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VOL. 4 MAY 1955 NO. R. H. Davison, J.F,. Johnston, PUBLISHED BY Associate Editor Editor: G reat L a k e s M o d e l S hipbuilders' G u il d Membership $3*00 BKLLK ISLE DETROIT 7, MICHIGAN Subscription $2.50 Supported in part by the Detroit Historical Society. EDITORIAL NOW IS THE TIME . . .

n o w is t h e t i m e , to take steps to pre­ Now is the time to act. The period serve an important part of our great of usefulness of the schooner "Wing" American heritage. New England has is drawing to a close. There will be its Peabody Museum, in Salem; a fine no advantage in waiting until it is whaling museum at New Bedford; and a necessary to move the exhibits into restoration of a whole historic sea­ another temporary home, even if one port at Mystic,Connecticut.They are should be available when needed. The monuments to the the men who, in the cost of moving a second time will be past, made their communities great. a needless expense, running into the On down the Atlantic Coast, as far thousands when loss of revenue^haul­ as Newport News, Virginia, maritime ing costs, and extra help is includ­ museums, long ago established, are a ed. perpetual reminder of America s past Everyone can help with this unique and present achievements on the seas and worth while project,acting as an of the world. No one who has visited individual, or through whatever or­ one or more of them will deny that a ganization they are affiliated with. greater appreciation of America and If you feel that you would like to its free institutions followed that have a part in preserving the fasci­ experience. nation history of water transporta­ We of the Great Lakes region shall tion on the Great Lakes and their regret our failure to take advantage tributaries, just drop a line to the of the present opportunity to devel- Secretary of the Guild, stating your ope into a permanent maritime museum name and address, your line of busi­ the very creditable collection which ness, or occupation, and list all of has been brought together in the old the organizations in which you hold wooden, and therefore obviously tem­ membership. You will be supplied at porary, sailing ship "J.T.Wing",last once with suggestions as to how you of her kind on these waters. may help. With each suggestion there On the other hand we may take much will be an explanation of how advan­ pride in being the ones who, by tak­ tages to your own community will re­ ing action at the right time, and in sult from its participation. the proper manner, have preserved an If you live in the Great Lakes re­ important cultural asset. gion this is your museum. THE GUILD ORGANIZED IN 1952 TO LOCATE. ACQUIRE. AND PRESERVE INFORMATION AND OBJECTS RELATED TO THE HISTORY OF SHIPPING ON THE GREAT LAKES AND TO MAKE SAME AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC THROUGH THE MUSEUM OF GREAT LAKES HISTORY AND THE COLUMNS OF TELESCOPE. THE CONSTRUCTION OF AUTHENTIC SCALE MODELS OF GREAT LAKES SHIPS IS ONE OF THE PRIME OBJECTIVES OF THE ORGANIZATION. WHICH HAS BROUGHT INTO BEING THE LARGEST EXISTING COLLECTION OF MODELS OF THESE SHIPS. THE MUSEUM OF GREAT LAKES HISTORY. LOCATED ON THE SHORE OF BELLE ISLE. IN DETROIT. IS OFFICIAL HEADQUARTERS FOR THE ORGANIZATION AND THE REPOSITORY OF ALL OF ITS HOLDINGS. THE GUILD IS INCORPORATED AS AN ORGANIZATION FOR NO PROFIT UNDER THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN. NO MEMBER RECEIVES ANY COMPENSATION FOR HIS SERVICES. DONATIONS TO THE GUILD ARE DEDUCTIBLE FOR TAX INCOME PURPOSES. OFFICERS

Robert H.Davison,••••President. John F.Miller,•••Vice President. Joseph E.Johnston,Sec-Treas. DIRECTORS

£*?uh1’...... Detroit. Walter Massey,..LaSalle,Ontario. John K. Helge sen, Detroit. Leo M.Flagler, • .Windsor. Ontario. Frank Slyker,••••.East Detroit. Donn Chown,•••••••••....Detroit. 3

THE LAKE ERIE NIGHT STEAMERS OF FRANK KIRBY

by Gordon P. Bugbee

I. The Influence of Historical Circumstance Upon Design,

Of the types of modern ship­ paddlewheel and the steamer to­ ping that owe ancestry t o gether became discredited ana­ Fulton’s historic ’’North River chronisms by fashion. Further­ Steamboat” of 1807, the Ameri­ more, the steamer reached its can steamer o f the Eastern peak development in the late lakes, rivers and sounds seems XIX and early XX Centuries and least removed from its grand­ now represents a technological parent. A principal reason is dead end, superseded by modern that the steamer was developed land and air transportation. on the same sheltered waterways Yet the implication of ana­ where pioneer steam craft were chronism may be somewhat decep­ first developed and strengthen­ tive, concealing the structural ed before steam ventured t o and technological advances that sea. Again, throughout their were required for the success­ development the great steamers ful development of the steamer. retained the paddle wheel pro­ pulsion used b y the steam The American steamer was de­ pioneers; f o r adaptation to signed to carry a large volume heavy seas Ericsson's propeller of passengers and freight ef­ replaced the paddle wheel on ficiently over a relatively the ocean and coastal routes, short route generally sheltered and since the ocean liner is from open sea. A group of re­ now the idolized epitome o f gional types evolved from the modernism afloat, emulated even original CLERMONT according to by the lowly harbor ferry, the required seaworthiness a n d b

C ity o f A l p e na n 1 8 8 3

function, economic justifica­ when she joined the Detroit and tion, skill of the designer and Cleveland Navigation Company in historical circumstance. A pa­ 1868. Fifty years later, re­ latial building could be placed gional variances were obvious, on a shallow raft to form the and the Goodrich p r o peller "steamboat" of western rivers ALABAMA of 1910 could hardly be (the distinction between compared to the D&C sidewheeler "steamboat" and the "steamer" CITY OF DETROIT III of 1912, in is thus both geographical and spite of their common lineage, structural). The steamer con­ and the latter i n turn was formed more closely to a ship's easily distinguished from Long lines. The sleek vessels of Island Sound sidewheelers. The the Hudson represent a n ad­ famous Fall River liners of vanced art in interpretation of Long Island Sound a n d t h e the adaptation of style to fun­ steamers of the Lake Erie over­ ction and materials, but the night lines never abandoned the more ponderous coastal steamers paddle wheel,and hence retained are no less a careful work o f the broad sponsons protruding craftsmanship. Until the ad­ from the sides of the ship to vent of the propeller the early enclose t h e paddle wheels. steamers were somewhat stand­ Many long Island Sound and ardized and regionally inter­ Chesapeake Bay lines adopted changeable. The Lake Michigan the propeller before the turn Goodrich liner NORTHWEST was of the century, retaining nar­ not out of place on Lake Erie rower sponsons f o r their spatial advantages. The dis­ Reputation was likely to spread tinctive turbine ships of the a designer's direct and in­ Eastern Steamship Lines fol­ direct influence to other re­ lowed on Long Island Sound in gions; Newton built a number the present century. Coastal of glorious Lake Erie side­ craft o f fleets like Lake wheelers whose short existence Michigan's Goodrich Line and was terminated abruptly by the the East Coast's Merchants and * Panic of 1857 and Lake Erie Miners Transportation Company, never saw ships of equal size operating in less sheltered again until late in the century. waters, abandoned both paddle George Peirce created the Fall wheel and sponsons which were River liners of the late Nine­ easily damaged in heavy s eas teenth Century as examples in­ impractical where the volume of fluencing other regions f r om trade was not so heavy. Chesapeake Bay to the Lakes. Frank E. Kirby emerged in the In several instances a sin­ Twentieth Century as the ne w gle designer or shipbuilder leader in steamer design, and directed a period of regional perhaps the final culrainator in evolution. Overlooking t h e view of the changing economic originators Fulton, Livingston trends. The reverse of Newton, and Stevens who were more pre­ Kirby's career began on Lake occupied with engineering, the Erie and extended later to the most prominent of the early de­ Hudson. signers and perhaps the man who defined the steamer in appear­ A series of fortunate coin­ ance and form was Isaac Newton, cidences seem to direct Kirby's designer of the grand Hudson early career. Perhaps the first River steamers of mid-century. was his birth, July 1, 1849, BUFFALO built at Lorain and into t h e family of Captain finished at Detroit. The main Stephen R. Kirby, a Saginaw product of iron ore carriers shipmaster who turned ship­ which form the lifeline of the builder and eventually directed steel industry. After the mer­ the old Detroit Dry Dock Compa­ ger of 1898, Kirby left the ny. A family friend from New shipbuilding field a n d prac­ York City persuaded the younger ticed as a consultant naval ar­ Kirby to go east to study naval chitect during the height of architecture at the Cooper Ins­ his career. titute Night School there in 1864, and introduced him to the Outside of his passenger contemporary shipping and ship­ ships, Kirby has many accomp­ building leaders. Such a con­ lishments in naval architecture. tact with a prominent marine In 1888, he introduced the bow designer brought Kirby an un­ propeller now standard on ice­ expected job opportunity at the breakers, sucking water from venerable Allaire Works as a beneath the ice to cave it in draftsman, one day before he more easily. He built a number was supposed to ship out as an of significant icebreakers in­ oiler aboard a ship bound for cluding t h e trainferry- the Far East. An accidental icebreakers of the Straits of bout with rheumatism sent Kirby Mackinac and several icebreakers home to consult a Detroit phy­ commissioned b y the Russian sician in 1870. On the train Government. He also designed home to Saginaw he was intro­ numerous ore carriers and many duced to a passenger, the Civil of the earlier railroad car­ War Era industrialist Eber Ward, ferries of Lake Michigan. H e who suggested t o Kirby the supervised procurement of tran­ future of iron shipbuilding. sports from Merchant Marine Out of this chance meeting grew sources during the Spanish- the shipyard on the lower Det­ American War, and later drew up roit River a t Wyandotte ad­ the revised government inspec­ jacent to iron mills owned by tion and safety code after the Ward. These yards soon became GENERAL SLOCUM disaster of 1904. affiliated with the Detroit Dry Dock Company and later merged A listing of passenger ves­ as the Detroit Shipbuilding sels designed by Kirby would Company, so that the hulls and recall come of the finest ves­ essential structural works were sels that have sailed the Great built at Wyandotte and the un­ Lakes and the Hudson River. The finished ships were towed up­ designer has thus been entrust­ river to Detroit for joiner ed with the summation and final work and machinery installation. development of regional types This company joined several in these important areas. The others i n 1898 in a merger sleek white gliders o f the producing the present giant of Hudson River Day Line are per­ Lake shipbuilding, the American haps h i s most widely known Shipbuilding C o m p a n y,which works, built i n the finest concentrated i t s yards a t years of that line. His famil­ Cleveland and Lorain, Ohio, and iarity with the Day Line dates the Wyandotte and Detroit yards back t o his student days in were discontinued after World New York and i s evident in his War I. The Wyandotte-Detroit development of the sidewheelers yards produced all of Kirby*s of Detroit*s White Star Line major lake steamers b u t the including the beautiful TASHMOO GREAT DETROIT a n d GREATER of 1900, his first ship to a- 7 dopt the newer, lower, inclined latively free of the powerful compound engines later general­ active tradition that defined ly used. To produce the large his Day Liners. It was v i r- Day Liner HENDRICK HUDSON of tually his influence that re­ 1906, perhaps his first promi­ invigorated the sidewheeler on nent work, Kirby combined the Lake Erie and resisted the in­ Day Line traditions embodied in roads of the propeller steamer. the earlier ALBANY and NEW YORK Only on Lake Ontario and the with his own TASHMOO to produce St. Lawrence River, largely in a new type of ship which defined the fleet of the Richelieu and the Day Liners to come there­ Ontario Navigation Company, was after, including his larger the sidewheeler to produce a WASHINGTON IRVING of 1913 and significant development else­ J.W.Millard’s smaller ALEXANDER where on the Lakes. In a half- HAMILTON of 1922. Kirby’s century, Kirby produced a sin­ smaller ROBERT FULTON of 1909, gular strain which did n o t built around the beam engines merely emulate t h e grand removed from the burned NEW steamers of the East Coast, but YORK, is strongly reminiscent actively assumed the leader­ of the earlier Day Liners, and ship of steamer development in remains today both the last the last decade before the ge- operating walking -beam-engine neology of the steamer was excursion steamer and Kirby’s abruptly concluded. last surviving Hudson River vessel. A distinctive class of The tradition began when short, stubby, single-stacked Kirby built the small composite propeller excursion steamers steamer CITY OF DETROIT I f or grew out o f the Detroit & the venerable Detroit & Windsor Ferry Company ferry Cleveland Navigation Company, steamers, developing in their the first of a long line of Bob-Lo excursion steamers ’’City” names and the first PLEASURE and PROMISE of 1892 built for that company after and 1894, COLUMBIA of 1902 and its 1868 incorporation. Since BRITANNIA of 1906, compromising the Detroit-Cleveland service with his TASHMOO somewhat un­ was established in 1850, the successfully in the White Star line had chartered privately- Line’s WAUKETA of 1909 and cul­ owned ships which were pur­ minating in the beautiful Ash­ chased after incorporation, so ley & Dustin liner Put-in-Bay that the fleet had received no of 1911 - Kirby's finest pro­ distinctive direction u p to peller steamer. that time. CITY OF DETROIT I and the four ships that fol­ Most important, however, is lowed in the next decade were Kirby’s half-century influence squarish and ungraceful, al­ in directing the evolution of a though powerful in appearance significant type of sidewheel with square pilot houses and steamer for overnight service two funnels side-by-side. CITY between ports on Lake Erie. OF CLEVELAND I of 1880 (later The Eastern breed of sidewheel CITY OF ALPENA I) and the iron night steamers which Newton and hulled CITY OF MACKINAC I o f others had engineered on the 1883 opened the D & C Lines, Lakes had almost become extinct Lake Huron services to Mackinac on Lake Erie and was largely Island, and renamed STATE 0 F supplanted by a distinctive OHIO and STATE OF NEW YORK type of propeller craft else­ respectively. They later formed where on the Lakes by Kirby’s the nucleus from which grew the time. As a result, he was re­ Cleveland and Buffalo Transit See page 10 8

The great fireplace,"City of Cleveland III". Note the vast height of the ceiling."City of Cleveland III". 10

year-old Kirby declared at her upkeep and survival. Unlike launching that he would never monuments ashore, the steamer build a bigger ship, and the is a frail structure, suscep­ war years soon reinforced his tible to rot, rust and vanda­ vow. Challengers to SEEANDBEE1s lism when neglected. Its steel title were projected; the grand hull may find temporary employ­ ship, herself, needed a consort ment as a barge, but eventually for her run, and an East Coast it will be redeemed in scrap line reportedly planned a five- metal. Frank E. Kirby died in stacked sidewheeler with two New York on August 26, 1929, at pairs o f paddle wheels which the age of eighty years, h i s could hardly be surpassed by health broken by work on his anything conceiveable. B u t last two ships. Since then, after t h e war, Kirby again his works have demonstrated whisked the title back to the their own mortality. Kirby's D&C Line when he built the twin work has generally survived sidewheelers GREATER BUFFALO other steamers elsewhere, but and GREATER DETROIT in 1924. economic, political and physi­ Originally planned as turbine- cal crises have removed his driven propeller steamers with major vessels. The Cleveland an added passenger deck com­ and Buffalo Transit Company pensating for lost beam, the went under in the late thirties, two steamers returned to more shortly before war transporta­ conventional form, reportedly tion cramps might have re­ because J. P. Wells, then D & C suscitated it. The SEEANDBEE Superintendent of Engineering, survived as a cruise ship, but objected to retraining his en­ she and GREATER BUFFALO were gine room crews to propeller requisitioned by the Navy for operations. Although each ship conversion to the training air­ had four stack casings, the two craft carriers U.S.S. WOLVER­ center ones were merged into a INE and U.S.S. SABLE, respec­ single funnel so that the three- tively, a n d were broken u p stacked ships intentionally re­ after the war when no longer versed the funnel race and SEE­ needed. CITY OF CLEVELAND III ANDBEE kept that much of her was mortally wrecked in Lake title. Although they were much Huron fog in 1950, and idly larger and costlier, built at lingered in a serai-abandoned $3,500,000 apiece, t h e t w o state for four years until she ships were somewhat tamer than burned during conversion to a their magnificent predecessors, barge. Wounded by a complexity and never seemed to draw as of circumstances which struck much admiration in consequence. especially hard in the 1950 Yet, for all their businesslike season, the venerable Detroit & appearance they possess a touch Cleveland Navigation Company*s of modernity originating in the four surviving steamers retired SEEANDBEE that suggests a new into a prolonged winter layup further development o f t h e at Detroit a t season*s end, steamer which - i f planned - 1950. Although the "winter” never left the drawing boards. had already drawn o u t four years, optimistic watchers of Even the most monumental the river study the idle fleet steamer is merely an economic and their thoughts seem to in­ creation whose existence i s quire in Shelley*s words, "if possible only when it can pro­ winter comes, can Spring be far vide profitable service to its behind?" owners , and its beauty alone does not seem to justify its 11

Company in 1893. The larger could easily have capped the CITY OF CLEVELAND II of 1886 Lake Erie evolution prematurely, and CITY OF DETROIT II of 1889 just as regional evolutions were the first Lake ships with elsewhere were culminating. two passenger decks above the Perhaps it seems inconceiveable main deck, and hence the first that Lake Erie could later jus­ on the Lakes with galleried tify the use of larger ships grand salons. than those in service between the large population centers of A transitional phase begins the East, but it is true by somewhat indefinably with the historical and economic circum­ steel-hulled sisters CITY OF stances. In those days, the ALPENA II and C U T OF MACKINAC steamer was no longer a re­ II of 1893, which differed gional transportation monopo­ little from their immediate list serving isolated, depen­ predecessors except for their dent ports as a lifeline, since single funnel and rounded pilot the railroads had fully inte­ house, but they established a grated the Midwest, but the prototype in appearance a n d steamer could coexist competi­ spatial arrangement that lasted tively with the railroad, then a decade while the first ves­ the sole means of long-distance sels of significant size began land transportation. The pas­ to appear. Two larger vessels senger trade was brisk; old were built for the new Cleveland timers recall sleeping on deck & Buffalo Transit Company. The many times when they failed to CITY OF BUFFALO of 1896 (later reserve a berth, and a travel­ lengthened a n d enlarged in ler desiring privacy had t o 1904) and the CITY OF ERIE of buy both berths to avoid sharing 1898, made famous by her 100 his room with a stranger. Thus mile race with the TASHMOO in the steamer was built on a 1901, which she won b y 45 solid economic base, and was seconds. The 3077 ton twins not an impractical extravaganza EASTERN STATES a n d WESTERN as might be suggested by its STATES of the Detroit and Buf­ lavish public rooms and salons falo Steamboat Company r e - which concealed a most effi­ opened t h e long - dor mant cient use of space in small, Detroit-Buffalo overnight route compact staterooms extending in 1902. Although distinctive out over the guard overhand so in appearance, these vessels conveniently provided by the were not especially significant paddle wheels. While the great on a national scale, for they steamers were being built, offered no radical statements however, a trend to more varied in engineering or design that transportation forms began to hadn’t been said elsewhere, and appear; supplementing the de- they were overshadowed still by pendebility of t h e railroad East Coast Developments. were the speed of the airplane and the independence of the With the completion of EAST­ automobile. Serving a fixed ERN STATES a n d WESTERN route determined less by in­ STATES in 1902, the Lake Erie tercity traffic patterns than fleets were well balanced, with by available waterways, the no major routes served by ships steamer was unable to adjust over fifteen years of age. Had itself in the long run, and not the demands of passenger declined from a regular form of traffic and prestige grown to transportation t o a diver­ justify the five b i g later sionary form of entertainment sidewheelers the t w o ships en route. The steamer builders 12 did not fail to see the direc­ two proposals, with most em­ tion of the trend; they took phasis o n t h e first. The automobiles into the cargo area Marine Review commented that while motorists relaxed above ■"'the new CITY OF CLEVELAND is a decks, and in 1929, the D & C big steamer, h e r launching Line actually projected a weight equalling that o f the Detroit-Cleveland seaplane ser­ WESTERN STATES a n d EASTERN vice that never materialized. STATES combined... She has so Instead they failed to compre­ many comforts and conveniences hend the magnitude of the shift aboard her that are not to be and the change in travel habits found on other Lake steamers that accompanied i t as the that it will not be surprising leisurely tempo o f pre-World if the D&C Company would have War I was left behind. Too, to build a duplicate in order they failed to see the short to satisfy the demands of the time dimension that would bring public." Although popularly about this change. A lake considered a sistership, the steamer is a fixed investment larger 472-foot CITY of worth fifty years of service, DETROIT III which came out in as opposed to the shorter life 1912 was exceedingly more la­ of trains, airplanes and auto­ vish and more refined than her mobiles, and hence it is more consort. Inheriting from the likely to be hit hard even by famed Fall River liners, the minor circumstances to which it title "largest sidewheeler in cannot adjust. The full cause the world", she was necessarily of the steamer’s demise is not grand as a standard of the na­ so simple as I have drawn it; tion in steamer design. The inflation and disproportionate three-stacked ship also s e t labor costs and a multitude of another standard, commencing other factors are involved, but the stack race for sidewheelers the declining appeal of t h e that corresponded to that of steamer to the travelling pub­ contemporary ocean liners. The lic is a broad basis for its two ships assumed the Detroit- troubles. Buffalo route together, th e D&C fleet having absorbed the The CITY OF CLEVELAND III of interests of the Detroit and 1908, first of five leviathans Buffalo Steamboat Company in differed so abruptly from her 1909, and the EASTERN STATES predecessors that she suggests and WESTERN STATES were relega­ a different designer. The ted to Detroit-Cleveland ser­ transition is filled by a set vice. If the new ship was in­ of proposed elevations of the tended as a standard for emula­ ship drawn by Kirby in 1905 and tion, it was not long before an now in the collection of the oversized fish took both bait Museum of Great Lakes History and fishing pole from the D&C in Detroit. One elevation shows Fleet. In 1913, Kirby completed an enlarged, sing le-stacked the 500-foot SEEANDBEE, a sidewheeler based on her pre­ four-funnelled version of CITY decessors yet suggesting the OF DETROIT III built for the radical spatial revision that Cleveland and Buffalo Transit characterized t h e later Company for her namesake route. steamers. The second shows a Although she hardly differed two-stacked propeller whose from CITY OF DETROIT III as clean lines are strongly re­ much as that ship differed from miniscent of the East Coast. her own immediate predecessor, The resulting ship would appear the C&B Line seemed to have the to be a modified blend of the last word, for the sixty-four- 13 The seaway will act as a magnet ADVANTAGES to bring new industry to the Milwau­ OF THE kee area because exporters shipping ST. LAWRENCE SEAWAY abroad or importers relying on im­ port raw material will seek the most By advantageous locations. Waterfront sites, both for industrial and term­ H. C. Brockel, inal purposes, will be in demand, Municipal Port Director, with a corresponding enhancement of Milwaukee, Wis. land values in Milwaukee and other port cities. The building of the St, Lawrence The construction of the St. Law­ Seaway project by the governments of rence Seaway and Power projects the United States and Canada, sched­ will, in themselves, be a consider­ able stimulant to Milwaukee indus­ uled for completion in 1959* has try. It is noteworthy that the first sent a surge of optimism not only contract awarded for railroad con­ through the Great Lakes region but throughout the Middle West, lake struction in connection with the ports and inland cities alike are power project was awarded to a Mil­ trying to appraise the economic im­ waukee firm. Allis-Chalmers has just pact of the seaway project upon the received an award in excess of 5 region and upon their individual million dollars for turbines for the power project. Milwaukee construct­ communities. Milwaukee as a lake ion firms are expected to bid on the port of considerable stature, and as a great industrial community, is ex­ large phases of the construction of the navigation and power projects. pected to reap many benefits from Heavy machinery and earth-moving eq­ the seaway through increased ship­ uipment will probably be well-rep­ ping, enlarged foreign trade, expan­ resented. The power project will be sion of industry, and growth of pop­ one of the largest in the world, and ulation. Milwaukee firms will undoubtedly The U. S. Department of Commerce participate substantially in the eq­ and the Canadian Government estimate uipping of the great power stations. that the St. Lawrence route, when The project will open a new chap­ fully developed and utilized, will ter in Wisconsin banking history, move from 50 to 80 million tons of with considerable expansion of for­ mow waterborne commerce per year. It eign trade financing here and thr­ is estimated by both governments oughout the Middle West. The seaway that from 50 to 60 million tons will will mean new foreign trade oppor­ consist of iron ore, grain, and tunity for Milwaukee and Wisconsin other bulk traffic, but that more industry and new markets for Wiscon­ than 10 million tons per year will sin grain, dairy goods, and farm consist of high-grade, high-value produce. general cargo. The iron ore will With a well-established port dev- naturally move to the steel-produc­ elopement and with ample room for ing centers, but the valuable gener­ growth, Milwaukee will become the al cargo will be attracted to large gateway through which will flow much commercial and industrial centers of the foreign commerce of the Mid­ and to the best developed ports of west. Milwaukee is generally recog­ the Great Lakes region. Milwaukee nized in shipping circles as having will be a prime beneficiary of the the most modern port facilities and seaway project. handling equipment in the Great A substantial new commerce in Lakes area, and steamship lines and terms of general cargo will move shippers will utilize this well- through the Port of Milwaukee, with equipped gateway. Beyond doubt, Mil­ added business for railroads, truck waukee will be one of the principle lines, stevedores, warehousemen, gateway ports to serve the terri­ brokers, banks, ship repair and sup­ tory between the Great Lakes and the ply firms, and all of the varied en­ Rocky Mountains, as far north as the terprises associated with maritime Canadiarrtorder and as far south as activity. Denver and Kansas City. I1*

Milwaukee's modern harbor term­ ment has been negotiated by the inals on the lake front and in the City with these two railroads which Kinnickinnic Basin are especially assures continued, efficient and am­ designed to accommodate vessels of icable service for the years ahead. the class that will engage in world trade when the St, Lawrence route is Railroad access and railroad effic­ developed. The Milwaukee municipal iency will play a major part in the outer harbor docks are easy of acc­ further development of the Port of ess to the largest ships. They are Milwaukee and it will be necessary provided with modern handling equi­ to expand harbor railroad facilities pment and excellent rail and highway to keep pace with the growth of lake connections. The 25 feet of water and ocean shipping and with the ex­ now available at these outer harbor pansion of the municipal harbor. For terminals can be readily deepened, this reason, the Board of Harbor at very nominal cost, to the 27-foot Commissioners, in presenting a port draft required to accommodate max­ development program to the Common imum size seaway traffic. Council in preparation for the St. In brief, the St. Lawrence Seaway Lawrence Seaway, has emphasized that will mean for Milwaukee expansion of better railroad facilities will be port facilities; expansion of rail, an essential part of the City's pre­ water and truck traffic; greatly paration for the project and its increased waterfront activity of all attendant benefits. types; vital growth as a trade and The Milwaukee Board of Harbor banking center; and in keeping with Commissioners has submitted to the these benefits, there will be a com­ Common Council and to municipal fin­ mensurate expansion of payroll and ance officers, a program of harbor •ommunity income. The seaway will development to expand Milwaukee's open the door to new economic act­ already excellent port facilities, ivity and a new era of prosperity and to assure that the Port of Mil­ and growth. It should be understood waukee will be fully equipped with that a maximum development of the the most modern facilities to serve type outlined may not occur immed­ the ships and cargo which the seaway iately following the opening of the will bring. The Board has recomm­ seaway in 1959* but is certain to ended that $ ^ , 7 0 0 , 0 0 0 be budgeted by develop gradually as shipping, trade the city between now and I 9 6 0 for and industry orient themselves to the building of a new outer harbor take advantage of one of the most pier, with the most modern general dramatic shipping developments in cargo terminal facilities on the the history of the world. Great Lakes. The proposed pier would It is particularly fortunate that be 500 feet wide and 1 0 0 0 feet long, only a year before the passage of providing berths for five large ves­ seaway legislation by Congress, the sels simultaneously. Initially, it City of Milwaukee won its long str­ would have 1 5 0 , 0 0 0 square feet of uggle to establish joint railroad cargo shed space which would be equ­ service to the municipal harbor. The ipped with five lines of railroad seaway bill was passed in 195*+« On track, with excellent truck access, February 5* 1953* for the first time and with cargo cranes. in history, the Milwaukee Road swit­ In addition to the new general ched cars to the municipal docks. cargo pier the Board has recommended Since that date, the port has enjoy­ that all municipal outer harbor ed joint service by two principal slips be dredged to a 27-foot depth; railroads, the Milwaukee and the that municipal railroad facilities Worth Western, and this factor has be enlarged and a marginal road been of great value in developing built to serve all outer harbor business for the port and promoting piers; and that all port facilities conaercial use of the municipal port be provided with the most modern facilities, A joint operating aggre- crane equipment. 15 This program, added to the excel­ lent port facilities already avail­ able to handle lake and ocean ship­ ping at the Port of Milwaukee, would assure that Milwaukee would continue to hold its commanding position as the best equipped port on Lake Mich­ igan, and would assure to the vast trade territory between Milwaukee and the Rocky Mountains the best eq­ uipped port gateway on Lake Michigan through which commerce can flow in and out economically and effic­ iently*

February 1, 1 9 5 5 1214 North La Salle St., Chicago 10, Illinois Out-of-Print & Hard-to-Find HANDS ACROSS THE WATER ma m s m a

The following letter has just been LITE! received, just a little late for the HOW TO MAKE SHIP BLOCK MODELS. By last issue of Telescope so we are Charles G. Davis. Illustrated by the publishing it now, hoping someone author. With plates & tables from may wish to answer it* Steel's “Elements & Practice of Rig­ ging, Seamanship and Naval Tactics, Great Lakes Model Guild 1 8 0 0 . “ 5x8, NY, 19^6. 1 50 pages. By Detroit, Michigan* America's foremost authority, this book explains in clear, step-by-step Mr* President: manner how to make the model, begin­ Mr* Fisher, of Royal Oak, Michigan ning with shaping the block hull, and Mr*H.G.Weiss, first secretary of and then through the stages of fit­ your embassy here, were kind enough ting the deck structures, stepping to mention your Guild to me, since I the masts and rigging the spars* am very fond of the most fascinating $3.50 (677) hobby in the world, model shipbuild­ ing. I gun old though (windjammer)and SCALE MODEL SHIPS, their Engines and on account of .... invalidity not any Construction* By Bernard Reeve & P. more able to go to sea. W. Thomas. A Practical Manual on the I have lately killed many long Building of Working Scale Model hours in the hospital doing modeling Ships and Suitable Power Plants for and since this kind of work is prac­ Amateur Constructors. 5&X8-J-, London, tically unknown in my native country (1951). 28*+ p. Illustrated by the I should be very glad if you could authors with 21 full page plates and be so kind and put me in touch with 119 text drawings. $**.50 ( 690) some American model shipbuilders, so I would be able to exchange ideas* THE MODEL SHIPBUILDER'S______MANUAL OF Thanking you for all the trouble I FITTINGS AND GUNS. By Capt. A. P. make I remain with the most cordial Isard. 5£x8£, London, 1951. 3 2 7 p. compliments from the “White City of over 200 text illustrations. Every the North11 in the true land of a kind of deck fitting, for all kinds thousand lakes, of craft, both sail and steam, is Yours very sincerely included, as well as some of the Olav A. Hultin more conspicuous internal fittings. Chief Steward Arranged Alphabetically; each item C/o Radio H.B.G. Inc* is illustrated with working drawings 27 Nylandsgataw, and sketches & fully described. Helsingfors, Finland* $3.00 (681) 16 /£ THE SLOOP "OSWEGO"

— F O R -- Launched June 28th 1 7 5 5 at Oswego was *+3 feet long - the first British boat launched on the Great Lakes, She carried five guns, and a swiv­ el on each side. She was 15 feet in beam. Her main mast 53 feet high and her boom 55 feet long. She had a white tallowed under­ water with a yellow band between two STEAMER black ones above the water line. She drew 7 feet. (Oswego harbor was 8 feet.)

NOW AVAILABLE Complete Blue prints of:

Milton, a G.L. scow schooner. $1.50 One sheet. Put-in-Bay. Excursion steamer 3*50 Three sheets. J.T.Wing, now the museum ship. 2.00 1'wo sheets. Walk-in-the-Water. First steamer above Niagara. One sheet ...... 1.00 Onoko, first iron-hull bulk carrier or ore ship One sheet...... 1.50 Butcher Boy, a Huron boat. Two sheets...... 2.00 John Ericsson, whaleback bulk carrier. One sheet 1.50 (Scale 1/8") n i l i u John Ericsson, 1/16" scale 1.00 AND--- Michigan (1833) sidewheeler.... 2.00 Two sheets. SUGAR ISLAND Wilfred Sykes, (1950) modern STEA.MER. bulk carrier.One sheet. Scale 1/16" ...... 1.50 U.S.Coast Guard Surf Boat,(1900) RIVERSIDE Two sheets. (1 A" scale) 2.00 Grampian, a three-mast schooner- rigged tow barge...... 1.50 SUNDAY, JUNE 6 One sheet. Leaving foot of First Street at 9 A, M. If mailed folded add ten cents,post­ and 2 P. M. age. Rolled, in mailing tube, parcel post, insured, add 30£. TICKETS, 25 CENTS The above plans are the result of cooperative effort on the part of a ASHLEY & MITCHELL, Foot of First Street. number of Guild members and members Free Press Printing and Engraving House, Detroit, Micli. of the staff of the Museum of Great Lakes History.