The First Steamer 



The first steamer was the "Ontario," launched in 

 Lake Ontario in 1816, to be followed two years later by 

 the "Walk in the Water," which opened steam navigation 

 on Lake Erie; from that time onward, steam rapidly 

 replaced sail-power, until to-day a sailing vessel is a rare 

 sight on the lakes. Up to 1830, there were only eight steam- 

 ers on the Great Lakes, the largest being the "Superior," 

 which measured 346 tons. Building was very rapid from 

 1830 on. The "Michigan," launched_at Detroit in 1833, 

 was the largest, and had sleeping accommodation for 108 

 passengers. The steamer " Great Western," commissioned 

 in 1839, was the first vessel to have passenger accommo- 

 dation on two decks, and during the time she was building, 

 grave doubts were expressed as to her seaworthiness. 

 These early steamers were all wood burners. 



As the tide of immigration flowed westward to Illinois 

 and Wisconsin, the demand for passenger accommodation 

 became so great that a daily service was established 

 between Buffalo and Chicago. 



These passenger boats were all fairly fast, making 

 the trip from Buffalo to Chicago in from three to four 

 days, counting, of course, time of stoppage at way ports 

 and time lost in fueling. The passenger boats were all 

 side-wheelers and handsomely fitted up, in some cases 

 elaborately decorated. 



The year 1850 marked the height of the side-wheel 

 passenger traffic. At that time there were sixteen first-class 

 steamers between Buffalo and Chicago, two boats leaving 

 each port daily, and while passengers offered, they were 

 profitable, four to five hundred passengers per'steamer being 

 not unusual. The building of the railroads, however, 

 gradually cut the business away, until by 1860 side- 

 wheeler boats were practically out of business; the passen- 

 ger business had gone, and they could not compete in 

 freight service with the less expensively operated screw- 

 propelled vessels. 



The First Propeller Boat 



The first propeller boat was the "Vandalia," 138 

 tons, built at Oswego in 1841. The first steam propeller 

 vessel on Lake Superior was the "Independence," which 

 was launched in Lake Superior in 1846. At that time there 

 were only four so-called ports on Lake Superior, and the 

 landings were made from anchorage in small boats. 



It is interesting to note that the side-wheeler passenger 

 boat is eventually coming back to its own. The very fine 

 passenger steamers operating between Buffalo, Cleveland 

 and Detroit are all of this type. 



The first merchant iron vessel was the "Merchant," 

 built at Buffalo in 1861. From that time, iron and steel 

 rapidly replaced wood. In the Eighties, the "Onako," 

 281 feet long, was considered a marvel, having carried 

 110,000 bushels of corn, the greatest cargo on record, until 

 in 1897 the "Amazon" took 230,000 bushels. 



The size has increased year by year, until to-day we 

 have the "Grant Morden," 604 feet long, which has 

 carried close to 750,000 bushels of oats. The deepening 

 of the harbors and river channels, the increasing size of 

 the Soo canal, improvements and aids to navigation in 

 general, coupled with rapidly increasing traffic, have made 

 this possible, and where a few years ago it was necessary 

 to use one, two, or even three, tow barges to a propeller 

 in order to move a profitable quantity of freight, to-day 

 this necessity is gone. 



The Whalcback Appears 



The Whaleback made its appearance in 1889, but 

 has now practically disappeared. They were fit only for 

 bulk cargoes, were very uncomfortable for crews in rough 

 weather, and with the improvement in the channels, their 

 one advantage of carrying a large load on a light draft 

 has disappeared. 



The present type of bulk freighter has been developed 

 to meet the requirements of limited draft and rapid 

 handling of bulk cargoes, and has been improved from year 



to year, until the latest vessels are admirably adapted 

 to moving traffic at a minimum of expense and time, and 

 also to meet general conditions of lake navigation. 



The seagoing car ferry and the icebreaker are both 

 types which nave been especially developed on the lakes. 

 When the Trans-Siberian Railway was being built, the 

 Russian Government sent a commission to study the 

 working of these icebreakers, and the ferries they built 

 for service across the Siberian Lakes were duplicates of 

 those in service across the Straits of Makinac. The hand- 

 ling of railway trains on car ferries was recognized as a 

 specialty during the Great War, and a corps of car ferry 

 men were recruited on the lakes to handle the ferrying 

 of cars across the English Channel. 



The Modern Lake Fleet 



While the Canadian Pacific Railway was building, 

 the work of construction was much slower along the rocky 

 shores of Lake Superior than it was from Fort William 

 westward across the prairies. To bridge the gap, the Com- 

 pany built three steamers in 1883 on the Clyde. They 

 crossed the Atlantic under their own steam, were cut 

 in two at Montreal, towed up the canals in sections and 

 rejoined at Buffalo. They operated between Owen Sound, 

 Port Arthur and Fort William, and besides general 

 merchandise, carried a great deal of material which went 

 into the construction of the Western Section of the railroad. 



The "Algoma" was lost in 1885, but her engines were 

 recovered and put into the "Manitoba" when built in 

 1889, and are still giving good service. The "Alberta" 

 and the "Athabasca" were lengthened in 1911 and 1910, 

 respectively, and are still in active service. The "Assini- 

 boia" and the "Keewatin" were added to the fleet in 

 1907, and although they have been surpassed in size, are 

 as yet unequalled in seaworthiness and comfort. 



Henry Beatty Built Early Fleet 



The original boats were built under the supervision 

 of Mr. Henry Beatty, father of President E. W. Beatty, 

 of the C.P.R., and so well were they planned that notwith- 

 standing their age they are still, as package freighter!, 

 equal to anything on the lakes. 



Canada's Banking System 



The Canadian banking system is universally 

 admired, the more so since the war, when the 

 Dominion's institutions, previously acting under 

 a policy of conservatism, realized the advantages 

 of establishing branches in foreign countries 

 instead of dealing through other banks, and 

 widened the scope of their operations to include 

 the greater portion of the globe. The system of 

 the operation of Canadian banks makes for 

 simplification and thoroughness, whilst the 

 unquestionable soundness of the chartered 

 institutions affords the investor or client the 

 most ample protection and satisfaction. 



The regulation of banking, the incorporation 

 of banks, and the issue of paper money in Canada 

 falls exclusively within the legislative authority 

 of the Dominion or Federal parliament, and 

 there are no "provincial" banks corresponding 

 to the "state" banks of the United States. 

 Banks in Canada established under the Bank 

 Act are called Chartered Banks, receiving 

 charters from the Dominion government author- 

 izing them to open branches and agencies, deal 

 in coin and bullion, lend money on various 



