Steam Navigation and Its Relation to the Commerce of Canada and the United States

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Title: Steam Navigation and Its Relation to the Commerce of Canada and the United States

Author: James Croil

Release Date: February 10, 2019 [eBook #58849]

Language: English

Character set encoding: UTF-8

***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STEAM NAVIGATION AND ITS RELATION TO THE COMMERCE OF CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES***

E-text prepared by
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the Philatelic Digital Library Project
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and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
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STEAM NAVIGATION.

---

Steam Navigation
AND
ITS RELATION TO THE COMMERCE
OF CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES.

BY

James Croil,

MONTREAL.

Author of “Dundas: A Sketch of Canadian History.”

With Illustrations and Portraits.

TORONTO:
WILLIAM BRIGGS.
MONTREAL: THE MONTREAL NEWS COMPANY, Limited
1898.

[Pg ix]

WHEN the history of the nineteenth century comes to be written, notthe least interesting chapter of it will be that which treats of theorigin, the development, and the triumphs of Steam Navigation—thatmighty combination of inventive genius and mechanical force that hasbridged the oceans and brought the ends of the earth together.

During the past few years several important contributions to thisclass of literature have issued from the metropolitan press. Three ofthese deserve special mention: (1) “The Atlantic Ferry; its Ships,Men, and Working,” by Arthur J. Maginnis, gold medallist and member ofthe Institution of Naval Architects, 1892; (2) “Our Ocean Railways,or the Rise, Progress, and Development of Ocean Steam Navigation,” byA. Fraser-Macdonald, 1893; (3) “The History of North Atlantic SteamNavigation, with Some Account of Early Ships and Shipowners,” by HenryFry, ex-President of Dominion Board of Trade of Canada and Lloyd’sAgent at Quebec, 1896. Each of these writers, in his own way, hastreated the subject so thoroughly and satisfactorily, the author feels[Pg x]as though the wind had been taken out of his sails somewhat, and it isnot without hesitation that he has yielded to the advice of friends inwhose judgment he has implicit confidence, and ventured to follow inthe wake of such accomplished writers.

If I am questioned as to motif I cannot better justify the rash deedthan by endorsing the sentiment in Byron’s apostrophe:

These pages are of a much less pretentious character than theabove-named books. They are but a compilation of materials more orless intimately connected with Steam Navigation, gathered from manysources, during many years, and now woven into homely narrative. Theynecessarily contain much in common with these other writings on thissubject, but they are projected from a different standpoint and embracea wider field, supplying information not easily obtained, respectingthe far-reaching waterways of Canada, her magnificent ship canals, andthe vast steam commerce of the Great Lakes.

So numerous are the sources of information drawn upon, it is impossibleto make adequate acknowledgment of them all. The agents of Atlanticlines of steamships were particularly obliging in their replies to[Pg xi]inquiries made of them. Without in any way making them responsible forthe use made of their communications, upon these my remarks on thatbranch of the subject are chiefly based. Among other publications Ihave consulted the “Transactions of the Imperial Institute,” London,and of the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec; Governmentreports emanating from Ottawa and Washington; also many pamphlets,magazine and newspaper articles bearing on the subject, not to speak ofmy capacious scrap-book and some well-thumbed note-books.

Additional authorities will be indicated as the narrative proceeds.Besides these, grateful acknowledgments for valuable assistance aredue to Sir Sandford Fleming and Mr. George Johnson, F.S.S., of Ottawa;to Messrs. Douglas Battersby, R. W. Shepherd, and the late CaptainThomas Howard, of Montreal; to Mr. Archibald Campbell, of Quebec;Captain Clarke Hamilton, of Kingston; Mrs. Holden, of Port Dover, Ont.,and Mr. T. M. Henderson, of Victoria, B.C.; to members of the Boardsof Trade in Montreal, Minneapolis and Duluth; and to the followingclergymen: Rev. Dr. Bruce, of St. John, N.B.; Rev. T. F. Fullerton, ofCharlottetown. P.E.I.; Rev. James Bennett, of L’Orignal, Ont., and Rev.W. H. L. Howard, of Fort William, Ont.

The illustrations have nearly all been made for this work: thewood-cuts by Mr. J. H. Walker, and the half-tones by the StandardPhoto-Engraving Company, Montreal.

J. C.

Montreal, October, 1898.

[Pg xii]

CONTENTS.

[Pg xiii]

ILLUSTRATIONS.