
the main deck and up the hatchway. The boats were ordered out, and the
ship headed for land full speed. She soon began to settle down forward,
taking a list to starboard, when the engines were stopped and the boats
lowered. Immediately after leaving her, the ship with a plunge dropped
five or six feet by the head, and then directly afterwards her stern
flew up in the air, and she went down head foremost.” The mail-master,
nine of the crew and twenty-six passengers went down with the ship.
The _North Briton_, Captain Grange, was wrecked in November, 1861, on
one of the Mingan Islands, north of Anticosti (the usual track for
steamers at that time). There was no loss of life. The _Anglo-Saxon_,
Captain Burgess, in April, 1863, was stranded in Clam Cove, three
miles from Cape Race, during a dense fog. A heavy sea rolling in drove
her farther on the rocks, from which she eventually slid off and sank
in deep water. The captain, some of the officers, and many of the
passengers and crew were carried down into the vortex of the ship, and
were drowned to the number of 238 souls.
The _Norwegian_, Captain McMaster, in June, 1863, was totally wrecked
on St. Paul’s Island, at the entrance of the Gulf. A dense fog was
prevailing. The passengers and crew, numbering about 420, were all
saved. The _Bohemian_, Captain Borland, struck on the Alden Ledges,
off Cape Elizabeth, near Portland, in February, 1864, when twenty
passengers were drowned. The _Dacian_ was wrecked near Halifax, April
7th, 1872. In the same year the _Germany_ went ashore at the mouth of
the Garonne River, near Bordeaux, France, and was totally wrecked, with
the loss of thirty lives. The _St. George_, Captain Jones, was lost
on the Blonde Rock, south of Seal Island, N.S. The _Jura_ stranded on
Formby Bank, at the entrance to the Mersey, in 1864. The _Moravian_,
Captain Archer, was wrecked on Mud Islands, near Yarmouth, N.S., in
December, 1881. The _Hanoverian_, Captain Thompson, struck a rock at
the entrance of Nepassey Bay, Newfoundland, and was totally lost, but
all hands were saved.
The _Pomeranian_, Captain Dalziel, a fine ship of 4,364 tons, in 1893
survived one of the stormiest Atlantic voyages on record. She sailed
from Greenock for New York, March 27th. After eight days battling
with a furious gale, when about twelve hundred miles west of Ireland,
she was well-nigh overwhelmed by a tremendous wave, which made a
clean sweep of the deck. The bridge, the chart-house, the saloon, the
steam-winch, the ventilators, everything between the foremast and
the funnel, were hurled overboard, a mass of wreckage. The captain
and a saloon passenger were so severely injured that both died in a
few hours. The second and fourth officers, who were on the bridge,
were swept into the sea and drowned, as were the rest of the cabin
passengers, one intermediate, and four of the crew—twelve persons in
all. Three of the lifeboats were carried away and two were smashed,
leaving only one available for service. The whole of the nautical
instruments, books and charts had gone overboard, the steering gear was
badly wrecked, and the only compass left was that in the steering-house
aft. The first officer, Mr. McCulloch, on whom the command now
devolved, seeing the crippled condition of the ship, turned her head
homewards, a thing not easily done in such a sea, and eventually
returned to the Clyde in a gale of wind.
[Illustration: “THE PARISIAN,” 1881.]
It is doubtful if there is another shipping company in existence
that would have withstood the strain put on the Allan line by such a
succession of disasters; but so far as outsiders are aware the Allans
never lost courage. They were bound to succeed in the long-run, and
they did. When ships could not be built quickly enough to take the
places of those that had been lost at sea, they bought of others ships
ready-made, meanwhile resolving to reinforce their fleet with larger
and in every way better boats than heretofore. The _Norwegian_ and
_Hibernian_, of 2,400 tons each, were launched from Denny’s yard in
1861. In 1863 Steeles of Greenock built for them the _Peruvian_ and the
_Moravian_, both very fine ships. The _Nestorian_ and the _Austrian_,
of 2,700 tons each, built by Barclay & Curle, Glasgow, are both good
ships now after thirty years’ service. The _Sarmatian_ and _Polynesian_
(now _Laurentian_), about 4,000 tons each, came out in 1871 and 1872,
and proved excellent boats. The _Circassian_, 3,724 tons, was launched
in 1873, and the _Sardinian_ in 1875. The _Parisian_, the finest of the
fleet, was built by Robert Napier & Sons, Glasgow, in 1881, and took
her place on the line the following year. She is built of steel, the
bottom being constructed of an inner and outer skin five feet apart,
the space thus enclosed being available for water ballast and also a
protection from the perils of collision. The Allans were the first
to apply this kind of build to Atlantic steamers, and were also the
first to build such steamers of steel. The general dimensions of the
_Parisian_ are: length over all, 440 feet; breadth, 46 feet; moulded
depth, 36 feet; with a gross tonnage of 5,365 tons. Her machinery is
capable of developing 6,000 indicated horse-power. Although she has
neither twin screws nor triple expansion engines, she has done her work
remarkably well, maintaining an average speed of about fourteen knots.
Her fastest voyage from Moville to Rimouski was made in 1896, viz., 6
days, 13 hours, 10 minutes, corrected time. Her best day’s run on that
voyage was 359 knots. Her career has been a remarkable one: in these
seventeen years she has not met with an accident, and is consequently
a very popular ship. She is fitted for 160 saloon passengers in the
most complete and comfortable manner, and there seems to be always room
for one more. On a recent occasion the _Parisian_ brought over 255
cabin passengers. She can easily accommodate 120 second-class and 1,000
steerage passengers. She carries a large cargo and is a very fine sea
boat.
The fleet of the Allan Line consists at present of thirty-four
steamers, aggregating 134,937 tons. In addition to the weekly line
between Liverpool and Montreal, regular weekly services are maintained
from Montreal, and also from New York, to Glasgow; the London,
Quebec and Montreal service is fortnightly in summer; there is also
a direct service between Glasgow and Boston fortnightly, and regular
communication between Liverpool, Glasgow and Philadelphia, as well as
with River Plate and other ports.
Some of the freight and cattle-ships of the Allan Line are large
and fine vessels, such as the _Buenos Ayrean_, 4,005 tons, built at
Dumbarton in 1879—one of the first ships ever constructed of steel.
The _Carthaginian_ and _Siberian_ are both 4,000-ton ships, specially
adapted for the cattle trade. The _Mongolian_ and _Numidian_, of 4,750
tons each, are model ships in the class to which they belong. A few
years ago the Allans acquired the State Line, plying between Glasgow
and New York. Two of these, the _State of California_ (5,500 tons) and
the _State of Nebraska_ (4,000 tons), are excellent ships with good
accommodation for large numbers of passengers. The two oldest ships of
the line in commission are the _Waldensian_ (formerly _St. Andrew_),
built in 1861, and the _Phœnician_ (formerly the _St. David_), built in
1864, both of which are still doing service in the South American trade.
The last of the sailing ships owned by the Allans was wrecked in a
dense fog near Astoria, at the mouth of the Columbia River, Washington,
U. S., on the 19th of March, 1896. The _Glenmorag_ was a fine iron
clipper ship of 1,756 tons register, built at Glasgow in 1876, and up
to the time of her final disaster had been exceptionally fortunate and
successful. Captain Currie, who commanded her, was widely known and has
a first-rate reputation as a sailor, but in an evil hour of a dark,
dirty night, when making for Portland, Oregon, he was startled by the
sudden cry from the man on the lookout, “Breakers on the port bow,”
and while in the act of wearing the ship around she went broadside on
the rocks. Two of the crew were killed and four injured severely while
attempting to get ashore.
It has been announced that the Allans have at present under
construction on the Clyde four magnificent steel steamships for the
Canadian freight and passenger trade. Three of these are vessels of
10,000 tons, and the fourth of 8,800 tons. All of them are to be fitted
with triple expansion engines and twin screws. The three larger ones
are each over 500 feet in length, with 60 feet breadth of beam, and
are designed to develop an average speed of sixteen knots, which means
that they are expected to make the voyage from Liverpool to Montreal
in about 7¼ days mean time—actually a quicker service for Canada than
obtains at present with 20-knot steamers _via_ New York. With ample
accommodation for a large number of passengers, these ships will
have room for 8,000 to 9,000 tons of freight and the most approved
appliances for the rapid handling of cargo.
Sir Hugh Allan of Ravenscrag, to whom Canada is chiefly indebted for
the magnificent Allan Line of steamships, was born at Saltcoats,
Ayrshire, Scotland, September 29th, 1810. He came to Canada in 1826
and entered into business as already stated. His whole life was one of
incessant activity. He was founder of the Merchants’ Bank of Canada and
its president, and the President of the Montreal Telegraph Co., and
many other important commercial institutions. Sir Hugh was knighted by
Her Majesty the Queen, in person, in July, 1871, in recognition of his
valuable services to the commerce of Canada and the Empire. He died
in Edinburgh, suddenly, December 9th, 1882, and was buried in Mount
Royal cemetery, Montreal. Sir Hugh was a man, very emphatically, _sui
generis_. Quick to arrive at his conclusions, he was slow to abandon
them; where he planted his foot there he meant it to stay. A keen and
enterprising man of business, he accumulated a princely fortune. To
those who knew him only on the street or in the Board-room he might,
perhaps, seem curt and brusque. His conscious power of influencing
others made him almost necessarily dogmatic and dictatorial, but in
private life he was one of the most amiable, kind-hearted and genial
of men. He was a staunch Presbyterian, a liberal supporter of the Auld
Kirk of Scotland in Canada, and in his younger days devoted much time
in promoting its interests.
[Illustration: _Sir Hugh Allan_.]
The brothers Bryce and James died several years before Sir Hugh.
Alexander died in Glasgow in 1892. Mr. Andrew Allan, now the senior
partner of the Montreal firm, was the youngest of the five brothers,
and is the only survivor of them. Mr. Allan was born at Saltcoats,
December 1st, 1822, and came out to Canada in 1839. He married a
daughter of the late John Smith, of Montreal (a sister of Lady Hugh
Allan). Mrs. Allan died in 1881, leaving a large family. Two of the
sons, Messrs. Hugh H. and Andrew H., are associated with their father
and with Messrs. Hugh Montagu and Bryce J. Allan, sons of the late Sir
Hugh, in managing the extensive business of the Canadian branch of
the Allan Line. Mr. Allan has filled many of the posts of honour and
responsibility formerly occupied by Sir Hugh, and earned for himself
the golden opinions of his fellow citizens.
The first four captains of the Allan Line were Andrew McMaster, of the
_Anglo-Saxon_, Thomas Jones, of the _Indian_, William Ballantine, of
the _Canadian_, and William Grange, of the _North American_. Captain
McMaster was born at Stranraer, Wigtonshire, in 1808. After serving
a five years’ apprenticeship on board the East Indiaman, _Duke of
Lancaster_, at the modest rate of £2 for the first year, and £20
for the full term of his indentures, he got command of the brig
_Sir Watkin_, sailing from Islay with 240 of the clan Campbell as
passengers. One-half of these were landed at Sydney, Cape Breton, and
the other half at Quebec. The hardships of the emigrants in those days
were excessive, as they had to provide their own food and bedding, and
were allotted places on the stone ballast to do the best they could
for themselves. In 1845 Captain McMaster was placed in command of the
clipper barque, _Rory O’More_, for which Edmonstone & Allan were the
agents. Leaving Montreal in the summer of 1846, owing to the lowness
of water the yards and topmasts were sent down and floated alongside,
while cables, chains and other rigging were put into lighters to enable
the vessel to traverse Lake St. Peter, drawing nine feet of water! His
next command was the ship _Montreal_ of 464 tons, at that time the
largest of the Montreal traders. In 1856 he was placed in command of
the first SS. _Canadian_, and successively of each new ship as she was
launched. In 1864 he retired from the sea, and entered the shipwright
business in Liverpool. He died in the Isle of Man in 1884.
[Illustration: CAPTAIN JOHN GRAHAM.]
Of the subsequent captains of this line I can only mention the names of
those with whom I remember having sailed and made their acquaintance.
None of them left a more lasting impression on my memory than John
Graham, the genial captain of the second _Canadian_, and of the
_Sarmatian_ when he retired from the service and the sea in 1885. It
was he who so often and so strenuously discussed the desirability of
throwing a dam across the Straits of Belle Isle that he actually came
to believe in it himself as a possibility in the near future, by which
in his estimation the climate of Canada was to be assimilated to that
of the south of France. That was his fad. But take him all in all, he
was as fine a man as one could desire to meet. He was a grand sailor.
When his examination before the Nautical Board was concluded _in re_
the loss of the _Canadian_, his certificate was handed back to him with
the remark, “Sir, you did your duty like a noble British seaman.” The
dangers incident to a seafaring life never disturbed his equanimity,
for he had long been ready to “go aloft” at a moment’s notice.
[Illustration: CAPTAIN JAMES WYLIE.]
James and Hugh Wylie were both quiet, unassuming men who understood
their business thoroughly. The former rose to be the commodore of the
fleet. On retiring from the command of the _Parisian_, the citizens of
Montreal honoured him with a banquet and an address, congratulating
him on his remarkably successful career. Hugh retired from the command
of the _Polynesian_ shortly after a serious accident that befell his
ship on the river, through the carelessness of his pilot. James was
noted for his caution, of which a somewhat humorous illustration was
given one dark night when the _Parisian_ was speeding down the Gulf
of St. Lawrence. Some of us were still pacing the deck, though it was
near midnight, when suddenly the engine stopped. To the uninitiated
there is nothing more alarming than that; but at this hour most of the
passengers were fast asleep. There followed a few minutes of profound
silence. The sea, until now as black as ink, had all at once become
white and glistering. Had we run into a field of ice? To the captain,
who was at his post on the bridge, and to the double lookout on the
forecastle it must have had that appearance; but it proved to be only
schools of herring or mackerel disporting themselves on the surface of
the water, causing a brilliant phosphorescent illumination of the sea.
It spread over a large surface and had all the appearance of field ice,
precisely where such danger is to be apprehended. The ship sailed on:
but none of us dared to ask then, nor next morning, why she had stopped.
Frederick Archer, Lieut. R.N.R., successively in command of the _St.
Andrew_, the _Manitoban_, and the _Moravian_, was made of sterner stuff
than the average sea-captain. It required more than one voyage to
become acquainted with him, but once in his good graces the passenger
was all right. He was the strictest disciplinarian of the whole staff.
Regularly as on a man-of-war, his sailors marched into the saloon
on Sunday mornings in their best rigs to attend divine service. In
the absence of a clergyman none could use the Book of Prayer more
effectively than Capt. Archer. He died at sea in the prime of life.
William H. Smith, Lieut. R.N.R., son of late Commander John S. Smith,
R.N.—one of the last surviving officers of the battle of Trafalgar—was
born at Prospect House, Broadstairs, Kent, England, in 1838. He served
as midshipman on board the _Calcutta_ in the Australian trade: entered
the Allan service during the progress of the Crimean war, and was
present at several of the engagements between the Russians and the
allied forces: went to Odessa with the allied fleets, and was serving
on board the _Indian_ when she received sealed orders to proceed to
Kinburn and lay buoys for the ironclads which bombarded and destroyed
the forts. Captain Smith’s first command in the Allan service was the
steamer _St. George_; subsequently he was master of the _Hibernian_,
_Circassian_, _Peruvian_, _Sardinian_ and the _Parisian_. He succeeded
Captain James Wylie as Commodore of the fleet, and held that position
for several years, until he resigned to accept the office of Chairman
of the Board of Examiners of Masters and Mates, Commissioner for
enquiring into wrecks, and one of the nautical advisers of the
Government. This office he still holds with headquarters in Halifax, N.
S. Capt. Smith was always very popular with the travelling community.
On leaving the service he was presented with a valuable set of plate.
[Illustration: CAPTAIN ALEX. AIRD.]
Alexander Aird, previous to joining the Allan Line, had been in command
of the _John Bell_ and _United Kingdom_ of the Anchor Line. His first
command in the Allan Line was the _St. George_ in 1864. Subsequently,
he was captain of the _St. David_, _Nova Scotian_, _Nestorian_,
_Scandinavian_, and, finally, of the _Sarmatian_. Of the last-named
ship he was very proud, and it was a feather in his cap that he brought
out the Marquis of Lorne and Princess Louise in 1878, receiving from
them a handsome recognition of his efforts to secure their comfort.
Owing to impaired health he retired from the sea some years previous to
his death, which took place in 1892.
[Illustration: CAPTAIN RITCHIE.]
Robert Brown, of the _Polynesian_, “the rolling Polly,” as she used to
be called, was the _beau ideal_ of a fine old English gentleman, than
whom none could more gracefully discharge the honours of the table. He
had many encounters with field ice off the coast of Newfoundland, but
by dint of his caution, skill and patience, he invariably came out
scatheless, though not unfrequently locked up in the ice for weeks at a
time.
William Richardson, of the _Nova Scotian_ and the _Sardinian_, who died
not long ago, was an easy-going, kindly-disposed man, and a general
favourite. Neil Maclean, of the third _Canadian_, was a man of fine
presence and good address. Captain Joseph Ritchie who retired from the
command of the _Parisian_ in 1895, though not to be called an old man,
had spent forty-four years at sea. He was captain of the _Peruvian_
in 1882, when the twenty-five-foot channel through Lake St. Peter was
inaugurated; and again in 1888, in the _Sardinian_, he was the first
to test the increased depth to twenty-seven and a half feet. Ritchie’s
whole career was a most successful one. On retiring from the service he
was presented with a very handsomely engrossed address and a valuable
service of silver plate by his Montreal friends.
[Illustration: CAPTAIN JOSEPH E. DUTTON.]
Joseph E. Dutton, best known as the captain of the _Sardinian_, was a
remarkable man, and frequent voyages with him led me to know him better
than some of the others. “Holy Joe,” as he was familiarly called, was
an excellent sailor, but had to contend with a good many difficulties.
At one time his ship lost her rudder in mid-ocean; at another time she
lost her screw. Once she caught fire in Loch Foyle from an explosion
of coal gas, and had to be scuttled. Dutton was a clever, well-read
man, and a born preacher. When he had on board some eighteen clergymen
going to the meeting of the Presbyterian Council at Belfast, he came
into the saloon on a Saturday evening, and coolly announced that if
they had no objections he would conduct the Sunday service himself. And
preach he did. He had the whole Bible at his finger-ends. I recall at
least one voyage when he personally conducted three religious services
daily—one at 10 o’clock a. m., for the steerage passengers; one at 4
p. m., in the chart-room, and one at 7 p. m., in the forecastle, for
his sailors. As to creed, he had drifted away from his early moorings,
and admittedly had difficulty in finding secure anchorage. He had, so
to speak, boxed the ecclesiastical compass. He had been a Methodist,
a Baptist, a Plymouth Brother, but with none of them did he long
remain in fellowship. Finally, he pinned his faith to the tenets of
“conditional immortality,” arguing with great ingenuity and earnestness
that eternal life is the exclusive portion of the righteous, and
annihilation that of the wicked. One of Captain Dutton’s last public
appearances in Montreal was on a Sabbath evening, in the Olivet Baptist
church, when he baptized seven of his sailors by immersion in the
presence of a crowded assemblage. He was a square-built, powerful
Christian. The way he collared these men and submerged them was a
caution. He gave each of them in turn such a drenching as they will
remember for a long time, and all with the greatest reverence; nor did
he let them go until he received from each a solemn assurance that he
would be a faithful follower of Christ to his life’s end. Not long
after this, Captain Dutton had an attack of Bright’s disease, which
brought him to an early grave. He was buried in Mount Royal cemetery,
where the monument, “erected by a few of his friends,” bears the
inscription:
“Commodore Allan Line. Lieut. R. N. Reserve. In memory
of Captain Joseph E. Dutton, late of the R. M. SS.
_Sardinian_. Born at Harrington, England, February 8th,
1828. Died at Montreal, July 6th, 1884, aged 56 years.
“‘Now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet
appear what we shall be; but we know that when he shall
appear we shall be like him.’—1 John iii. 2.”
There was a time when profane swearing used to be indulged in freely by
sea-captains and their subordinates. Happily the custom is going out of
fashion, though now and then a representative from the old school may
still be found. Captain Dutton was never addicted to swearing, though
his temper was tried often enough. On arriving at Rimouski in 1879,
after making the fastest voyage to the St. Lawrence then on record,
the _Sardinian_ had to lie at anchor for two mortal hours before he
could get his mails landed. One hour it took the tender to get up
steam, and another hour to get alongside the ship, owing to a strong
easterly breeze, which brought up a lop of a sea. All this lost time
Dutton rapidly paced the bridge to and fro with evident impatience. At
length, when the tender was made fast, he came down and mingled with
the crowd on deck, on the keen lookout for letters and newspapers,
when one said to him, jokingly, “Why did you not swear at the captain
of that tender?” “Oh,” said he, with a pleasant smile, “he is only a
farmer.” The provocation had been great, but the controlling principle
was greater and highly creditable to Dutton.
_Apropos_ to the subject of swearing was the story told by a
fellow-passenger—a deacon in the late Prof. Swing’s congregation in
Chicago. Dr. Swing had withdrawn from the Presbyterian Church, but
continued to preach in a public hall or theatre, drawing immense
crowds to hear him. Swing was a sensational preacher, who could extort
tears or smiles from his hearers at will, and not unfrequently his
random shots hit the mark. On one occasion, the deacon informed us,
he overheard the remark made by one of Chicago’s fastest young men to
a comrade as they were leaving the place of worship after listening
to a scathing discourse on the besetting sins of young men, swearing
included: “Say, Jim, I’ll be d——d if that is not the kind of preaching
that suits me.” This is a hard story, scarcely credible, but it
was told in sober earnest and in a tone that indicated that in the
speaker’s judgment an arrow had pierced the young man’s heart, and
that the shocking expression just quoted was, after all, neither more
nor less than his peculiar way of emphasizing the fact that he was
_stricken_.
THE DOMINION LINE.
This line began in 1870 when a number of merchants, engaged in the New
Orleans and Liverpool trade, formed what they styled the “Mississippi
and Dominion Steamship Company, Limited,” under the management of
Messrs. Flinn, Main and Montgomery, of Liverpool, the agents in
Montreal being Messrs. D. Torrance & Co., of which Mr. John Torrance
has been for a number of years the senior partner. Their boats were to
run to New Orleans in the winter and to Montreal in summer. Their first
ships were the _St. Louis_, _Vicksburg_ and _Memphis_. In 1871 they
added the _Mississippi_ and _Texas_ of 2,822 tons. The Orleans route
was soon abandoned and the Dominion Line, then so called, confined
its trade to Canada, having Portland for its terminal winter port.
Gradually increasing the size and speed of their steamers they entered
into a lively competition for a share of the passenger traffic, and
soon became formidable rivals of the Allan Line, and for a number of
years shared with them in the Government allowance for carrying the
Royal mails.
In 1874 they had built for them at Dumbarton the _Dominion_ and
_Ontario_, each 3,000 tons; in 1879 the _Montreal_, _Toronto_ and
_Ottawa_, of still larger dimensions, were added. They next bought
the _City of Dublin_ and _City of Brooklyn_ from the Inman Line, and
renamed them the _Quebec_ and _Brooklyn_. In 1882 and 1883 they built
the _Sarnia_ and the _Oregon_, fine boats of about 3,700 tons each,
with increased power and midship saloons. In 1884 Messrs. Connal & Co.,
Glasgow, built for them the _Vancouver_, a very fine ship of 5,149
tons, having a speed of fourteen knots and excellent accommodation
for passengers. Although she has had several minor accidents she has
been, on the whole, a successful and popular ship. The most serious
misfortune that befell her was in November, 1890, on her voyage to
Quebec, when she encountered a furious hurricane in mid-ocean. Captain
Lindall, who had been constantly on the bridge for a long time, went
to his chart-room to snatch a few minutes rest, leaving the first
officer on the bridge. All of a sudden the ship was thrown on her
beam ends by a tremendous wave which completely wrecked the bridge
and swept the chart-room, with the captain in it, into the sea. The
quarter-master at the wheel was also washed overboard, and both he and
Captain Lindall were drowned. The first officer, Mr. Walsh, who had a
miraculous escape, took charge of the battered ship and brought her to
Quebec, where deep regret was expressed for the sad death of Lindall,
who was a general favourite and as good a sailor as ever stood on the
bridge.
[Illustration: CAPTAIN LINDALL.]
The _Labrador_, 4,737 tons, launched from the famous shipyard of
Harland & Wolff, Belfast, in 1891, has also been a successful and
popular ship. She combines in her construction a number of the latest
improvements, and has attained a high rate of speed, with large cargo
capacity and a moderate consumption of fuel. Until the arrival of the
_Canada_, in October, 1896, the _Labrador_ held the record for the
fastest voyage from Moville to Rimouski—6 days, 8 hours. In August,
1895, she made the voyage from land to land in 4 days, 16 hours. In
May, 1894, she averaged 365 knots a day, equal to fifteen knots an
hour, her best day’s run being 375 knots, which was regarded as great
work considering the small amount of fuel consumed. In December of that
year she made the run from Moville to Halifax in 6 days, 12 hours.
Up to this point, however, the business ability and enterprise of the
Dominion Company had not been rewarded with financial success. For
years they had to contend with the general depression of trade, the
keen competition of other lines, and ruinous rates of freight. In the
autumn of 1894 the managers resigned, and the entire fleet of vessels
was sold to Messrs. Richards, Mills & Co., of Liverpool, at a great
sacrifice. The Montreal agency remains as heretofore with Messrs. D.
Torrance & Co., and under the new management the line seems to have
entered upon a career of prosperity.
The casualties on the St. Lawrence route to steamers of this line
have been numerous, but with a comparatively small loss of life. The
foundering of the _Vicksburg_, from collision with ice, in 1875, was
the most disastrous, involving the loss of forty-seven lives of
passengers and crew—including the captain—and a large number of cattle.
The _Ottawa_ went ashore about fifty miles below Quebec in 1889 and
became a total wreck. The _Idaho_ was wrecked on Anticosti in 1890;
the _Montreal_, on the island of Belle Isle in 1889. The _Texas_ went
ashore on Cape Race in a fog and became a total wreck. In September,
1895, the _Mariposa_, a beautiful twin-screw chartered steamer of 5,000
tons, was stranded at Point Amour in the Straits of Belle Isle and
became a total wreck, but the passengers and crew were all saved.
[Illustration: DOMINION LINE SS. “CANADA.”]
It very soon became apparent that the new management of the Dominion
Line was bent on a new departure. They lost no time in discarding
the smaller boats and replacing them with large and powerful freight
steamers having also limited accommodation for passengers. Of this
type were the _Angloman_[34] and the _Scotsman_. The latter is a fine
twin-screw ship of colossal strength, 6,040 tons register, with a
carrying capacity of from 9,000 to 10,000 tons of cargo, and an average
speed at sea of twelve to thirteen knots. In September, 1895, in
addition to a large general cargo, the _Scotsman_ left Montreal with
the largest shipment of live stock that ever left this port, consisting
of 1,050 head of cattle, 2,000 sheep, and 47 horses, all of which were
landed safely in Liverpool. But the latest addition to the fleet is
in advance of the _Scotsman_. The _Canada_, which sailed on her first
voyage from Liverpool on October 1st, 1896, is a type of ocean steamer
new to the St. Lawrence, and is designed to meet present requirements
by combining in one vessel the essential features of a first-class
passenger ship with so large a freight-carrying capacity as to make her
practically independent of subsidies. The _Canada_ is a twin-screw
steamer 515 feet long, 58 feet beam, and 35 feet 6 inches moulded
depth. Her gross tonnage is about 9,000 tons. Her triple expansion
engines are calculated to develop 7,000 horse-power with a steam boiler
pressure of 175 pounds. Her staterooms are perhaps the finest feature
of the ship—equal to any on the ocean ferry. Her maiden voyage was a
stormy one, but it easily surpassed all previous records from Liverpool
to Quebec. On her second trip she left Liverpool at 5 p. m. on October
29th, and reached Rimouski on November 4th, at 11.40 p. m., thus making
the voyage in 6 days, 11 hours and 40 minutes, and to Quebec in 6 days,
23 hours, 30 minutes. Her average speed on this voyage was about 16
knots an hour, and her best day’s run, 416 knots, equal to 17⅓ knots an
hour.
[Illustration: CAPTAIN MACAULAY, OF SS. “CANADA.”]
At a luncheon given on board the _Canada_ to leading members of the
Dominion Government, Mr. Torrance said that the Dominion Line had
been sold out to a company composed of men of tremendous energy and
enterprise, with any amount of money at their backs, and, after looking
at the matter in all its bearings, they decided that the time had come
for a forward movement. They determined to build the largest steamer
they could for the St. Lawrence trade. The _Canada_ was contracted for
by Messrs. Harland and Wolff, Belfast, as a sixteen-knot ship, and
on her trial trip made seventeen and a half knots. He believed that
she would average sixteen knots at sea, that she would reach Rimouski
in six and a half days from Liverpool, and deliver her mails at the
Montreal post-office within seven days. If that expectation comes to
be realized, as it is most likely to be, the arguments in favour of
a fast mail service between Canada and Britain will be materially
strengthened. Mr. Torrance added that the _Canada_ was built to carry
7,000 tons of cargo, that if she had a speed of seventeen knots she
would only carry 4,000 tons of cargo; if eighteen knots, she would
carry but 3,000 tons, and that with a speed of twenty knots it would
not be safe to calculate on her capacity for more than 1,000 tons of
freight: “in short, that the twenty-knot ship must be, virtually, a
passenger ship, and well subsidized.” The Canadian Government has not
been slow to back up private enterprise of this nature in the past,
and will doubtless continue to do so in the future. For reasons not
made public the _Canada_ was withdrawn from the St. Lawrence service
and placed on the route from Boston and Liverpool, where she has been
so successful that another vessel of the same class is being built for
that route. In the meantime other large vessels have been put on the
St. Lawrence route, the latest addition to the fleet being the _New
England_, having a tonnage of nearly 11,600 tons, fine accommodation
for a large number of passengers, and room for an enormous cargo.
THE BEAVER LINE.
This is an out-and-out Canadian enterprise, dating from 1867, under
the name of the “Canada Shipping Company, Limited,” when several
Montreal capitalists, among whom were the late William Murray and
Alexander Buntin, Messrs. Alexander Urquhart, John and Hugh Maclennan
and others, combined to originate a line of iron fast-sailing ships
to trade between Montreal and Liverpool. Having adopted for its
distinguishing flag the emblem of the Canadian beaver, the company soon
came to be popularly known as the Beaver Line, a line which, though
not remunerative to its originators and stockholders, is worthy of
honourable mention as having contributed in many ways to the interests
of Canadian trade and commerce. The company commenced with a very fine
fleet of five Clyde-built iron ships of from 900 to 1,274 tons each.
These were the _Lake Ontario_, the _Lake Erie_, the _Lake Michigan_,
the _Lake Huron_ and the _Lake Superior_. The ships were in themselves
all that could be desired. They were beautiful to look at, and made
swift voyages, but there was a necessary element of success wanting.
They did not pay. In fact, they began their short-lived career at the
time when the days of sailing ships were rapidly drawing to a close.
The important question of steam _versus_ sails had been settled.
The Canada Shipping Company must therefore retire from the business
altogether or avail themselves of the advantages of steam power. They
decided upon making the experiment, and gave orders for the building
of steam vessels to supersede the sailing ships. In the meantime the
_Lake Michigan_ was lost at sea with all on board, adding another to
those mysterious disappearances, of which there have been so many
instances—gallant ships and noble sailors setting out on their voyage
buoyant with hope, reporting themselves at the last signal station as
“all well,” but never to be heard of any more.
[Illustration: ROYAL MAIL SS. “LAKE ONTARIO,” BEAVER LINE.]
[Illustration: CAPTAIN HOWARD CAMPBELL.]
The _Lake Huron_ was wrecked on Anticosti. The year 1875 saw the first
steamers of the Beaver Line afloat. They were the _Lake Champlain_,
_Lake Megantic_ and _Lake Nepigon_, snug little ships of about 2,200
tons each, such as would pass nowadays for cruising steam yachts, but
much too small for cargo ships on the Atlantic, to say nothing of the
passenger business. The _Lake Manitoba_ and _Lake Winnipeg_, of larger
size and higher speed, were added in 1879, followed by the _Lake Huron_
and the _Lake Superior_. The last-named is a fine ship of 4,562 tons,
and credited with thirteen knots an hour. It was not long before three
of the steamers came to grief. The _Lake Megantic_ was wrecked on
Anticosti in July, 1878; the _Lake Manitoba_, on St. Pierre Island, in
the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in June, 1885; the _Lake Champlain_, stranded
on the north coast of Ireland in June, 1886. To keep up the weekly
line, the _Lake Ontario_, built at Sunderland in 1887, was purchased
at a cost of nearly $300,000. She is a vessel of about 4,500 tons,
with midship saloon, triple expansion engines, and a maximum speed of
thirteen knots. She is an excellent sea boat, with good accommodation
for one hundred cabin passengers. The ships of this line all carry
live cattle, sheep and horses, for which they are well adapted. The
Beaver Line led the way towards the reduction of transatlantic cabin
passage rates on the St. Lawrence route. It also introduced the custom
of embarking and landing passengers at Montreal instead of Quebec as
formerly. Unfortunately the line had not been a success financially. In
the winter of 1895 the boats were all tied up, the company went into
liquidation, and the entire fleet was sold at a nominal price to the
bondholders. During the following winter, however, the ships of this
line maintained a weekly service from Liverpool to St. John, N. B.,
receiving from the Canadian Government a subsidy of $25,000, and in
1897 the Beaver Line was awarded the contract for carrying the Canadian
mails, to be landed at Halifax in the winter months. The annual subsidy
for this service is understood to be $146,000. This arrangement,
however, is necessarily of a temporary nature, pending the development
of the long-expected “fast service.” In the meantime the Beaver Line
has added to its fleet the fine SS. _Gallia_, of the Cunard Line, and
the _Tongariro_, of 4,163 tons, formerly belonging to the New Zealand
Shipping Company. The service has thus far been satisfactory.
Captain Howard Campbell, of the SS. _Lake Ontario_, died very suddenly
on Sunday morning, April 3rd, 1898. The second day out from Halifax
towards Liverpool, he went on the bridge, sextant in hand, intending
to take an observation. While in the act of doing so he fell into the
arms of a quarter-master and died instantly. Captain Campbell had been
long connected with the Beaver Line. He was widely known as a skilful
mariner and a genial and accomplished man. He was born at St. Andrews,
N. B., and was fifty-four years of age.
* * * * *
There are a number of other lines of steamships plying regularly
from Montreal in summer and from different Atlantic ports in winter.
They are chiefly cargo and cattle ships, with limited accommodation
for passengers. Among these are the Donaldson Line, with five ships
of from 2,000 to 4,272 tons, giving a weekly service to Glasgow and
Bristol; the Thomson Line, with seven ships to London, Newcastle and
Antwerp. The Johnston Line has regular sailings to Liverpool. The
Ulster Steamship Company, or “Head Line,” has five ships running to
Belfast and Dublin fortnightly. The Elder, Dempster Line has a fleet of
sixteen large freight steamers, ranging from 4,500 to 12,000 tons each.
Some of them are fitted with cold storage, and all of them have the
modern improvements for carrying live stock and grain; they maintain
a regular weekly service to London and to Bristol.[35] The Hansa St.
Lawrence Line plies to Hamburg and Antwerp; the Furness Line to Antwerp
and Dunkirk, and also to Manchester.[36] The Quebec Steamship Company
has regular communication with Pictou, N. S., by the fine upper saloon
steamship _Campana_, of 1,700 tons. The Black Diamond Line has five
ships of from 1,500 to 2,500 tons each, plying regularly in the coal
trade from Montreal to Sydney, Cape Breton, Charlottetown, P. E. I.,
and Newfoundland.
The export trade in live stock, which commenced here in 1874 with only
455 head of cattle, has now assumed large proportions. In 1897 there
were shipped from Montreal 119,188 head of cattle, 12,179 horses and
66,319 sheep, valued in all at about $8,700,750. The cattle were valued
at $60 a head, the horses at $100, and the sheep at $5.00 each. The
ocean freight on cattle was $10 per head, and on sheep $1.00 each.[37]
CANADIAN FAST ATLANTIC SERVICE.
Ever since the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1885, the
idea of instituting a fast service between Great Britain and the St.
Lawrence has been regarded with yearly increasing favour. Now it is
regarded as a necessary link in the chain that binds the colony to the
Mother Land, and indispensable if this route is to become Britain’s
highway to the East.
As early as 1887 the Canadian Government advertised for tenders for a
line of Atlantic mail steamers to have an average speed of 20 knots an
hour, coupled with the condition that they should touch at some French
port. The Allans, who at that time deemed a 20-knot service unsuited
to the St. Lawrence route, offered to supply a weekly service with a
guaranteed average speed of 17 knots, for an annual subsidy of $500,000
on a ten years’ contract. That offer was declined. About the same time
the English firm of Anderson, Anderson & Co. offered to provide a line
of vessels “capable of running 20 knots” for the same subsidy. This
dubious offer was accepted provisionally by the Canadian Government,
but it was eventually fallen from. Two years later another abortive
attempt was made, when the Government of the day voted $750,000 as
an annual subsidy for a 20-knot service; but nothing resulted. In
1894 Mr. James Huddart, of Sydney, N. S. W. (the contractor for the
Vancouver-Australian Line of steamers), entered into an agreement
with the Dominion Government for a weekly 20-knot service for said
amount of $750,000 per annum. For reasons that need not be explained,
this proposal also fell through. In 1896 the Allans were said to have
tendered for a 20-knot service on the basis of a subsidy of $1,125,000,
but the offer was declined owing to some informalities.
In view of so many failures it is scarcely safe to affirm that the
fast service is now assured. In May, 1897, however, it was officially
announced by the Canadian Government that a contract had been entered
into, with the approval of the British Government, whereby Messrs.
Peterson, Tate & Co., of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, agreed to furnish a
weekly service with a guaranteed speed of at least 500 knots a day. The
contractors are to provide four steamers of not less than 520 feet in
length, with a draft of water not exceeding 25 feet 6 inches. The ships
are to be not less than 10,000 tons register, fitted to carry from
1,500 to 2,000 tons of cargo, with suitable cold storage accommodation
for at least 500 tons. They are to be equal in all respects to the best
Atlantic steamships afloat, such as the _Campania_ and _Lucania_, with
accommodation for not less than 300 first-class, 200 second-class and
800 steerage passengers. The annual subsidy is to be $750,000, whereof
the Canadian Government is to pay $500,000 and the British Government
$250,000. The steamers are not to call at any foreign port, and the
company is forbidden to accept a subsidy from any foreign country. The
mails are to be carried free. The termini of the line will be Liverpool
and Quebec during summer, the ships proceeding to Montreal if and
when the navigation permits. In winter the Canadian terminus will be
Halifax or St. John, N. B., at the option of the contractors, who are
to provide a 22-knot tender of the torpedo type to meet each steamer
on her approach to the Canadian coast when required, and pilot her to
her destination. The contractors must deposit £10,000 in cash, and a
guarantee of £10,000 additional, with the Minister of Finance of Canada
as security that the contract will be faithfully carried into effect.
Twelve months having passed since the signing of the contract, without
any substantial progress having been made towards its fulfilment, a
new agreement was entered into in April last whereby the Government
granted Messrs. Peterson and Tate an extension of time, and introduced
several important changes into the contract. Under the new arrangement
the contractors were required to have a steamship company incorporated
by May 30th, 1898, with a substantial capital of $6,250,000, to have
contracts signed with ship-builders at that date for four steamships,
and to have two of them actually under construction. The 1st of May,
1900, was named as the time when the four steamers are to be ready to
go on the route and commence a regular weekly service. The preliminary
conditions attached to the contract appear to have been complied with,
and a company has been incorporated under the name of the “Canadian
Royal Mail Steamship Company, Limited;” but grave fears are entertained
that the necessary funds may not be forthcoming, and that the
long-expected fast service may be indefinitely delayed.
Sir Sandford Fleming, who has made a study of this subject, and
published his opinions respecting it in a series of pamphlets, is
not sanguine as to the success of the undertaking. “The conditions
imposed by nature,” he says, “are unfavourable for rapid transit by
the St. Lawrence route, and any attempts to establish on this route a
line of fast transatlantic steamships to rival those running to and
from New York would result in disappointment.” In the event of such a
service being instituted, Sir Sandford assumes that it would be almost
exclusively for the use of passengers, and suggests that the route
should be from Loch Ryan, on the Wigtonshire coast of Scotland, to
North Sydney, in Cape Breton. The distance between these points being
only 2,160 knots, the voyage might be made in 4½ days, while 30 hours
more would land mails and passengers in Montreal by railway. In this
way the average time from London to Montreal would be reduced to 6
days and 6 hours—36 hours less than the time usually occupied between
Montreal and London _via_ New York and Queenstown.
“In connection with the ocean service there might also be a line of
fast light-draught steamers to run to and from Montreal to Sydney and
the Gulf ports. In this way the people of the Maritime Provinces,
including Newfoundland, would share in the benefits to be derived from
the fast ocean service equally with those of Quebec and Ontario.” Sir
Sandford’s idea is to have the fastest ocean ship on the shortest ocean
passage, and by all means to avoid the Straits of Belle Isle, “the
saving of a few hours being insufficient to counterpoise the tremendous
risks to which fast passenger steamships, in navigating the Belle Isle
route, would so seriously and frequently be exposed.” It is claimed
that if this plan were adopted three ocean steamers would suffice
instead of four. Reference to the accompanying sketch-map, showing
the relative positions of Sydney, Newfoundland, and the Straits of
Belle Isle, with the existing lines of railway, will help to make Sir
Sandford’s proposal clear.
Among other proposals, an English syndicate recently offered to furnish
a 24-knot service between Milford-Haven, on the coast of Wales, and a
port in Nova Scotia, representing to the British Government that they
would be able to carry troops across the Atlantic in four days, and
land them in Victoria in six days more. But the 24-knot steamship has
not yet been launched.
[Illustration: MAP OF THE GULF OF ST. LAWRENCE AND NORTH ATLANTIC PORTS.
(Kindly furnished by Sir Sandford Fleming.)]
Sir Sandford Fleming, K. C. M. G., LL. D., C. E., is one of Canada’s
most eminent civil engineers. He was born at Kirkcaldy, Fifeshire,
Scotland, January 7th, 1827, came to Canada at the age of eighteen, and
has ever since been identified with the progress and development of the
country. He was on the engineering staff of the Northern Railway from
1852 to 1863, and for the latter half of that time was chief engineer
of the work. He was chief engineer of the Intercolonial Railway, and
carried it through to a successful completion in 1876. In 1871 he was
appointed engineer-in-chief of the Canadian Pacific Railway; he retired
from that position in 1880 and was subsequently elected a director of
the company. He received the freedom of the Royal Burgh of Kirkcaldy
and the degree of LL. D. from the University of St. Andrews in 1884:
was appointed to represent Canada at the International Prime Meridian
Conference in Washington in 1884: at the Colonial Conference, London,
in 1887, at the Colonial Conference in Ottawa, in 1894, and at the
Imperial Cable Conference in London, in 1896. Sir Sandford has been
Chancellor of Queen’s University at Kingston since 1880. He is the
author of numerous scientific and other publications, is an active
member of the Royal Colonial Institute of London, and on the occasion
of Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee was accorded the honour of knighthood.
* * * * *
The conflicting rumours, which for many months have been in
circulation as to the inability of Messrs. Peterson, Tate & Company to
fulfil the terms of their agreement, have finally been set at rest by
the cancelling of the contract, and the Canadian Government calling for
tenders for a weekly steamship service for carrying Her Majesty’s mails
for a period of two years from the 1st of May, 1899, from Montreal and
Quebec to Liverpool, during the summer months, and from St. John, N.
B., and Halifax in winter. The time occupied in making the voyage from
Rimouski to Moville and _vice versa_, is not to exceed an average of
seven days. This is clearly a temporary arrangement and not an implied
abandonment of a faster service than already exists. The opinion,
however, in business circles seems to be gaining ground that something
much less costly than a twenty-knot service might for some years to
come meet the requirements of the country.
FOOTNOTES:
[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.