STEAMERS 151 



when the Norwegian collier Storstad sank 

 the Empress of Ireland off Rimouski in 

 1914. 



The five principal features of Canadian 

 steamship history have now been pointed out : 

 JohnMolson's pioneer boats, the Royal William, 

 the Allan line, the ' R. and O.' (now the 

 Canada Steamship Lines), and the 'C.P.R.' 

 No other individual feature has any note- 

 worthy Canadian peculiarities. Nor does the 

 general evolution of steam navigation in or 

 around Canada differ notably, in other respects, 

 from the same evolution elsewhere. Steamers 

 have adapted themselves to circumstances in 

 Canada very much as they have in other 

 countries, pushing their persistent way step 

 by step into all the navigable waters, fresh 

 or salt. The Canadian waters, especially the 

 fresh waters, certainly have some marked 

 characteristics of their own, but the steamers 

 have acquired no special character in con- 

 sequence. 



Both Canadian and visiting steamers have 

 always had their duplicates on many other 

 oceans, lakes, and rivers. There is the ubi- 

 quitous tug ; stubby, noisy, self-assertive, small ; 

 but, in its several varieties, the handiest all- 



