The Pulp & Paper Fleet

Excerpts from the book Pulp & Paper Fleet. A History of the Quebec and Ontario Transportation Company by Al Sykes and Skip Gillham. Published in 1988 by Stonehouse Publications

The Ontario Transportation and Pulp Company of Thorold was incorporated on January 22, 1914. This wholly owned subsidiary of The Ontario Paper Company began its meager start as a supplier by transporting pulp wood to the Thorold mill from lower Quebec and a deliverer of finished newsprint rolls to the Chicago Trib­une warehouse in Chicago.

For the first two and a half years of operation the Ontario Transportation and Pulp Company owned no ships. They relied on the availability of vessels through charter­ing either by the season or by the trip. This depended on the needs of the Thorold mill and the Chicago Tribune.

Four years prior to the founding of the fleet, Robert R. McCormick, a thirty-year-old lawyer and former politi­cian in the city of Chicago, took an active part in the fami­ly newspaper along with his cousin Joseph Medill Patterson . Both men were grandsons of Joseph Medill who had bought an interest in the Tribune 55 years earlier.

They found out that the directors of the newspaper were on the verge of selling the Tribune. McCormick was shocked at the proposal and pursuaded the directors not to sell out and both he and his cousin said they would take an active part in the paper and would turn things around. It didn't take McCormick long to figure out the problems with the paper. Newsprint costs to the Tribune were much higher than those of the rival Hears! papers due to their vast buying power of a larger quantity of newsprint at a cheaper price. A solution had to be found. This seemed to be simple: produce your own newsprint and thus cut your operational costs drastically. Then as the circulation improves, increase the output of your newsprint mill.

Robert McCormick brought his findings to the Board of Directors and he was allowed to spend one million dollars for the building of a paper mill as a subsidiary of the Chicago Tribune. Warren Curtis Jr., a paper mill designer and engineer was contacted by McCormick and with Joseph Medill Parterson looking after the newspaper in Chicago, McCormick was free to venture off with Warren Curtis Jr. in search of a suitable location for the new mill. After inspecting possible sites in Northern Ontario, it was decided to look at towns in Southern Ontario. There the weather was not so harsh and, with towns already deve­loped, the incidental expenditures would be less.

James Battle, a Thorold, Ontario, real estate broker, showed the men the possible sites of the area. These included the final selection of a cow pasture on the banks of the Welland Canal. Battle also acted as an agent for the Ontario Power Company of Niagara Falls and made available to the men enough hydro electric power for the mill project. Other factors that had to be taken into consideration by McCormick and Curtis were the readily available water supply for the mill, the potential use of water transportation as a means of supplying both the mill and the Chicago Tribune, a skilled workforce from the other mills in Thorold, Merritton and St. Catharines and finally the presence of railway lines connecting the Niagara Peninsula with American cities.

The Ontario Paper Company was incorporated on February 29, 1912, with a capital stock of one million dollars held by the Directors of the Tribune Company with the expressed intention to build a newsprint making facility at Thorold, Ontario. Construction orders were given to Warren Curtis Jr. on June 5, 1912, with Curtis in charge of designing and constructing the facility.

The basic idea that Curtis had for the formation of newsprint at the Thorold mill was to have debarked wood pulp brought to the mill. There, electric grinders would reduce the wood to pulp to be fed to the steam turbine driven newsprint machines.

The revolutionary ideas put forth by Curtis had many skeptics. But the first machine was put into production on September 5, 1913, and the second machine started up on November 14. The output of both machines was far less than had been expected. However, after the fine tuning, the machine's production gradually increased satisfying both Robert R, McCormick, President of the Tribune company and Warren Curtis Jr., who had been appointed President and General Manager of the Thorold mill. The latter held this position from 1913 until his death in 1930.

As the paper mill was being erected, docks and storage areas for the newsprint and wood pulp were being constructed on the banks of the Welland Canal. The depth of the water at the dock had to be dredged to the maximum canal draft and concrete facings built for the docks. Whirly cranes were placed on the docks to load and unload the ships of wood pulp and paper plus coal. The latter would be used in the boiler house.

Another problem facing Robert McCormick was the availability of timber rights in Ontario to supply his mill. He was turned down by the Ministry of Crown Lands of Ontario in an attempt to secure timber in that province. This forced him to purchase pulpwood on the open market in Toronto from timber agents. Although this temporarily relieved the problem of a source of raw materials, it only put off the actual leasing of land and timber rights.

With the Thorold mill in production, it now became apparent that water transportation would be the cheapest and easiest way to ship the products used by and produced at Thorold. Rail transportation had been used to get the mill running but this was not satisfactory to Robert McCormick. He then formed the Ontario Transportation and Pulp Company on January 22, 1914. and had the newly built steamer Honereva of the Donald Steamship of England chartered. The deal included an option in the contract for an outright purchase if desired.

The Honereva was of canal size dimensions and could haul 850 cords of pulpwood per trip, it was used to haul wood pulp from Anticosti Island on the St. Lawrence River toThorold. Once light, the ship would sail to Sodus Point, N.Y., or Rochester, N.Y., on Lake Ontario and load coal for Montreal or other ports along the St. Lawrence River. This move had the ship making money for the new company.

HONOREVA, shown on the right passing ALGONQUIN, eluded most photographers. ( John Boyd Photo, J.H. Bascom Collection)

The task of shipping the newsprint westward was handled by the Rutland Transit Company, a subsidiary of the Rutland Railroad, It extended rail service from New York City to Montreal by connecting with the Canadian National Railway. The Rutland Transit Company operated its own fleet of steamers from Ogdensburg, New York, to Chica­go, Illinois. This route ran right past the front door of the Thorold mill. The steamers did not have to go out of their way to service the Ontario Paper Company. They learned that newsprint stored in the hull of the ships remained dry throughout the four day voyage proving water transpor­tation to be an economical success.

On December 4, 1915, the Ontario Paper Company purchased 312 square miles of timber lands at the mouth of the Rocky River, twenty-five miles west of Seven Island's, Quebec, This remote area of the lower St. Lawrence River was renamed Shelter Bay by Robert McCormick and is known today as Port Carrier. Soon the United States was involved in the hostilities and Robert McCormick was a reserve Colonel. This prevented any further progress at Shelter Bay. So it was not until 1919 that the north shore would be developed by McCormick.

Before being called to active military service, Robert McCormick purchased the steamer Honereva on August 17, 1916. This ship had the distinction of being the first vessel in "The Pulp and Paper Fleet." However, her ownership would last but one full week, Honereva had been spotted by French Maritime owners. They desper­ately needed tonnage to haul supplies to Europe. She was sold on August 24 to the French Government and soon renamed.

The profits from the sale of the Honereva were enough to purchase the company's second ship. Toiler was acquired from James Playfair of Midland at a price of $90,706. The Toiler had recently been converted to steam power. This replaced a diesel power plant which had been originally placed in the ship by her builders in 1911.

Toiler's hold could take up to 1000 cords of wood and this made her that much more of an asset to the com­pany. The living conditions on the Toiler were less comfortable and McCormick had all cabins refurbished with the addition of shower baths. This was considered a real luxury and thus he set the standard that would be followed on ships of the fleet for years to come.

TOILER, underway in1915 (Pesha photo, Q&O files)

Two further purchases by the Ontario Transportation and Pulp Company took place in 1916. The steamer Mary H, Boyce and the schooner barge Middlesex were to augment the expanded needs put upon the steamship com­pany by the increased outputs of the Ontario Paper Com­pany. The Boyce was used to tow the barge between the St. Lawrence and Thorold. The Boyce, with a capacity of 430 cords of wood or 800 tons of coal, and the Middlesex, with a capacity of 1100 tons of coal, were definite assets. They helped relieve the tonnage requirements placed on the Toiler which by now was also active in the Chicago newsprint run.

MARY H. BOYCE served in the pulpwood trade (Q&O files)

Both Joseph Medill Patterson and Robert R. McCormick were in active service in 1917 and sent overseas. In their absence William H, Field was appointed general manager in charge of all the Chicago Tribune enterprises. These included the steamship company. Captain Henry Louis St. James de Beauvais was hired at this time as the company's first Marine Superintendent. He was responsible for ship maintenance.

Also hired in 1917 was Elbert M. Antrim as Tribune Company's Traffic Manager, His duties were the arrangement of cargoes, warehousing, insurance for the ships and cargo and other related items. His first big problem came on August 13, 1917, when the Middlesex stranded near Morrisburg, Ontario, in the St. Lawrence River. The tow line parted during a storm and the barge wrecked. She was sold to the insurance underwriters who eventually salvaged the schooner barge and had her rebuilt.

THE EARLY YEARS

With the war raging on in Europe, both McCormick and Patterson served in the battlefields of France. Their interests in the United States and Canada prospered as the Tribune grew in circulation and the paper mill in Thorold was able to meet the demand. The steamers Toiler and Mary H. Boyce were busy filling cargo commitments.

The effect of the war on the cost of ship tonnage be­came more apparent in the spring of 1918. General Manager Field was offered and accepted a bid for the canal steamer Toiler for the sum of $350,000. This move drasti­cally cut the trip capacity of the fleet and although the Toiler fetched a handsome profit for the company finding a suita­ble replacement was another problem.

Finally, after scouring the lakes, the steamer Linden was purchased and brought into Canadian registry. Because her capacity of 571 cords of wood was a little less than half that of Toiler, more chartering of steamers was needed to meet peak demands.

The Linden, an 1895 product of Jenks Shipbuilding of Port Huron, was wooden hulled and smaller than the maximum dimensions allowed through the St. Lawrence canals. Another drawback was her lack of a salt water condenser. One was found in Georgia and shipped to Buffa­lo for installation in the steamer.

LINDEN was an early member of the fleet. (Q&O files)

With the armistice, both Patterson and McCormick were discharged, and returned to Chicago to take over the Tribune organization once again. Increased outputs of newsprint at Thorold due to the installation of two more paper machines in 1917 and 1919 helped to keep up with the increasing demands by the Chicago Tribune. Circulation had grown as their rival papers decreased.

McCormick and Patterson decided to begin a second newspaper in New York City. The tabloid style Illustrated Daily News started off slowly in 1919 but gradually rose in circulation to over 200,000 copies per day. The added burden for more newsprint was placed on the Thorold mill and, in turn, brought about the development of the tim­ber limits at Shelter Bay, Quebec , in 1919.

Arthur A. Schmon, a former captain who served under McCormick in France, was given the job of building and managing the pulpwood operations at Shelter Bay. The town had to be built with homes for the staff and wood cutters. Also constructed were dams, logging booms and a dock for the loading of the pulpwood. All supplies had to arrive by ship before the freeze up which left the inhabi­tants isolated until the following spring.

Arthur Schmon was left with a very large responsibil­ity. With the co-operation of the workmen the town of Shelter Bay rose and grew to its present day inhabitation under the name Port Cartier. The company steamers often unloaded their cargoes of coal at Montreal where they would reload supplies for the town. Everything had to be shipped into Shelter Bay by water and the company owned vessels played a major role in forming the town.

Actual shipping of the pulpwood westward to the Thorold mill began in the spring of 1923. Woodsmen had spent the previous winter cutting the logs and storing them in the Rocky River. Spring thaw allowed them to be driven down river to the flumes at Shelter Bay and loaded on the new dock into the steamer's hold.

The increased pulpwood demand of the Thorold mill was placed on the two steamers Boyce and Linden. Additional chartering became an expensive endeavour and forced the company to order its first two new steamers in early 1922. The British shipyard of Swan, Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd. received the contract to build Hull 1187 which was named the Chicago Tribune. The North of Ireland Shipbuilding Company Ltd. of Londonderry was awarded the contract for the second steel canaller. Their Hull 101 was named New York News. Both ships were named after the newspapers which were owned by the Tribune company. The ships had a capacity of 1,100 cords of pulpwood or approximately 2,300 tons at the maximum canal draft of 14 feet.

The first CHICAGO TRIBUNE, destined to be sunk by enemy action, is outbound at Port Dalhousie, carrying an ad for one of her owner's publications on the side. Photo dated about 1925. Photo by J. H. Bascom

NEW YORK NEWS upbound in the Welland Canal

One new feature to the steamers was the large C and small T located on the stack of the ship honouring the Chicago Tribune organization. Although the Ontario Transportation and Pulp Company remained the official name of the company until 1933, ships were often listed as be­ing owned by the Chicago Tribune Transportation Company. Both steamers successfully passed their trials in England and loaded Welsh coal for Montreal. They arrived safely in Canada in the summer of 1922. These new acquisitions meant that the Linden and Mary H. Boyce were

now expendable. The Boyce was sold to N.M. Paterson of Fort William in 1922 while the Linden was sold in 1923 to Mr. R. Burns of Detroit.

More timber limits were purchased at Franquelin in 1920 and further acquisitions in 1921 by Ontario Paper Company gave the company an expansion of over 262 square miles of woodlands. This tied in with a further development at the Thorold mill. A fifth paper machine was added to give the company an output in 1921 of 81,140 tons of newsprint to feed the growing demand of the newspapers.

Engineers were sent to the Quebec North Shore in 1922 with the intention of developing a pulp mill and using the Outardes River as a source of hydro-electric power. Construction on the power dam commenced during the winter of 1925-26.

The Ontario Tranpsortation and Pulp Company opened offices in Montreal on McGill Street in 1922 as a means of closer contact between the developing settlements in lower Quebec and the Thorold paper mill. In 1923, the first full season of operation for the two new canallers, the Chicago Tribune was under the command of Captain R. J. Wilson with L. Vipond serving as her Chief Engineer. On the New York News, Captain J. V. Morris was in command with Emery Scott in charge of the engine room. All four men were competent navigators and engineers upholding the standards demanded by the owners.

Winter quarters for the two ships would normally be at Thorold where ship maintenance would be performed which did not necessitate drydocking, Hull plate repair was usually carried out at Montreal or Lauzon, Quebec.

Further expansion and modernization of the Thorold mill commenced in the summer of 1927, This coupled with the increased demands for newsprint by the papers in Chicago and New York put a further strain on handling that commodity to both cities. Rail costs to New York and Chicago increased and the railways did not think that the Tribune Company would balk at the increase. To their surprise a contract was let in the fall of 1929 to Earles Shipbuilding and Engineering Limited for a canal size vessel. This diesel powered ship was to be the first designed specifically to transport newsprint from Thorold to Chicago. A raised trunk deck allowed the stowage of several hundred extra rolls of newsprint. This cut the operational costs of the ship since it would run on the upper lakes where she would not be restricted by low water drafts dictated by the lower St. Lawrence River canals.

The name Thorold was chosen and, after her trials in late May of 1930, she sailed to Canada with a cargo of China clay from Finley, England. She then began regular duty clearing Thorold with newsprint for Chicago and returning in ballast.

THOROLD arriving at Montreal in 1930 (Ken Lowes Collection)

This trade continued regularly for the next decade. In 1933, for example, the Thorold made a total of 18 round trips beginning on April 23 upbound with paper and arriving back at Thorold for winter quarters on December 4. One novel feature for the Thorold was a tennis court painted in the hold. This could be used by the crew as a form of exercise between their 6 hour watches. Billboard sized advertising was put on the hull which read "3,000 tons of paper for the Chicago Tribune."

A further purchase in 1933 of the canaller Belvoir was required to check further rail increases to New York City. Belvoir would load newsprint at Thorold and sail down the St. Lawrence River along the east coast to New York City to discharge. This was cheaper than the existing rail route. She then sailed to Reading, New Jersey, where she would take on coal for a St. Lawrence River port. This route continued for two seasons until the railways were forced to cut their rates and free the ship for use on the lakes.

BELVOIR was purchased to deliver newsprint to New York (Ken Lowes Collection)

EXPANSION AND THE WAR

A reorganization of the company took place in 1932. The Ontario Transportation and Pulp Company Limited was renamed the Quebec and Ontario Transportation Company Limited of Montreal. A complete name change for ships in the fleet was announced in December of 1933 as all four lay at their winter berths at the Thorold paper dock.

The diesel canaller Thorold was renamed Chicago Tribune as it was felt that the newest ship, which was designed purposely to serve the needs of the Chicago Tribune, should be named after the newspaper. The original Chicago Tribune was renamed Thorold in recognition of the town which was the home of Ontario Paper Company. The New York News became Shelter Bay in honour of the loading port for pulpwood destined for the Thorold paper mill. Finally, the newly acquired Belvoir was renamed New York News as the ship had been bought to deliver newsprint there.

The appointments for 1933 included Capt. R.S. Brown and Chief Engineer H. Collins for Thorold, Capt. F.V. Mclntyre and Chief'J.F. Duncan of New York New and Capt. George Ferguson and Chief L, Vipond for Chicago Tribune.

As the Depression continued through the 1930's the four-ship fleet kept active throughout the entire season. This gave the crews, which averaged 19 men per ship, stability through the tough times when jobs were scarce. Unemployed men would line the canal lock walls asking each captain for a job. Berths on the Q.&O. ships were quickly filled and the sailors would stay with the vessel knowing quite well that their chances of getting on with another company ship were nil if they decided to leave part way through the year.

In September 1935, the vessels of the Q.&O. fleet engaged in an unusual regatta for the Colonel R.R. McCormick Trophy.
Each steamer was to provide a crew for a lifeboat rowing race over a measured half mile course of the Welland Canal between the sulphur dock at Thorold to just above the N.S.&T. Railroad bridge. As all vessels were not at Thorold at one time, they had to race against the clock.

Each crew rowed down the course, took an eight minute break, and rowed back. The total time taken established the winning team. The men from the Thorold covered the mile in nine minutes, four and a half seconds and were declared champions.

Despite a 40% increase of production in the 1930s, the Thorold mill was unable to meet the increasing demands for newsprint at both Chicago and New York City. It became apparent that anolher paper mill should be built in the province of Quebec. Arthur Schmon had succeeded the late Warren Curtis Jr. as head of operations in Ontario and Quebec, and his studies indicated that building a paper mill on the North Shore would be cheaper than expanding at Thorold or building at Quebec City. In 1936, after considerable deliberation, conduction of a paper mill at Baie Comeau was started along with the building of the town of Baie Comeau.

Without ships, the Baie Comeau project could not have been undertaken. There was no railroad to the area, and no highway. Everything had to be brought in by ships operated, or chartered by the Q.&O, In 1937 alone more than 140,000 tons of materials and supplies —- everything from generators to buttons — had to be brought in to the Baie Comeau dock; enough to fill a freight train 43 miles long.

Meanwhile as this expansion of the North Shore was being planned it became evident that still more tonnage would be needed to supply the demands of the new mill plus offset chartered tonnage that was still being used at peak times in the transporting of pulpwood to Thorold. Through the efforts of the engineering department at Ontario Paper and the naval architects Lambert & German of Montreal an all welded ship was designed. The British yard of Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson of Wallsend-on-Tyne, England was awarded the contract to build this new, innovative canaller. It would be the largest vessel of this type to transit the lower canals and would have the capability of carrying greater cargoes than any previous canaller. After a successsful launch on July 4, 1935, the Joseph Medill was readied for her transatlantic crossing. She completed her sea trials on the 10th of August and cleared Leith, Scotland, with a cargo of coal for Montreal. The ship was sighted by a Norwegian passenger ship on the 17th but never seen again. All crewmen went down with the ship.

Undaunted by this tragic loss, Quebec and Ontario officials still felt the design of the Joseph Medill was practical and they ordered another canaller of similar proportions in 1936. Superstitious of the past results, the company decided to name this new canaller the Franquelin in honour of the pulpwood loading port on the North Shore of the St. Lawrence. Franquelin had a better trip across the Atlantic and arrived safely at Montreal on May 29, 1936, bringing a cargo of China clay. This fifth ship for the fleet of pulp and paper carriers was designed for maximum stowage of cargo in her hull in the restricted depths of the lower canals. Her capacity of 1360 cords set tonnage records for the lower canals. A former master noted that she had a clearance of barely a foot to enter the lower locks and the gates of the lock embraced her stern as she was snuggled up into the lock.

FRANKQUELIN set many cargo records on the St. Lawrence (Pete Worden photo)

FRANKQUELIN loading pulpwood at Baie Comeau

Franquelin would load coal or grain for her downbound trip, often with record breaking results in both commodities. Once unloaded at Montreal, she would reload supplies for the construction at Baie Comeau. It was common for the ship to take bags of cement with deck loads of steel or machinery for the paper mill. One rather unusual cargo sent down the St. Lawrence had the Franquelin loading two cargo holds of beer, augmented with other supplies in the remaining two holds.

The late 1930's marked increased expansion of all the Chicago Tribune subsidiaries. The Ontario Paper Company leased timber limits at Heron Bay, Ontario, in the spring of 1937 and commenced to set up lumber camps and construct a loading dock for ships on the shores of Lake Superior. On December 23, 1937, the first of two paper machines was started up at Baie Comeau. The second came into production one month later. This brought about the chartering of deep sea ships to transport the newsprint produced at Baie Comeau to New York City. A subsidiary company, the Illinois Atlantic Company, was formed to handle this traffic. They purchased the Colabee in May, 1940.

COLABEE carried newsprint to New York (Gillham Collection)

With the expansion into Ontario timber limits two more ships were added to the fleet in 1939. The canaller Brulin, with a capacity of 1295 cords of wood or 2050 tons of paper, was purchased to supply Thorold with pulpwood from St. Lawrence ports. She was renamed Outarde. Also added was the 389 foot upper laker Robert P. Durham. She was renamed Heron Bay and had a carrying capacity of 5,500 tons.

OUTARDE was a valuable addition to the fleet (Ken Lowes photo)

HERON BAY at the Johnstown Elevator on November 11, 1954 (Dan McCormick photo)

The closing of the 1939 season found Quebec and Ontario Transportation in the position of owning one upper laker and six canallers. With the Second World War erupting in Europe the previous September the coming shipping season would bring about changes with the fleets of the Great Lakes.

The previous use of canallers in Britain during the First World War had not been forgotten by the British War Ministry. Their accessibility to small ports along the coast freed up larger ships to move supplies to Europe from North America. Therefore, it was no surprise to the Canadian vessel owners when, in June 1940, the British government requisitioned a group of canallers for service around England. Among this first group of ships to leave the lakes was the Quebec and Ontario canaller Thorold. She cleared Canada in late June with a British crew and a cargo of saw logs. Her crossing was successful but on the first trip along the Bristish coast Thorold was attacked and sunk by German aircraft. Eleven men, including her captain, were lost.

Further problems arose as the war increased to involve the United States. The Colabee was requisitioned by the United States Maritime Commission for use in supplying the American war effort. This eliminated ocean steamers for delivering newsprint to New York City from Baie Comeau. An alternate route to deliver the newsprint had to be found so it was decided to ship the newsprint from Baie Comeau up the St. Lawrence River to Oswego, New York. There the cargo could be transshipped into barges or chartered motor ships of the Federal Motorship Corporation for the trip through the New York Barge Canal to New York City. Once these barges and motor ships were discharged in New York they would load cargoes of bauxite which is used in the production of aluminum in the smelters of Port Alfred, Quebec. Although difficult at times, service to New York was continued throughout the war and the New York Daily received a regular supply of newsprint.

One light hearted letter addressed to L. McMillan, then Superintendent of Engineering in 1940, from Captain William Redfern, master of the canaller Outarde on the problem of drying a hold of grain dust helped to relieve the apparent tensions of sailing during these times. He replied, "While you offer several good suggestions, which might work out to the advantage of the ship, I wonder about using a water hose. It will take some time to dry this hold to be ready for grain, or should I say paper. As for the dust, that is neither here nor there.

He went on to say, "If any of these ideas that you suggest do not work out to the advantage of the ship, I would like to propose this idea. Buy at least thirty hens, Plymouth Rocks. As the Outarde has three holds, put ten chickens down each hold after unloading grain. They will clean it up, and the feed does not cost anything. In return we get eggs, which we are paying today's market price of 43 cents a dozen. Now there is an idea to think over. I'll be glad to talk the situation over with you on my return to Thorold. Yours truly, W. E. Redfern."

The trips eastward from Montreal were done with absolute radio silence as not to tip off roving U-Boat captains of traffic movements. There were many anxious hours of waiting at both Montreal, Bale Comeau and Franquelin as the canallers plodded along to their destinations. Only on arrival were telegraphed messages sent in code alerting management of the safe arrival of the ships at their destinations. They then received orders for their return voyage.

In 1942 the Canadian Government requisitioned the canallers New York News and Outarde from the Q.&O. fleet. Both canallers were given the war grey colours in an effort to blend in with the ocean, and they were dispatched to the Gulf of St. Lawrence to transport goods along the east cost. During the winter months the ships were used to haul coal from Norfolk, Virginia, to Boston. Both ships returned to Q.&O. in 1943. The New York News was handed back on May 9 while the Outarde returned to Q.&O. control on June 13. Outarde had suffered a grounding near St. Pierre and Miquelon Islands during her war runs and was repaired at Norfolk, Virginia. The New York News suffered no major incidents during this era.

With the armistice in 1945, Quebec and Ontario Transportation was ready to enter the post war era with a fleet of six ships consisting of 5 canallers and the upper laker Heron Bay. Meanwhile the Illinois Atlantic Corporation received the Colabee from the United Stales Maritime Commission and she was put back into her regular run from Baie Comeau to New York City.

POST-WAR GROWTH

The post war years brought The Quebec and Ontario Transportation Company face to face with two serious labor disputes, A strike by cutters at Heron Bay in 1946 virtually closed the loading operations for several months until the dispute could be settled.

A walk-out by the Canadian Seamen's Union in May 1946 shut down most lake operators. The Quebec and Ontario Transportation Company was an exception as they had a contract with the union. So wood and paper continued to flow to and from Thorold and Baie Comeau while ships chartered by the company were tied to the wall until the end of the dispute. Officials from Q.&O. helped bring the shipowners and unions representatives together to iron out the difficulties and end the strike. There were further labour problems until 1950 when company sailors chose to join the Seafarers' International Union.

Further expansion of Ontario timber limits at Manitoulin Island in 1947 put new burdens on the Q.&O. fleet. A total of 78,000 acres of Manitoulin and Cockburn Island woodlands consisting of poplar, spruce and balsam were at the company's disposal. Woodcutting commenced during the 1947-48 winter and since there were no suitable docks available at this area it was decided to use a floating jack ladder to load the ships with wood from log booms.

Jack ladders were used to load vessels such as BLACK RIVER at Manitoulin Island (Q&O files)

As the 1948 season commenced the fleet was in the charge of General Manager Earl Collison who had been with the company since 1937, A.G..Sweeting was the Superintendent of Engineering and the company fleet consisted of the following ships: Chicago Tribune, F.V. Mcln-tyre Master, M. McLeod Chief Engineer, Franquelin, J. O. Beaudoin Master, R. Peatman Chief, Heron Bay, G. Ferguson Master, A. Steward Chief, New York News,R. J. Brown Master, G. Coffin Chief, Outarde, W. E. Red-fern Master, W. Martin Chief, and Shelter Bay, D. Gen-dron Master, W. Smith Chief.

A further addition to the fleet in 1948 was the acquisition of the canaller Empire Rother from the British Ministry of War Transport. This vessel formerly operated on the lakes prior to the Second World War under the name Delaware of St. Lawrence Steamships Limited. After a full refit in England, the canaller sailed to Canada under her new name of Manicouagan.

MANICOUAGAN joined the fleet after World Was II (Q&O files)

In 1946 limits along the Black River section of Heron Bay consisting of 100 square miles of timberlands were leased from the Ontario government through the negotiations of Arthur Schmon. Two years later further negotiations resulted in the acquisition of the assets of Eddie Johnson (Pineland Timber Company). These included 546 square miles of Crown lands plus all developments made by the former owner including roads, dams, lumber camps plus a diesel electric powered tug Satin Leaf and two steel consort barges named Merle H. and Blanche H. This purchase tied in perfectly with the Heron Bay operations as the flume at Heron Bay could be used to load pulp wood cut on these limits. The acquisition of the two barges renamed Pic River and Black River, also helped ease the problem of excess tonnage required to handle the pulp needs of the Thorold mill. The tug, now the Rocky River, would tow the barges from Thorold to Chicago with newsprint and then, after unloading, they would be shuttled to South Chicago where they would load coal cargoes destined for Midland, Little Current or Britt on Georgian Bay. After unloading they would take on pulpwood at either Heron Bay or Gore Bay for Thorold. The barges were almost constantly carrying cargo. This helped offset the costs of the diesel electric tug but it meant a slower speed and shortened operating season due to insurance and maritime regulations.

In 1951, while in their third year of operation with the company, it was decided to refit both the Pic River and Black River at Port Weller Dry Docks with diesel engines. Under the direction of Marine Superintendent Bill Roos, the job of cutting off the sterns of the barges and installing diesels plus adding cabins fore and aft quickly took shape. Black River was completed in the fall of 1952 and Pic River during the following winter. Both vessels were very successful.
Adding diesels to the tow barges made the tug Rocky River excess tonnage to the needs of Q.&O. She was sold in 1953 to the Foundation Maritime Company of Halifax.

The early 1950's saw demands for a new and larger seaway. Parliament wanted to make the Great Lakes readily accessible to larger deep sea salties and to allow upper lakers to travel eastward with grain cargoes to elevators along the St. Lawrence River. Newly discovered iron ore ranges in Northern Quebec increased demands and soon the project of building a St. Lawrence Seaway proceeded through the co-operation of the Canadian and United States governments.

A further addition to the fleet of Q.&O, was required to meet increased pulp and paper demands from lower Quebec during the 1954 season. This brought about the building of two all welded twin screw can alters by Atlantic Shipbuilding Company of Newport, Wales. Both ships had minimal power and were constructed in such a manner as to prohibit their lengthening with the addition of a new midbody several years later. This was not the case with most of the canallers built in the 1950's.

The first of the ships to come to Canada was the motor vessel Baie Comeau. She arrived at Montreal on October 18, 1954. The second ship, the motor vessel Manicouagan, arrived in Montreal the following year on July 1, 1955, Both ships were renamed later that season to Joseph Medill Patterson and Col. Robert R. McCormick in honour of the two men who had brought about the founding of the fleet forty-one years earlier.

Changes were also taking place with the Illinois Atlantic Company. On June 28, 1950, the Colabee was sold to American interests and was replaced by the chartered Norwegian salty Elin Hope. It was found that the chartering of foreign tonnage was more economical than operating the Colabee. The Elin Hope would continue for the next decade carrying newsprint at an average trip capacity of 5,800 tons of newsprint from Baie Comeau to New York City.

With the closing of the 1958 season the Quebec and Ontario Transportation looked ahead to many changes associated with the opening the following year of the St. Lawrence Seaway. Changes in the size and number of ships was just around the corner as was a new twist in the shipping business, tolls on the Seaway and the Welland Canal. As the 1958 season ended the Q.&O. fleet numbered 10 vessels consisting of 7 canal size ships and 3 upper lakers.

The next change to come in the fleet was the sale in 1958 of the canaller Shelter Bay to N.M. Patterson of Fort William. The Shelter Bay was the oldest member of the fleet of canallers and, as New York News was the first ship to be built for the company. Her sister, the Thorold, was lost in 1940. They had served their owners well and both ships were the backbone of the fleet in its early years.