STEAMERS 147 



through, against long odds, was quite enough 

 for one distinguished business lifetime. He 

 began by running a line of sailing craft between 

 Montreal and the mother country in con- 

 junction with his father's firm in Glasgow. 

 Then, in 1853, he and his brother headed a 

 company which ordered two iron screw 

 steamers to be built in Scotland for the St 

 Lawrence. The first of these, the Canadian, 

 came out to Quebec on her maiden voyage in 

 1854 ; but both she and her sister ship were 

 soon diverted to the Crimea, where high rates 

 were being paid for transports during the war. 

 In 1858 the Allans contracted with the 

 government for a weekly mail service and 

 bought out all their partners, as they alone 

 considered that the time had come for such a 

 venture. The subsidy was doubled the next 

 year to prevent the collapse of the service after 

 a widespread financial panic. But heavy for- 

 feits were imposed for lateness in delivering 

 mails, an adverse factor in the greatest fight 

 against misfortune ever known to Canadian 

 shipping history. Within eight years the 

 Allans lost as many vessels. In every case 

 there was disastrous loss of property ; in some, 

 a total loss of everything — vessel, cargo, crew, 

 and passengers. 



