A Century of Sail and Steam on the Niagara River Part 6

The idea at once arose, why not put the _Chicora_ into the 200-foot lock with the upper gate open, so that although she would extend 30 feet beyond the regular lock, she would then be in a total actual lock of five miles long.

Going over again to Port Dalhousie, the whole position was carefully surveyed. It was found that on the troublesome lock there was three-quarters of an inch to spare, so that trick could be turned successfully. Closer investigation developed that the 200-foot lock problem at Port Dalhousie was, as will be stated later, more capable of being solved than appeared on the surface. It was now evident that the practical part of the work could be done successfully. The next thing was to provide for connecting support. My first railway service had been in that of the Great Western Railway in 1872-73 in the divisional office at London, and afterwards in charge of the terminal yard and car ferries at Windsor, under Mr. M. D. Woodward, Superintendent.

During that time the General Manager was Mr. W. K. Muir, who had transferred, and was now General Manager of the Canada Southern Railway, operating the branch line between Buffalo and Niagara. Enquiry led to an understanding that a contract could be made for a full service by a first-cla.s.s steamer between Toronto and Niagara-on-the-Lake in connection with the route to the Falls and Buffalo, as the size of the _Southern Belle_ was not satisfactory.

Armed with all this information, and having made up the estimates of cost and possible earnings, the whole matter was laid before the Hon. Frank Smith, who then had a part interest in the _Chicora_. The proposition was that we should buy out the other owners, bring the _Chicora_ through the ca.n.a.l and put her on the Niagara Route, where she could earn good money.

One was to do the work and the other to find the backing for the funds required. In this way for him a dead loss would be revived and a good future investment found, while the junior would enter into a work in which with energy he would be able to secure a lasting reward for his enterprise and ability in transportation business. He agreed and we proceeded to carry out the project. The purchase was made early in 1877, the original purchasers and registered owners of the steamer being Hon. Frank Smith and Barlow c.u.mberland.

In this way began a partners.h.i.+p which lasted through life. Sir Frank (knighted in 1874) was a man of quick decision, of great courage, and indomitable will. Every company with which he became identified felt the influence of his virile hand. A charter for the Niagara Navigation Company, Limited, with a capital of $500,000, was obtained from the Dominion Government.

The first issue of the stock of the Company was entirely subscribed by the Frank Smith and c.u.mberland representatives and the transfer of the boat to the new company made in 1878. The first Board of Directors were: President, Hon. Frank Smith; Vice-President, Barlow c.u.mberland; Directors, Col. Fred.

W. c.u.mberland, John Foy, and R. H. McBride; Barlow c.u.mberland, Manager; John Foy, Secretary. Preliminary work had been actively in progress at Collingwood in dismantling the steamer and preparing her for a long and eventful journey. As the engines had been laid up and would not be required until after the reconstruction at Toronto, they were not again set up, but the tug, J. T. Robb, was brought up from Port Colborne to tow the vessel to Buffalo.

Here began the closing era of this century of steam navigation in the Niagara River. The story of the next and final thirty-five years is the story of the rise and expansion of the Niagara Navigation Company, its vicissitudes and compet.i.tions, and the final success of the enterprise.

Reminiscence of the series of hot compet.i.tions which were worked through and of the men and methods of the period are set out as matters of record of an eventful series of years on the route.

The long cabins on the upper deck were removed and parts sent to Toronto, where they now are the upper drawing room of the _Chicora_.

The cabins on the main deck were left undisturbed to be used by the crew, while coming through the ca.n.a.ls.

Captain Thomas Leach was in charge of the voyage to Buffalo, where Captain William Manson, of Collingwood, took charge of the crew with some carpenters and the engineers. Mr. Alexander Leach was purser and confidential agent. A more faithful officer and devoted servant never was found. He had been purser of the steamer _c.u.mberland_ until she was wrecked on Isle Royale, Lake Superior, 5 August, 1876.

The tow from Collingwood was uneventful and the steamer arrived at Buffalo and was placed in the Buffalo Dry Dock Company's Works, they having put her together when brought up from Halifax. Two barges were purchased and put alongside the guards, unriveted and lowered upon the barges in single pieces.

The paddle boxes were removed, the wheels taken to pieces, numbered, and put on the barges, and everything stripped off the sides of the hull, so that she was reduced to her narrowest width, cleared of everything, to go through the ca.n.a.l. The steamer was then put into dry dock, cut in two and the parts slid apart.

It was intended to take the steamer across Lake Erie to Port Colborne as a single tow. Two long sixteen-inch square elm timbers were placed on deck across the opening and strongly chained to smaller timbers; timbers were also put fore and aft to take the pull and keep the two parts of hull from coming together. It all reads easily, but took much consideration and time in working out the problems. And as the enterprise was unusual and not likely to be repeated the details are given as matters of interesting record. It was a strange looking craft that came out of dock. Two parts held far apart from one another by the big timbers, and the water was.h.i.+ng free to and fro in the opening between. It was a tender craft to moor in a narrow river where heavily laden vessels coming and going banged heedlessly against one another. We were fortunate, however, in obtaining the permission of the United States Marine Department that we might lie unmolested and alone alongside Government wharf on the west side of the river while waiting for weather. A great deal of public interest was being taken in the venture and on every hand we received cheerful and ready a.s.sistance. Mr. David Bell, whose daughter had married Mr. Casimir Gzowski, of Toronto, was especially helpful, doing good work for us in the foundry and machine shops. The Dry Dock Companies seemed like old friends, the curious public often visited us, and the enterprising newspaper reporters kept us well in the readers' view. So we towed out of dock, dropped down the river and tied up at our allotted berth. The barges with their strange-looking cargo had been sent separately across to the ca.n.a.l to Port Colborne at the first opportunity.

It was the beginning of October when the weather was uncertain, the water restless, and we had to be very careful in selecting a day to take such a crazy craft as a steamer thus separated in two parts across the thirty-four miles of the open lake.

Buffalo in the seventies was a very different place from what it is at present. The lower city alongside the river and Ca.n.a.l Street, crowded with cheap boarding houses for sailors and dock gangs, reeked in ribaldry and every phase of dissolute excitements. The vessels frequenting the ports in those days were mainly sailing vessels, the era of great steam freighters not having come. The stay of the vessels was much longer, their crews more numerous, and being less permanent, were easy victims to the harpies and the drink shops which surrounded and beset them. The waterside locality of Buffalo had then a reputation and an aroma peculiarly of its own.

Crazy horse cars jangled down the main Main Street to the docks. The terminus of the Niagara Falls Railway operated by the New York Central, was at the Ferry Station, the cross-town connection to the Terrace and Exchange Street not having been put in. The Mansion House was the princ.i.p.al hotel of the city, and its lower storey on the street level, entirely occupied by the ticket offices of all the princ.i.p.al railway and steams.h.i.+p companies of the United States. The business centre of the town was in the vicinity.

Arrangements had been established with the United States Weather Bureau, whose office was well up town, to give us earliest advice of when they thought there would be from six to eight hours of fair weather ahead. Many a messenger trotted between, and many an hour was spent in their office, waiting for news, for there were no telephones to convey information.

The elements seemed against us. For a fortnight we had a succession of blows from almost every direction, one following the other without giving a sufficiently calm interval between. It was wonderful to see how quickly the water rose and fell in the harbour. A steady blow from the west would pile the water up at this east end of the lake and we would rise six feet alongside the wharf in a few hours, to fall again as the wind went down or changed, the outgoing water creating quite a rapid current as it ran out of the river.

It was during this waiting time an incident occurred which came within an ace of putting an end to one career. The last thing in the evening a visit was always made from the hotel to the boat to see that all was well. In front of the face of the Government Wharf there was a continuous line of "spring piles" for its protection, with the heads cut off to the level of the dock. One dark and rainy night, when stepping from the deck of the steamer, mistaking the opening in the darkness for the edge of the wharf the next step put the leader into the opening and he dropped through into the river. Soon Manson's voice was heard calling, "Are you there, Mr.

c.u.mberland?" A lamp was lowered; the distance from the floor of the dock to the water was some six or eight feet, and many iron spikes projected through the piles.

A storm was subsiding and the water running out fast, but by holding on to the spikes a way was worked up until a hand was reached by Manson and the adventurer was hauled up to the top. Sitting on the edge of the wharf with dripping legs dangling in the opening Manson's exclamation was heard, "Sakes alive; he's got his pipe in his mouth still!" They say the reply was, "Do you suppose I'd open my mouth when I went under?" It was a close call, and Mrs. c.u.mberland was always anxious until at last we got the _Chicora_ safely to Toronto.

At length advice was received from the Bureau that we could start, so the tug was called and about 6 a.m. we were under way. We had tried to get some insurance for the run across, but the rate asked was excessive that we determined to go without any, a determination which added zest to the enterprise. We didn't want to lose the boat and wouldn't have taken any the less care or precaution even if the insurance companies would have carried the risk for nothing. In this connection it is open to consideration whether the moral hazard of a marine risk is not of more importance even than the rating of the vessel, and that good owners are surely ent.i.tled to better rates than simply the "tariff schedule" which their vessel's rating calls for. The prevailing inconsistent system is very much like that of the credit tailor whose solvent customers pay for his losses on those who fail to pay their bills.

The morning was cold and calm. We made down the river and rounded out into the lake, on which there still remained some motion from previous gales. It was curious to stand on the edge of the deck and see the chips and floating debris carried along in the wide opening between the two parts.

We had come by a slanting course down and across the lake, reaching in under Point Abino in good shape and were rejoicing that the larger portion of the crossing was well over. As we rounded from under the lee of the Point and pa.s.sing it, changed our course for Port Colborne, a nasty sea come down from the northwest with an increasing breeze. We were soon in trouble, the bow-part began to roll and jump on its own account at a different rate than the more staid and heavy after-part, sometimes rising up on end and then seeming to try and take a dive, but held from going away by the long elm timbers which writhed while their chains squealed and rang under the strain.

The worst sensation was when the seas, coming in on the quarter, swept through the opening between the two parts, swis.h.i.+ng between the plates and das.h.i.+ng against the after bulkhead made it resound like a drum, sending the spray up over the deck while they coursed through the rower side. It was very exciting, but not at all comfortable. The pace of the tug seemed to get slower and slower, but all we on board could do was to keep the long timbers and their fastenings in their places, see that the bulkheads held their own, and stand by and watch the contest with the waves.

At length, as we got more under the lee of the land, the waves subsided, the pace increased, and at last we were safe between the piers at Port Colborne.

Making all arrangements for the next few days, the leader hurried home, f.a.gged out, but exultant, for the worst part of the journey was over and we had put the rest of the way fairly under our own control.

CHAPTER VII.

DOWN THROUGH THE WELLAND--THE MISERIES OF HORSE TOWING TIMES--PORT DALHOUSIE AND A LAKE VETERAN--THE PROBLEM SOLVED--TORONTO AT LAST.

The barges with the "guards" on them had been sent down through the ca.n.a.l as soon as they had crossed the lake, and were now safely moored at the Ontario level in the outer harbour at Port Dalhousie, there to await the arrival of the united boat. The men in charge returning up the ca.n.a.l to join the main expedition.

Starting from Port Colborne, the two parts of the steamer were separated to go down the ca.n.a.l. The bow part was kept in the lead, but both as near one another as possible, so that the crews could take their meals on the after part, on which they also pa.s.sed the nights. The stern part was taken down the long upper level by a small tug, but teams were employed in towing for all the remaining portions of the ca.n.a.lling. Memories of things as they then existed on the old Welland are in striking contrast to the conditions obtaining at the present day.

The miseries of human slaves on the "middle pa.s.sage" of the Atlantic have been dilated upon until sympathy with their sufferings has abounded, but it is doubtful if they were in any way worse than those of the miserable beings then struggling on the ca.n.a.l pa.s.sage between Lakes Erie and Ontario.

The ca.n.a.l bank and tow paths were a sticky mush, which in those autumn months was churned and stamped into a continuous condition of soft red mud and splas.h.i.+ng pools. From two to six double teams were employed to haul each pa.s.sing vessel, dependent upon whether it was light or was loaded, but in either case there was the same dull, heavy, continuous pull against the slow-moving ma.s.s, a hopeless constant tug into the collars, bringing raw and calloused shoulders.

Poor beasts, there was every description of horse, pony, or mule forced into the service, but an all-prevailing similarity of lean sides and projecting bones, of staring unkempt coats, gradually approaching similar colour as the red mud dried upon their hides. Rest! they had in their traces when mercifully for a few moments the vessel was in a lock, or when awaiting her turn at night they lay out on the bank where she happened to stop. It was the rest of despair.

The poor devils of "drivers," boys or men, who tramped along the ca.n.a.l bank behind each tottering gang, were little better off than their beasts.

Heavy-footed, wearied with lifting their boots out of the sucking slush, they trudged along, staggering and half asleep, until aroused by the sounds of a sagging tow line, with quickened stride and volley of hot-shot expletives, they closed upon their luckless four-footed companions. What an electric wince went through the piteous brutes as the stinging whip left wales upon their sides! A sudden forward motion brought up by the tw.a.n.g of the tow line as it came taut, sweeping them off their legs, until they settled down once more into the sidling crablike movement caused by the angle of the hawser from the bow to the tow path.

The new Welland, with its larger size and tug boats, has done away with this method of torturing human and horse flesh. One wonders whether it is the ghosts of these departed equines, that, revisiting the scenes of their torture, make the moanings along the valley, and the whistlings on the hills, as they sniff and whinny in the winds along the ca.n.a.l.

We had a good deal of difficulty at first in our ca.n.a.lling, especially in meeting and pa.s.sing vessels. The after-part took every inch of the locks, and was unhandy in shape. However, by dint of rope fenders, long poles and a plentiful and willing crew we got along without hurting anyone else or ourselves.

It was in one of these sudden emergencies which sometimes arise that Captain Manson was thought to have got a strain which developed into trouble later on. He was a splendidly-built fellow, over six feet in height, in the plenitude of youth, handsome, laughing, active, and of uncommon strength, the sort of man who jumps in when there is something to be done, throws in his whole force and saves the situation.

The bow-part, being short and light, went merrily on, its crew chaffing the other for their slower speed, for which there was much excuse.

One day on a course in the ca.n.a.l below Thorold we rounded the corner of the height above the mountain tier of locks. It was a wondrous sight to see laid out before us the wide landscape of tableland and valley spread out below, through which we were to navigate and drop down 340 feet on the next four and one-quarter miles. To the left was the series of locks which circled, in gray stone structures, like a succession of great steps, down the mountain side. These were separated one from the other by small ponds or reservoirs with waste weirs, whose little waterfalls tinkled, foaming and glinting in the sun. Directly in front, and below us, were the houses and factories of Merritton, with trains of the Great Western and the Welland Railways spurting white columns of steam and smoke as the engines panted up the grade to the heights of the Niagara Escarpment from which we were about to descend.

Beyond these came glimpses of the ca.n.a.l as it wound its way toward St.

Catharines. Still lower down the Escarpment, spires and towers of the city itself, and yet lower and still further away lay on the horizon the blue waters of Lake Ontario. How beautiful and hopeful it was!

As the Greeks when emerging from the strife and struggles of their long and painful homeward march, hailed the sea with shouts of happy acclaim, for beyond those waters they knew lay home and rest. So, too, it might have been for us, or at least for one of us, for another link had been gained in our long and trying voyage. Far away, from the height, we could see Lake Ontario, the goal of the expedition, the ardently sought terminus of our labours, and on the other side of its waters lay Toronto and the future for the bonnie s.h.i.+p. But times to-day are more prosaic, so, taking a hasty but satisfying look, we turned to negotiate the next lock.

That night at the bottom of the tier, the stern part moored in one pond and the bow in the next below, a "jubilation" was held in the after-cabin by the combined crews. We had safely got down all the steps, and had pa.s.sed the large boat safely through, so that we might well rejoice.

Beyond this day there was not much that occurred; the way was simple and we had got the "hang" of things. At St. Catharines half the city came out to see the strange looking hulk wending its way down the ca.n.a.l, and through the locks, close to the town.

At length we came down through the five mile level where the "Canadian Henley" is now held, with its floating tow path to carry the teams, and arrived at Muir's Dock, just above the final lock at Port Dalhousie, after five days occupied in coming through the Ca.n.a.l. The two parts were moored alongside the gate while waiting for the dock to be made ready for our turn to enter.

The position of the village now known as Port Dalhousie was originally, in 1812 days, being called "Twelve Mile Creek." The creeks, or river openings being then named according to their distances in miles from the Niagara River. This name was afterwards changed to "Port Dalhousie," in honour of Lord Dalhousie, the Governor-General at the time the first ca.n.a.l was constructed. The "Port" in those days of the horse ca.n.a.l when we arrived at it was mainly a turning place for the ca.n.a.l crews. Its one princ.i.p.al street facing the ca.n.a.l basin, had houses on one side only, mostly drink shops, with or without license, with a few junk and supply stores intervening. Its immediate inhabitants, a nomad collection of sailors and towing gangs, waiting for another job. Around and in its neighborhood there was a happy district prolific of fruit and flowers, but in itself, with its vagrant crews culled from the world over, it was a little haven not far from the realm of Dante's imaginations. Times, methods and circ.u.mstances have all since changed.