9:38pm. Early days of crossing the river. Sault Daily Star Saturday May 28 1955 Last Stage to Cross Ice , First Ferry in Spring, Events of Vital Interest in Earlier Sault Days From Sault Star on December 19 1921. As a result of the fact that he has had that very useful and valuable habit, the diary habit, Dave Lynn of the immigration staff is in a position to tell when navigation opened in the Sault any year in the last 25. IN Mr. Lynn‘s little book, in addition to various personal references, there is a mine of information in regard to the changing seasons that Sault Ste. Marie has experienced since 1897, when it commenced. It dates back to the days when the stage coach was still a regular mean of communication between the towns on either side of the river during the winter months, and before the deepening of the channels, the building of canals and breakwaters and so on had so changed the currents of the St. Mary’s River that passage across it during the season of closed navigation was extremely hazardous owing to the less solid ice sheet. This diary shows that in five winters in that period the ferry was not forced to stop running . It shows that the earliest arrival of the first boat from outside was the str. River Queen from Detour on April 1 1902. It tells of snowstorms in May and of thunderstorms in October, and gives a mass of other data. The extract follow: 1897 Last stage crossed the ice April 7. First ferry April 17 First boat from Detour, the Stinson, arrived April 21 at 5 p.m. First Canadian Boat Str. Telegram, arrived April 25 at 4 p.m. 1898 First Ferry April 5 First boat, Str. Telegram April 13 at 4 p.m. The tug Merrick arrived an hour later. 1899 Last stage crossed the ice April 13 at 9 a.m. First ferry April 22 at 6 p, m. First boat, str. Livingstone, April 29 at noon. Canadian lock opened April 26. 1900 Last stage March 23. First Ferry April 9. First boat Str. Germanic. April 22 at 10 a.m. The str. Algonquin arrived April 24 at 3 p.m. 1901 Last stage crossed the ice March 22 and the last single rig March 30. The first ferry was out April 9 and the first boat to arrive from Detour was the Str Fannie Parnell, 6:30 p.m. 1902 The first ferry ran March 14 at 3 p.m. and the first boat to arrive from Detroit was the str River Queen April 1. 1903 The first ferry ran March 25 and the first vessel from outside arrived April 9. 1904 The last stage ran March 25 and the first ferry ran April 9. The str. Minto K. Which arrived May 1, at 9 a.m. was the first vessel from outside. This year there were snow storms on April 11, 12 and 13 and in the fall the first snow fell Oct. 6 two inches of it. There was good sleighing November 28 1905 The first ferry ran March 29 the first snow in the fall was October 29. 1906 In the winter of 1905 and 1906, the ferry ran right through until February 1, and there was not sufficient ice for the first stage of the winter to cross the river until February 5. As a matter of fact, the running of the stage lasted for only 13 days, the last one being run February 18. The first ferry for the season, however, did not venture forth until April 3. The first vessel from the outside was the Str. Midland King, which arrived April 15 at 7:45 p.m. This year there was snow on October 9, but the last passenger vessel the Huronic, did not pass down until December13. 1907 The last ferry for the winter ran January 22, and the same day the first stage mate its trip. The last stage was March 15, and the first ferry April 1 at noon. There was a fall five inches of snow on April 16 and the first boat did not arrive until April 24, when the Str. Payne appeared on scene. 1908 The first ferry in 1908 ran March 26. A notable feature of the weather of this year was a heavy thunderstorm November 26. 1909 The first ferry got out April 4, but the thermometer went down to two degrees below zero April 10 and there was skating in the rink April 11. The str. French the first to come in , arrived April 20. There was a snow storm May 26 and 27 and goods were delivered around the city by sleighs. 1910 The ferry continued to run all through the winter of 1909 and 1910 and the first vessel to arrive in the spring was the tug General April 16 at 4 p.m. 1911 This season again the ferry continued to run all winter. The first vessel to arrive in spring was the Str. Rochester April 5 at 2:15 p.m. 1912 This was the third successive season that the ferry ran all through the winter. The first boat up was the Str. Agawa, which arrived April 24. 1913 The ferry continued running until February 6. It resumed less than a month later, March 3 but after running until March 11 was forced to give up the battle with the ice until April 10, when it resumed for the season. The first vessel from outside was the icebreaker St. Ignace, which arrived from DeTour April 12. 1914 The ferry stopped running February 5 an started again March 14. The first outside vessel was the J.A. McKee April 22 1915 The ferry barely saw 1915 as it stopped running New Years day. A shuttle train was operated between the two Saults from January 12 to March 19, and on March 20 the ferry resumed operations. The J.A. McKee was again the first boat from outside arriving April16. 1916 The ferry stopped running January 18 and from January 19 to April 5 a shuttle train was run across the bridge. On the latter date the ferry made its first trip of the season. On April 18 two Icebreakers, the Algoma and Nevada arrived and right behind them came the str. Henry Cort., a “pig.” 1917 The ferry ran all winter, but for part of the time docked at the Government Dock. From March 19 to March 29 there was no service, because of a big ice field. The first boat up was the ice breaker Algoma April 17. There was slush ice in the river from April 25 to May 23 and there was a continuous snowstorm on May 22 and 23. 1918 the ferry ran until January 13, when it quit until March 22. The str. Sullivan and the str. W.C. Franz arrived April 23. The ferry did not operate from October 12 to December 9, because of the influenza epidemic. 1919 In the winter of 1918 -19 the river was open all through and the ferry never had occasion to stop. Even in January Kibby and Shields tug was towing wood from Sugar Island to the American Sault. The first boat to operate in this section, the str. Premier, left the Sault for Richards Landing April 9 and the Str. Eugene C. Pargny arrived from below. 1920 For the winter of 1919 -20 the ferry ceased running December 16 and did not resume until March 26. The str. Harvester, the first vessel to arrive, was sighted at 9.30 a.m. April 19, 1921 The ferry ceased running January 19 and resumed March 12. The first freight boat upbound was the str. Shaungessy April 7, and the first downbound was the Peter Reiss April 10. There was a heavy snowstorm May 14 and 15, over eight inches of snow falling.
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 03:43:39 +0000
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