SIDE BENEFITS

Although the life ring says U. S. Coast Guard, this small lifeboat,
according to Eric Bonow, came from the American Girl, which
is now displayed in the Gills Rock Maritime Museum.
(Eric Bonow photo)

Washington Island, Wisconsin -

When a topic presents itself, as did  Jim Anderson's stories of freighting with his close family members on the vessel American Girl, research and information can take unusual turns, and that's a fun side benefit to doing such projects.

I'm referring to the work done with Jim Anderson for his book, Memories of the American Girl - Stories of a Washington Island family freighting business.  Although the print run wasn't large, sales have been unexpectedly, pleasantly brisk in the past several weeks, encouraging me to reorder from Seaway, the Green Bay printer we worked with.

An interest I had in doing this book was to learn a bit more about the American Girl as a vessel, both before and after the Andersons owned and sailed her from Washington Island.  And, too, the Oil Queen, their tank barge built especially for hauling oil products from the Green Bay terminal to Sturgeon Bay and Washington Island.

I often go to Eric Bonow for answers to my questions, and even when he's out on the lakes in his capacity as a mate aboard one of the Great Lakes ore boats, he generally responds within a day or less, providing me with helpful direction, additional information, photos, maps or charts, and other connecting bits.   Such were the two photos he took of the old American Girl lifeboat, now on display at the Gills Rock Maritime Museum. I'm also looking at an old photo of the American Girl - on file with the Bowling Green University's Collection of the Great Lakes - when she was new, in Benton Harbor, Michigan.

American Girl as new vessel in 1922,
with lifeboat on after, upper deck.  Also, this
original profile matches closely the modifications of the
American Girl by Matt Fogg of Fogg Towing, and
St. James Marine, of Beaver Island.  (photo
from Great Lakes Historical Collection,
Bowling Green University.)

It appears to be the same lifeboat  boat that is shown on the top deck, judging by lines, length, and so on.

Later photos of when the Andersons sailed her depict a smaller, newer model tucked behind the pilot house of the American Girl, probably lighter, easier to handle, and less prone to leaking.  Here is one photo, from the mid-1960s, with Jim Anderson on the upper deck, with the newer lifeboat version secured in the background.

Jim Anderson on top deck of American Girl.
(Jim Anderson photo)

Trip to Ironton

In order to see the American Girl as she looks today, and to obtain a comparison photo or two for Jim's book, I rode the Badger car ferry with Tom Wilson on a wet day in mid-May.

I was fortunate to able to first connect with owner Matt Fogg by phone to set up a visit for Saturday morning.  On the previous day he had been working at North Fox Island and just returned to his docks at Ironton, Michigan.

Matt met us at his landing property a  few hundred yards west of the Ironton cable ferry.  This ferry provides a shortcut across an arm of Lake Charlevoix that leads to East Jordan, Michigan.  This location was, conveniently, a mere 20-minute drive from son Thor's home in Boyne City.

The exterior of the American Girl looked great, as did the wheel house and interior spaces above decks.

Much maintenance work was done by Matt and his crew to keep her useful and operational during his years of ownership.

Below decks, the former wooden bulkheads that separated the machinery space from the rest of the vessel have been mostly removed.  (Those bulkheads also served as vertical points to stack freight against to keep it from shifting when underway, according to Jim Anderson.)

Standing near the Caterpillar engine, one can look fore and aft to see both stem and stern.  It is one, long and open space.

Original, riveted shell plating clearly shows without any sort of inner liner to cover it up.  The general look reminded me of a gill net tug, only much larger.

The American Girl wasn't used much in recent years because Matt nicely refitted a former U. S. Army tugboat he acquired on the east coast a year or two ago.  This new tug has more power (a single, Cat 3508 engine), with more speed, a good towing winch, and spacious accommodations for himself and his crew when they engage in long tows or contract construction work where they're away from home for long periods of time.  The Fogg landing in Ironton provides room for staging and loading materials and large pieces of equipment, much of it destined for Beaver or nearby Michigan islands.   This is a niche business that also hauls up cargo that the Beaver Island ferry is unable to carry.

With owner, Capt. Matt Fogg, on the American Girl.
A part of the former bulkhead can still be seen at left.

The American Girl, should anyone be seriously interested, is for sale, according to Fogg.

Her hull is sound.  The pilot house appears to be well-appointed and ideally set up for long transits.

Matt is presently working on an overhaul of the engine, and several system components, such as the sewage holding tank, will be modified.  But, the basics are certainly there, and the vessel is in near-ready to sail status.

All of this is quite amazing, I find, for a vessel that has seen her share of hard work in all sorts of conditions, and has wintered in ice, most of her 94 years.

And, finally, thanks to Eric Bonow who stuck his camera lens through the Basic shipyard facility chainlink fence one day, on a pleasure walk from the Escanaba ore docks.  His photo shows the Oil Queen resting in a field.  As far as we know, this is still her home and it will likely remain so until she's cut up for scrap.   The deep hull was built for holding liquid product is not readily adaptable for other work, and with today's current requirements for double-skin tankers, it is obsolete and non-compliant as a product tanker.

American Girl, below decks, looking aft.

After a second career on Beaver Island under the ownership of the Gillespie
family members, Oil Queen was retired.  Today, a new tanker that meets
U. S. Coast Guard requirements hauls oil products to Beaver Island.
(Eric Bonow photo)

These are but a few of the side trips made to learn more about the vessels used in the Anderson freighting business.



-   Dick Purinton

ISLAND WATERFRONT - Part VII - Elbow Light

Arrow points to a vertical timber lifted by ice, its lower end
still embedded in the base of stones.  This aid marked the old
channel into Detroit Harbor.  Many years, during average
water levels, both this timber and the rock pile
supporting it lay just beneath the surface.  The modern-day
aid (#8) is a steel nun chained to a cement anchor
and maintained by the U. S.  Coast Guard.

Washington Island, Wisconsin -

Over the weekend of Feb. 21 we drove around the upper part of Lake Michigan to visit son Thor.  It was his 35th birthday.   If he thought those 35 years went by quickly, it was like lightning for us.

Passing through Green Bay, I took the opportunity to have my three month check-up on the titanium implants in my knees.   I received confirmation that the occasional clicking sensation in my new joints - something that concerned me - was simply the clatter of plastic inserts glued to the underside of each patella.  It wasn't quite the same as sloppy clearances on valve tappets, I was told, and I shouldn't worry as it's quite a normal function of artificial knees.

We looked forward to our winter's trip from the Island, and the further north we drove into the UP, the snow showed greater accumulation, more in keeping with expected ground cover for late February than our skimpy Island snow cover.   A major portion of the highway vehicle traffic we saw, especially as we drew closer to the Straits, consisted of 4-wheel drive vehicles pulling snowmobile trailers, dozens and dozens of them.

Between card games and snacks at our comfortable hotel in Petosky, we sandwiched in a couple of visits to the Van Dam shop in Boyne City to observe progress on their latest boat building projects.  Friday afternoon I met several of the craftsmen who were still working, winding up the last half-hour of their day and their workweek before they put tools away, swept up and departed for the weekend.

For someone who enjoys this specialized boat construction process, there's a lot to take in at the Van Dam shop.

The hull of a sandbagger, a uniquely developed
 Chesapeake Bay sailboat design, takes shape
quickly as the first longitudinal strips are added.
Here, at the end of the day, Thor scrapes
excess epoxy oozing from joints of
recently attached strips.   Beamy, bow-on view
with low freeboard resembles a Viking
longboat.

Strips of cedar, about one inch in thickness, provide the first
layer in this sailboat's hull.   Two more layers of 1/8"thick
mahogany strips, laid on a 45-degree bias,
will follow, also held in place with epoxy.  Due to
hull curvature, stainless screws and washers
 are used to secure strips until the
epoxy dries, after which time they'll be removed.

So far, this blog departs from the subject of my previous several blog entries, but doing so allows me to get underway slowly by inserting a few loosely related comments and photos, before spinning off into a continuation of Island waterfront history.

From the ferry's deck the morning we left, against the low sunlight I noticed a timber projecting upward from the old stone pile, the remains of the original channel marker.  During these past two months this same timber has risen between 3-4 feet, forced upward by the grip of ice and the rise in harbor water levels brought on by strong southerly winds.

My photo (at top) shows what nearly every winter traveler sees from the Arni J. Richter as the ferry departs from the Island dock and makes its turn southward down the channel and on toward Northport.  I highlighted the old timber with a hand-drawn circle and arrow.  The modern day red nun marking the east side of the dredged channel is frozen in the foreground ice.   You may recall I pointed out the old channel marker in my Jan. 31 blog, noted in a photo in which Dora Engelson stood before the ferry Welcome with several children in tow, taken sometime in the early 1940s.   As a novice, I learned from Captain Nathan Gunnlaugsson that this pile of stones with a timber protruding from it marked the "false channel."  It had been worn down so by ice movement and waves that most years it lay in waiting beneath the surface to snag unsuspecting boaters.  This "false channel" was the original, or natural, channel denoting acceptable depths, and it was used for many years by vessels entering Detroit Harbor proper.

The forces that are brought about by the hydraulic lift of the lake, following hard freezing around an object, has destroyed many a massive crib of timbers filled with stones.   We can see evidence along the island shoreline today of old fishing docks, torn apart even when considerable efforts were made by the pier owners to repair them.  Eventually, most crib docks and timbers were leveled, some in only a few years' time.   So, it comes as no surprise that a single timber remaining upright from an old navigational mark should be lifted by the ice, too.  What does amazes me is that this process took so many decades, including years when the stub projected above the lake level.  This winter, mother nature managed to extract this timber.

What is the history of this particular stone pile with timber?  Eric Bonow sent along some interesting information about the origin of this navigational marker, officially referred to as "The Elbow Light" (likely it referred to the dog-leg course change leading mariners into Detroit Harbor from the West Channel).   The photos and documents provided by Eric are courtesy of the Washington Island Archives.

At far left, the "Elbow" marker when it was in good shape (year unknown).  
 An unidentified small sloop heads into the harbor, its crew 
bundled in jackets and caps.  In the background on "Richter's Point,"  
Detroit Island, are buildings of the old fishing camp.

Fred Richter's application for a fixed red light was
made July 31, 1924, at a time when small freighters,
commercial fishing vessels, and relatively recent
auto & passenger ferries entered Detroit Harbor
with frequency.  The photo of a Goodrich steamer was
included with his application as an example of area maritime
trade, but it is unlikely this steamer (or any of similar
size) ever navigated to or from Detroit Harbor.

Fred Richter was one of nine children of Jacob and Anna Marie (Kalmbach) Richter.  He fished, along with his wife, Ida (Cornell), and they at one time owned the Pearl, a  boat named after their daughter.  (Two sons were Roy and Earl.)  The Pearl, according to a record of vessels compiled by CAPT Gene Gislason, was just under 30-ft. in length, and had been built by Nels Jepson in Detroit Harbor in 1906.



In the official Great Lakes light list, published some time after the light was installed, the aid's characteristics were as follows:

Fixed red, in 7 feet, on east side of north end of channel, at turn.

The light was affixed ten feet above high water, atop an "unpainted pile."

Under Light List "Remarks":
      Maintained by Mrs. Fred Richter, Detroit Harbor, Wis.

Anyone who has been boating at night in this harbor without the benefit of radar, GPS or depth finder knows how hard it can be to differentiate land formations from good water.   Although the gas buoy was in place at this time, located seaward from the entrance to the West Channel, we can assume the addition of this Elbow Light was welcomed enthusiastically by mariners for both nighttime and daytime navigation.

-  Dick Purinton

ISLAND WATERFRONT - Then and Now - Part VI

It's sometimes easy to think romantically of the past, and this photo showing
passengers aboard the Wisconsin at their leisure, a few with sun (?) umbrellas
 may feed such an urge.  However, it is doubtful these passengers could have
found shelter if a rainstorm came on suddenly.  And, the chill of the lake was
theirs to deal with until they made land on either side of the passage, for there
was little protection to be had.
Not so much different than aboard the Karfi today, I am reminded!
(photo from Bell Collection, Wm. Jepson the likely
photographer.)

Washington Island, Wisconsin -

When I wrote in the last blog in this series about the Washington Island waterfront over the years, describing early ferry boat efforts, I mistakenly omitted the wooden ferry H. J. Davis that competed, for a very brief time it appears, with the Wisconsin.  I say only the vessel Wisconsin, because I'm not certain for how many years the Marion and Navarre operated as ferries.   One mention in The Door County Advocate, in July 1928, mentioned the Marion had delivered cedar posts to Sheboygan from Cedar River, and in the paragraph that followed, that the H. J. Davis delivered cement to Sturgeon Bay.  It would seem that in the height of the season, the transportation of freight was the main source of income and purpose for those two vessels.  I'm uncertain how the Navarre fared as a ferry once placed in service.

I was advised by none other than Eric Bonow to "hold the presses" (but the blog had already taken flight into the ethernet) and so I'll provide a correction, an addition, actually, here.  With the previous blog I had been using clippings provided me by Eric Greenfeldt, all of which came from The Door County News, one of two newspapers that flourished for a time in Door County.  When I reached the final clipping, I ended my blog.

We have Ann (Herschberger) Young and daughter Carolyn Foss
to thank for this great shot of the Wisconsin departing Gislason's
dock, sometime prior to 1928, the year when Capt. Jepson
began using the new Welcome.  This is from a Herschberger
photo album.

From Eric Bonow, then, I received the following pertinent excerpts on the H. J. Davis mentioned in columns of The Door County Advocate (DCA).  She was referred to in a 1915 report as "the little auxiliary schooner" carrying pulpwood, and in another mention in 1918 as "the gasoline hooker".  In 1920, she was credited as the "auxiliary schooner…bringing a cargo of potatoes…Walter Goodlet is master." By 1923, Mike Anderson was listed as captain of the Davis, and hay was the cargo loaded in Sturgeon Bay for Menominee, Michigan.

So it may be with some surprise that in August 31, 1928, it was announced the J. H. (sic) Davis was purchased by Art Weber from Mike Anderson for the purpose of serving Washington Island as a ferry boat.  The dimensions of the H. J. Davis were given:  20-ft. beam; 75 ft. length; capacity of five autos besides passengers and "considerable freight," and would, through alterations, be capable of carrying seven autos the following year.  Capt. James Sorenson, owner of the West Harbor Hotel, would be "handling the craft," while Milton Hansen, also of the Island, would act as shore captain.   A daily schedule was also announced.

We have no idea how many days the Davis operated to and from the Island, but in the DCA of Sept. 24, 1928 its stint as a ferry appears to have ended:  "The new ferry Davis, which operated a short while as a ferry boat carrying cars and passengers across the Door, has gone into general freighting
for the rest of the fall.  Since the resort season is practically over, the ferry Wisconsin will be able to handle all of the traffic during the rest of the season."

Another wonderful photo from the Herschberger album shows an early,
unidentifiable vessel under sail.   This gaff rig was apparently used for saving
on fuel, and as the means of salvation if the motor quit.  
Hard to say what vessel this is for certain, since these small freighters 
tended to look very much like one another from a distance.   
Does anyone venture a guess?  

The Davis appears to have returned to freighting and "special ops," more or less on a permanent basis.  In November of that year, the Davis retrieved a damaged Cherryland Airways airplane (the first plane in Sturgeon Bay) from Green Island, located six miles or so from Menominee, Michigan.   And in the fall of 1929, the Davis was reported to have taken a load of coal to Sister Bay.  Art Weber of the Weber Dredging Co. was listed as owner, and the newspaper reported that the H. J. Davis was up for sale, "a good carrier and a staunch craft for coastwise trade."

A photo Eric Bonow emailed (but which I don't have permission to reprint here) shows the Davis having similar lines as the vessel Marion, except for being in a very 'tired' looking condition.  My conjecture is that this vessel worked hard over the years as a small freighter, and that its life as a ferry boat amounted to a very brief period before it returned to its familiar role as freighter or small hooker.   Art Weber, listed as owner at least for a period of time, and who also owned a dredge company, was employed by C. H. Thordarson for excavation of the shoreline on the southwest shore of Rock Island late in 1925, where the foundation for Thordarson's Rock Island boathouse began.

In this photo Gordon Jepson appears in the window of the pilot house.
The passenger second from left below him is Gene Gislason, and
it is very likely Gene's brother alongside him.  Others have not been
identified.  Capt. William Jepson operated the North Shore 
beginning in 1933.(the photographer is unknown, but one copy 
is in the Herschberger family album, and it may be the original.)

One more mention came in my book Over and Back (1990) in which Gordy Jepson, son of William P. Jepson, recalled the name H. J. Davis:   "...a 70-75 foot boat, running from Teskies in Gills Rock to Nor Shellswick's on the Island."  Gordon also said in the 1990 interview that, "After Gills Rock replaced the farther port of Ellison Bay, most of the other boats which had made similar runs quit operating.  Dad landed at Gislason's dock, in Jensenville, near the present Shipyard Marina.  He sold the Wisconsin in the spring of '29 to Chris Andersen, who used her as a freighter once again to Green Bay.  Dad had built the Welcome for use as a ferry, and she could carry ten cars.  The Welcome was also built of wood, by Sturgeon Bay Shipbuilding and Dry Dock.  Dad pulled me out of school to become a deckhand.  Other deckhands working for Dad during these years were:  Ralph Wade, my brother-in-law;  Ray Andersen;  Walt Hansen;  and Ernie Lockhart."

Two photos of the Wisconsin moored at the Ida Bo dock (now Findlay's Holiday Inn) appear in Over and Back (pages 29 and 38) , and these could have been taken when the boat was employed as a freighter, possibly before or after the regular tourism season.  The Ida Bo dock, however, didn't have the width necessary for loading autos.

 -  Dick Purinton

EARLY DETROIT HARBOR PASSENGER VESSEL SERVICE

Detroit Harbor, Washington Island -

A light rain is falling, and there is a temporary lull in tourism this afternoon, a good time to consider a new blog.  I've had some of these images on my computer screen for months, waiting for that opportunity to string them together with observations.

What got me started on this was the topic of dredging and dock work, and how one thing builds on another over the years and decades.  The present island ferry dock was formerly the property of Ole Christianson who had a boatyard and marine railway there.  If you're interested in more details on that yard, a letter from Ole to Thordarson is included in the about-to-be-published Thordarson and Rock Island.  Thordarson, it turns out, was interested enough in Ole's boatyard to exchange letters with him and get a price.  Ole, it is assumed, was what we call today a "motivated seller" because when Thordarson didn't bite, William Jepson who operated the ferries from the shipyard location at the far end of the harbor did.  Jepson moved his ferry landing and began to make dock improvements.  (This move would also have entailed the improvement of a road for motorized vehicles to and from the Lobdell Point area.  John W. Cornell recalled walking to work along a footpath when he first expanded his dock, where the current Island Outpost dock is now situated.)

North Shore moored inside the slip.
Barrels are lined up along the Standard Oil
dock to the north.  Chambers house is
in background (right).

In the first photo I think we can safely say the North Shore is backing from the location that is also the current ferry landing, backing "into the channel" so-to-speak.  Since the exact year isn't known, there might not yet have been a dredged channel, only a naturally deep waterway. (It was first dredged in 1937.)  Jepson wasn't the only operator to carry autos.  But he appears to be the first to do so, and the first to operate a regularly scheduled service using two ferries, the Welcome and the North Shore, built expressly for passenger and auto service from the Island to the Door Peninsula.

Earlier passenger service?

Eric Bonow provided the 1909 timetable below that outlines early passenger service options to upper Green Bay ports, including Detroit Harbor.   The larger Bon Ami or Sailor Boy made the main run between Sturgeon Bay and Marinette-Menominee, and then north to Escanaba.  A smaller vessel, Thistle, was used to call on smaller harbors along the Door Peninsula.  If someone from Washington Island wished to go to Escanaba, for instance, they could board the Thistle from Gislason's dock (near present day Shipyard Marina), and then transfer near the harbor's entrance to the northbound Bon Ami, which then continued on its way to Escanaba.  When southbound, the Bon Ami or Sailor Boy would stop in Washington Harbor, but apparently only when there was demand.

The fact that trains could be met at Sturgeon Bay or Marinette/Menominee (also at Escanaba, although it is not stated on the Time Card) made it a convenient means of scheduling travel.   It was with such possibilities that C. H. Thordarson often arrived in Escanaba, Michigan, from Chicago by train in later years.  A smaller boat trip completed his last leg to his Rock Island estate.

 Although it is hard to read the fine print, Eric highlighted the Thistle's name in yellow.  Passengers who wished to disembark in Detroit Harbor would also transfer from the larger Hart Line boat to the smaller Thistle near the harbor's entrance.  Then Thistle and her crew were optimized with an offer of "cheap excursion rates outside of Detroit Harbor every pleasant afternoon" to help fill time before she began her run south.

A promotion ran in the Time Card:  if passengers continued to Escanaba, they would arrive in the evening, "Giving all our passengers a chance to approach the city by night and view the immense ore docks lighted by electricity, which is a beautiful sight."

Other early Detroit Harbor vessel activity

Another Eric, Eric Greenfeldt, sent me a volume of great information in the form of early newspaper article reprints.  These clippings tell of the very first beginnings of  ferry transportation on Washington Island.  Here is a sampling:

The Door County News (DCN) of 22 May 1919 reported Capt. Carl Hanson of Washington Island, owner and master of the gasoline freighter Marion, stated his intention to make twice daily round trips from Detroit Harbor to Garret Bay (west of Gills Rock).

In the next few weeks, Hanson apparently sold (or leased) the Marion to William Jepson.  The June 26, 1919 issue reported the first trip carrying an automobile, the ferry Marion under Jepson's authority.  Success of the undertaking, it was noted, depended upon the "patronage of the public." But a "large increase in the number of autos during the past and first of the present season" was optimistically noted.  Also described was "a dock being built at Gills Rock for the ferry to discharge the autos conveniently and expeditiously, and the work will be completed by the end of the week."

Highways and automobiles led to a decline, then the end, of around-the-bay services such as the Hart Line offered.

The Marion's schedule and rates as advertised in the July 10 DCN:  Trips were twice daily.  Round trip rates were $5.00 for small cars, $7.00 for touring cars.  Passengers were 75 cents each, one way.  An accompanying column noted that "The line promises to become a popular mode of travel when brought to the attention of the outside world."

[We're still working on that...]

Competition was in the wings.  The following account appeared in the April 21, 1920 issue of the DCN:

Pete Anderson, the Mail Carrier, Will Carry Cars Across the Door In His New Boat

Washington Island is to have a ferry service again during the coming summer for the accommodation of the inhabitants of that part of the county as well as the tourists trade.

Pete Anderson, the hustling mail carrier, is the man behind the proposition and he will combine it with his regular business of handling Uncle Sam's mail and carrying passenger s back and forth.

During the past winter Pete purchased the big gasoline yacht Navarre which formerly belonged to Judge Turner, now deceased, and during the past couple of weeks, he with Thos. Johnson and George Jorgenson have been busily engaged at Two Rivers in converting the craft into a business boat.   She was thoroughly overhauled below the waterline and is now as good as new.

On Monday, Mr. Anderson, accompanied by Messr. Johnson and Jorgenson, arrived in the city with the boat on their way to Washington Island, stopping only long enough at the yards of the Fuller Goodman company on the west side to take on a load of material with which to finish the craft.  It is the intention to put in exceptionally heavy beams and decks for carrying automobiles.  The upperworks and decks will be put in at Detroit Harbor during the ensuing month, it being the intention to have her ready for commission along about the first of June.  The Navarre is 56 feet long and 15 feet wide and will be capable of carrying three cars handily.  She is an exceptionably fine boat.  The owners will also have accommodations for passengers as well.

Mr. Anderson has not as yet figured out just what schedule he will run on , but this will be announced at a later date.

There are a large number of autos owned on the Island, which together with those of people who wish to visit the place should provide a good business for the ferry.  
(Note:  In this early newspaper article the word "autos" appears with an "e," similar to "potatoes," a new word then for editors and readers alike.)

Well, enough for one rainy day.

Eric Greenfeldt sent me quite a few column inches reporting discussions leading to that first official auto being carried by Jepson on the ferry Marion in 1919.  When it rains again, and tourism doesn't require my services, we'll continue with this subject.

-  Dick Purinton

ANOTHER ROCK ISLAND BOAT PHOTO!

What is this vessel at the boathouse dock?

Rock Island, Wisconsin -

 Photos of at least half a dozen different vessels of substantial length shown at the Rock Island dock are archived in the Thordarson collection.

Here is another head-scratcher, as it doesn't look at all familiar as a Washington Island vessel.

In early April we asked friend Eric Bonow, once again, to give us his opinion.  From the James L. Oberstar, while crossing Lake Erie, he sent this information:

     "Well, that's not too hard a mystery.  That looks like the Marold II, originally Alexander Winton's yacht LaBelle.  He was a Cleveland industrialist, early in the auto and engine business.  The yacht was sold and eventually converted to a freighter in 1925.  It was owned by the Hill family from Fish Creek and elsewhere, including Washington Island, and ended her days when they were salvaging gasoline off a tanker grounded across the lake near Beaver Island.  That explosion in 1937 finished her off.  I've included the data sheet from the archival collection at Bowling Green, which has a picture of it as a freighter, but not in the original configuration.

     "The internet has slowed to a crawl here, but I hope to find an appropriate picture to include. --- It is now "later" and while the internet is somewhat faster I was unable to find a picture of the LaBelle as the LaBelle.  However, if you discount the cabin in the photos, the hull us very much like many of the early, large steam (and in this case gasoline / diesel) yachts.  Long, low, skinny, with masts and a central stack.

     "There were quite a few of these yachts put to use.  The Thistle of the Hart Line was one, and another was the Winyah that ran the north shore of Lake Superior to drop off supplies at commercial fishing camps and bring the fish to Duluth for shipment to market.  that boat had been Andrew Carnagie's yacht."

Thanks to one of our readers, here is a link to the Marold disaster that you may find interesting:

http://www3.gendisasters.com/michigan/15425/beaver-island-mi-mail-boat-marold-ii-explodes-jan-1937

-  Dick Purinton

ROCK ISLAND SIDE TRIP

Steamer Saugatuck at Rock Island
(from Washington Island Archives)

Washington and Rock Islands -

Part of the explanation for my blogs being intermittent this winter, even though I officially consider myself "half time"at the Ferry Line office and therefore partly retired, is that I've been working on a history I'm calling Thordarson and Rock Island.

This has been an enjoyable project in many ways, and I've learned a great deal about the former owner, his life, and how Rock Island was changed by him, and in turn how he and his family were influenced by Rock Island. (Most readers know that for almost 50 years Rock Island has been a Wisconsin State Park.)

For nearly seven years, off and on, I've collected Thordarson information.  I've transcribed letters into computer files and written original text about them.  During this process I've discovered many surprising connections, and each involves a side trip from the main subject.  This is one of the pleasures of the process, but side trips also become another reason for the time it takes to put it all together.

I've made announcements about finishing this projects to others before, partly to spur myself to meet a deadline.  I didn't realize I had so much ground yet to cover.  But now, I think I'm really getting close to a draft that's readable and "almost" error free.  Spring is upon us, according to the solar calendar, and summer's not far off.  I need to wrap this up before time runs short, with work and distractions aplenty.

Thordarson came in contact with many fascinating people, and a good number of those associations are supported with documents, primarily letters.  I won't post information here that will appear in the book, but there are plenty of other things to write about.

In this blog I thought I'd post a few old boat photos.  These were found in the Thordarson files at the Island Archives, and I'd guess that either Thordarson or a family member took them as these boats came into the Rock Island pier.  According to one letter, an early pier was under construction around 1914 so that he and his workers would have a safe place to land, unload materials, and moor a boat.

No names or dates were printed on the reverse side of these photos (typical and unfortunate, because this is the case for nearly every Thordarson photo).  I contacted friend Eric Bonow, who recently reported back aboard an ore boat at Bay Shipbuilding to start the 2013 sailing season.   Eric always enjoys unraveling a mystery.  He's collected maritime ship images and he also searches collections belonging to others in order to identify vessels.

Saugatuck

In the first photo shown is the steamer Saugatuck.  It's moored alongside Thordarson's pier, perhaps after discharging freight and maybe Thordarson himself, who found it convenient to take a train from Chicago to Escanaba, then a boat across upper Green Bay to his island estate.

Saugatuck, steaming from Rock Island.
Photos probably taken same day.
(from Washington Island Archives)

The Saugatuck ( 110 x 22.2 x 8.6) was built in 1909 and was originally the Alfred Clarke.  Among its owner history was the Canadian company Pelee & Lake Erie Navigation Co. of Ontario.  The boat made its rounds of several  owners and locations before it came under ownership of Captain Charles McCauley and John J. Cleary, of Escanaba,Michigan.  McCauley in late 1913 wrote Thordarson and asked if he'd like to be a subscriber in his new venture.  We don't think Thordarson took him up on his offer, but a few years later, with McCauley still operating his boat, Thordarson asked for the vessel trip schedule so that he could coordinate his arrival by train in Escanaba with a departure for Rock Island.  (Undoubtedly an extra stop for which Thordarson might have paid extra.)

The Saugatuck eventually wound up in Chicago where it was abandoned and sunk in the North Avenue Basin of the Chicago River.  Later, it was scuttled (intentionally sunk to get rid of the old hull) in Lake Michigan.

Hyacinth

Eric wrote that the Hyacinth (160.6 x 28 x 14) was a predecessor to the familiar Coast Guard buoy tenders (Sundew, Mesquite, Acacia, etc.) we used to see in Green Bay waters.  And although we can only guess at the dates on these two vessel stops at Rock Island, it seems to fit in, more or less, around 1920.

The Hyacinth was built in 1907 by Jenks Shipbuilding, Port Huron, as a lighthouse tender under the Dept. of Commerce, U. S. Light House Service.  The vessel likely was making a call at Rock Island for the Pottawatomie Light, located on the island's north end.

Light House Service vessel Hyacinth, perhaps around 1920,
at the Rock Island dock.
(from Washington Island Archives)

According to the vessel data sheet Eric supplied (which he obtained online from the Alpena County Public Library) the Hyacinth transferred to Coast Guard command in 1940.  Then in 1946 it served as a construction vessel for the Lyons Company of Whitehall, Michigan.

That company installed a new 900 hp GM diesel, and in so doing it may have attracted the attention of Cap Roen of Sturgeon Bay.  In 1956 he bought the Hyacinth and removed the engine, and put it into his tug John Purves (now a restored museum ship at the Door County Maritime Museum in Sturgeon Bay).  The following year the  ownership of the old hull was shown under Sturgeon Bay Iron & Metal Company (Roen's next door neighbor along the waterfront).  It was scrapped.

Eleven Foot Shoals - Lightship No. 80

In Hannes Andersen's book, he wrote that Thordarson was known to salute every ship or object he passed enroute to his Rock Island (salute by means of drink, Hannes meant).  Well, in this case Thordarson took a photo as the vessel he rode aboard rounded the Eleven Foot Shoal lightship, anchored approximately 3 1/2 miles south of the actual shoals which were near the Stonington Peninsula, and about 2 miles north of the Minneapolis Shoals. (There wasn't an operating Minneapolis Shoals light station until June of 1936, only a buoy.)

Painted on the topsides of this vessel is "11. FOOT." to designate
the vessel and the shoal.  Anchor chain can be seen from bow, indicating she
was on station, a turning mark for a vessel headed to Rock Island.
(from Washington Island Archives)

 
Such a lightship was not uncommon for marking major shoals or turning points for shipping in the nation's waterways.  This one was built in 1912 by Racine Truscott Shell Boat Company of Muskegon, Michigan.  (80 ft. x 21 ft. x 10 ft.)   It was built specifically for lightship service, with a 100 hp steam engine.

During its early service it was sunk, Nov. 10, 1913, on Waverly Shoal in Lake Erie, with a loss of six lives.   The vessel was salvaged, then beached in Buffalo, and later towed to Detroit where it was refitted.   In 1924 it was positioned in northern Green Bay at Eleven Foot Shoal.   We can assume it was some time after being assigned to upper Green Bay that this photo would have been taken by Thordarson.

-  Dick Purinton  

BACK WHEN MEN WERE MEN!

Early chart of Detroit Harbor, from 1928 Light List,
courtesy of Eric Bonow. At that time, wooden ferries
crossed the harbor to land at the shipyard.

Washington Island, Wisconsin -

We've been awaiting word from the U. S. Coast Guard Aids to Navigation representatives in Cleveland regarding our request for them to reconsider their policy for the intended, permanent removal of several steel floating aids to navigation in Detroit Harbor.

Late this summer we learned that all of the steel "ice hull" buoys would be pulled and then replaced with lighter, floating aids on a seasonal basis.  This action would mean no floating aids to rely on for approximately five months of the year, including winter, and full reliance would necessarily shift to the two newly constructed cylinders and the long-established "tripod" entrance marker.

We had the opportunity to discuss our point of view in a phone conference with three Coast Guard officers who represented Ninth District Aids to Navigation, Cleveland, two weeks ago. We're hoping the intervening period of time brought about a change of policy regarding those buoys, aids that we consider critical for year around, daily ferry operations.

Boiled down, we requested that buoys #2 and #6 be reset for year around use.  Such steel buoys are superior radar targets in fog or snowstorms over the smaller foam buoys, we said, and they always provide important visual reference for our ferry captains.  We offered to assist with buoy setting using one of our ferries, if that were helpful, but we learned that there is a policy to not rely on such civilian help, or mix private aids with approved federal aids.

Of concern to us was that we had to repeatedly make our case, in several different ways, to be clear that those buoys are not just a nicety but critical to repeated, safe transit of the channel in varied conditions.   Those new, large cylinders will provide strong visual and radar targets, we agreed, but there is nearly a 1/3 mile gap between entrance mark and the first cylinder, a time when an operator, attentive to his compass course, depth, GPS, radar and throttles, must use all of his senses at once to maintain safe course.  Those floating buoys provided excellent visual reference when nothing else was available.  This was certainly true for #2 buoy, but equally important for #6 that marks the reef opposite the ferry dock.   Our ferries need to avoid this rock pile (now only several feet beneath the surface) each time the captain squares away on an outbound course.  High winds, occasional current, and ice in the channel can add difficulty to what is essentially a visual piloting exercise.

We got the impression though our prolonged discussion that we needed to toughen up and get used to relying on the Colusus of Rhodes columns that stand tall over our harbor. We regret having sounded argumentative during the 75-minute phone conference, but when it turned into a debate on what the purpose of a buoy is, and how we ought to be able to safely navigate the channel without floating aids, was there a better way we could have gotten our points across?

The two buoys (#6 and #2) that we described as essential for our safe operations are already here on the island with their sinkers.  The vessel that services them from Muskegon, and the sailors who man that vessel, are available and have already been funded.  That leaves the cost of fuel and the orders to sail a 46-foot vessel across the lake every two years for buoy maintenance as the sole "obstacle," apparently.  That vessel has limitations placed on its scope of service that make such a voyage in open water a violation of its intended use in protected waters.

It may indeed be time to toughen up.

In this photo the C. G Richter was still the winter
ferry, but it does point out the rather small, constricting
basin in which  to turn around or maneuver.  At the
top right of the oval is the red nun #6, marking
the shallow reef.

Others used to do it!  Why can't we?

Back in the days of sail and small mechanized freight boats, called hookers, there were but a few channel aids to assist them. That channel was natural, like a river, and not mechanically dredged.

Eric Bonow, as he has done many other times, sent along information in the form of a chart of the Detroit Harbor entrance from the 1928 Light List.  It may be one of the earliest that depicts buoys marking the West Channel.  At the outer end is the gas buoy with bell which then marked the south end of the shallow reef (rather than sitting on top of the north end as does the present day entrance buoy.)   A bit farther in was a black can where the channel took a slight dipsy-doodle.

Another aid, called the "elbow light" on the old chart where the channel crooked off to the east, marked what Nathan Gunnlaugsson called the "false channel."  A crib of stones marked this naturally deep route, and the mark's remains, a rock pile with a single, upright timber protruding from it, still shows itself to this day east of the dredged channel.  To the west of that crib and the false channel is a two-foot shoal, presently marked by the #6 red nun foam buoy.

From my perspective, the channel then was minimally marked, and it must have been a tense time when vessel masters entered or left port.  Maybe they produced greater testosterone than we do today.
The frequency of modern day ferry travel to and from Detroit Harbor, and the consequences for striking bottom (which includes reporting such incidents to the Coast Guard, and the possibility of haul-out for repairs) won't be satisfied by an old-fashioned spit of plug juice over the side or the vow to do it better the next time.

If we read our regulators' remarks correctly, now is the time for us to toughen up, sharpen our boat handling skills, and be thankful for all we've been given from our federal government!

We hope to bring good news to our readers when such news is available. - Dick Purinton

A few additional thoughts...

Several comments have already been received by direct communication regarding the above essay, and one of them was a comment on the Coast Guard's preference for the installation of "gated" buoys whenever possible.  And while in general this practice may be a proven benefit to navigation, providing a guide for both sides of the waterway, in the case of Detroit Harbor there were only the red floating buoys, for decades, in addition to the green entrance buoy.  (And also the exception of #9 placed at the north end of the channel in the turning basin, now replaced with a white and red striped buoy).   Later, about the year 2001- which happened to coincide with a completed, major dredging project in front of our island ferry terminal - green can #5 was installed.   It proved beneficial as a turning mark for our ferries, marking the shallows along the west side of the channel much in the same manner #6 now marks the hump on the east side of the channel.  But, cost and engineering overkill aside, that new cylinder #5 does not appreciably aid navigation because even though such a "gate" of cylinders may look good on paper, it becomes an immovable obstacle both for vessels and for ice.  And when you're coming into the harbor in low visibility, by the time you're near #5 you've already got a visual bead on the end of the ferry pier.   We're hoping winter ice will not be held back by that cylinder.

The other comment had to do with the new, foam buoy #6A placed approximately one month ago at the north end of the "hump," opposite the ferry landing.    This buoy #6A was installed as a response to several groundings by sailboats as they cut #6 too close to starboard and headed directly for #8 buoy over the top of the hump, with the intention of motoring into the harbor itself.   We don't object to #6A being added, if it helps recreational boaters.  But when asked our opinion during our conference call, we suggested moving #8 further west, so that navigators of recreational craft could, more or less, continue on course beyond #6 to #8 and thereby miss the shallows.  Instead, it appears the Coast Guard proposes the reposition #6 (thus "saving" another foam buoy, #6A).  This proposal, we emphasize, is an entirely wrong and is a potentially dangerous move as it will expose the south end of the shallow hump, which our ferry captains depend upon for visual positioning as they come into or leave their landing area, in both instances while engaged in a major turn.

We spoke up, and we hope notes were taken in Cleveland, because we did not acquiesce on this point regarding the importance of #6 being where it now is, for here and evermore, winter and summer, using a steel "ice hull" buoy.   -  DP

OLD CHART BRINGS NEW INSIGHT

This chart was one several purchased on e-Bay by Eric Bonow.

Detroit Harbor, Washington Island -

In the mail the other day was an envelope from Eric Bonow that contained a copy of a chart of Death's Door waters, by the U. S. Navy Hydrographic Office, that was published as a Notice to Mariners in 1895.   Eric had purchased several of these Great Lakes Notice to Mariner charts through eBay.

This mapping effort apparently satisfied requests by maritime interests for more accurate information about Nine Foot Shoals, adjacent to what is now the Waverly Shoals buoy, and the Middle Shoals located midway between Plum and Detroit Islands.  This is referred to locally as the "Middle Ground."

Eric went one better and researched old Door County Advocates to find out more about the two wrecks shown on the Middle Shoals.  His findings are as follows:

Door Co. Advocate, 3/23/1895:  Detroit Harbor Notes. The rocky shoal about half way between Plum and Detroit Islands and marked by a red spar buoy during the months of navigation is made more dangerous since the schooner H. M. Scove went to pieces there.  Her entire bottom is anchored there on the shallowest spot by a lot of cobble stones placed between her frames to stiffen her while sailing.  They now keep the bottom there intact so there is only six feet four inches of water over the bottom with high water, while there would be considerably less with low water or a high sea running.

Door Co. Advocate,  10/3/1919:  MARQUETTE IN TROUBLE

Steamer Brought Here For Removal of Old Schooner Scove Cables Which Were Wrapped Up In Wheel.

   The passenger and freight steamer City of Marquette, owned by W.W. Hill, which has been on the Green Bay run the last couple of years, was towed into port Saturday by the tug Search of Washington Island and docked at the Universal yard for the purpose of having an old shroud cable taken off her wheel.

   The entire top rigging of the old wrecked schooner Scove was wound up in the Marquette's wheel as the steamer lay at the Richter dock at Detroit Harbor.  When the Marquette attempted to swing around the cable was picked up.  Diver Pearl Purdy and assistant Ed. Donovan went to the Island Tuesday of last week to relieve the steamer but the job was too big for Diver Purdy.  There were scores of strands of the cable wrapped about the wheel.  An acetelyne (sic) torch was used to cut the wire away and the job was completed in 55 minutes.  The Marquette left the same day for Detroit Harbor.

   The Scove was wrecked on a reef off Plum Island nearly 30 years ago and when her spars fell several years later fishermen towed the top works  into Detroit Harbor and dropped it near the Richter dock expecting to salvage it at some time.  In recent years it was forgotten and it was thought the ice had taken hold of the old topmast and dragged it off into the bay.

Pearl Purdy was a name I had just become familiar with a day or two earlier, when reading parts of FOUR ISLANDS: A History of Detroit, Rock, St. Martins, and Washington Islands (published in 1984), by former Jackson Harbor resident and island commercial fisherman Raymond E. McDonald.  McDonald recounted an incident involving the steam tug Kate Williams:

"A bad blow came up one day, from the north, and blew very hard that night.  It was too much for the anchor chain and it parted, letting her drift in between Washington Island and Rock Island.  The seas pushed her up quite high on the rocks, and she was soon lying over on her side with not much water under her.
"The tug "Leathem Smith" came up from Sturgeon Bay with a barge and all necessary equipment to release and salvage her.  Although this was a big and powerful tug, they could not release her.  This happened in 1909.  They gave up the attempt but they recovered the steam boiler and the engine and all pumps, etc. that were useful.
"A new tug was built at Sturgeon Bay and all this machinery was used to power it.  They named her the "John Hunsader."
"Pearl Purdy was the diver who was used in the effort to salvage the "Kate Williams."  He was form Sturgeon Bay and quite a young man and of very slight build.  The tug "Leathem Smith" was over 100 feet long - - not a small tug. Hank Tuft was captain.  Ed Weber and Pat Writt were the engineers.  They were all from Sturgeon Bay.  The "Leathem Smith" had living quarters for the whole crew and carried a cook.   She would run up in the mud near McDonald's dock and lay there, no need for an anchor.
"Pearl Purdy had used dynamite on the "Kate Williams" to free some of the shafts, etc.  He would sometimes set off a dynamite cap in the water near the "Leathem Smith" in Jackson Harbor.  This would stun the perch and they would float to the top.  Then they could be gathered in and there was plenty of nice perch for dinner.  One day he made a mistake some place, and instead of perch he blew off three of his fingers.  They brought him into McDonald's, who hitched up the horse to the buggy and rushed him right to the doctor, seven miles away.  The doctor trimmed up the stumps and sewed him up. They did not have much of anything then to kill the pain, but on the way out they stopped in at Mrs. Charlie Johnson's to see if she had some whiskey.  She did and they gave Pearl a generous amount, which no doubt was a great help.
"Pearl Purdy followed shipping for the rest of his life, out of Sturgeon Bay, until one fatal trip on the steamer "Clifton" out of Sturgeon Bay in the fall of 1924, when she foundered in a bad storm on Lake Huron.  The entire crew was lost.  Most of this crew was from Sturgeon Bay."


So, several interesting connections.  But, back to the chart shown at the top of the page.   You might have a hard time reading the fine print, but alongside the dotted line to the north of Pilot Island is this notation (I'm guessing at letters where chart paper is torn):

Track recommended by Lighthouse Keeper for all vessels during strong southerly winds.


The track to the south of Pilot has the note:  General Track


In October of 1892, in the course of three days, three sailing ships wrecked on Pilot Island. The Light Keeper's advisory to sail north of the island in a strong southerly wind may have resulted from that occasion and was subsequently issued as advice to mariners.  From personal experience, I've always been surprised at just how far the lobe of shelf rock extends southward from the island, while to the north it possible to nearly place a bow against the island.

This chart does not show the Plum Island range lights, but that project was in the funding pipeline when this chart was developed.  According to information from Door County lighthouse historian Steve Karges, Congress appropriated funding in 1895, and in August of 1896 a crew of 30 men began work clearing forest in preparation for erection of the range lights and associated U. S. Lighthouse Service buildings.  By May of 1897, the range lights were exhibited for the first time, under the supervision of Martin Knudsen, the same man who was Keeper on Pilot Island during the 1892 incidents, for which he received a commendation.

Our appreciation to Eric Bonow for passing along the Death's Door chart.

-   Dick Purinton

TOWER ON ROCK ISLAND

Rock Island - an old survey tower

Washington Island, Wisconsin -

Last Friday I published information on this site about a Rock Island photo album  given as a gift by C.H. Thordarson to a friend, H.R. Holand.

One photo showed a tower on Rock Island that appeared to be located on a high bluff of the island's interior.  When was it built, why was it built, and how was it used, and what happened to it?  These were questions that arose from that photo, and the only information I was able to obtain was from retired Rock Island State Park manager Kirby Foss.  He said it was a survey tower, and that the location had never been found.

Eric Bonow responded with what appear to be answers to most of those questions.  Eric sails as Mate for the Interlake fleet, has a degree in "industrial archeology," and worked for a time with a survey company in the Superior, WI area.  His research and emailed response offered the following information, which I'm reprinting word-for-word rather than attempting to summarize.

    "Thank you for the blog entry on Rock Island.  Every so often you throw down the gauntlet, so to speak, and I have to pick it up.  Here goes.  What you say regarding the original land survey of the Door County area being done very early is true.  For the most part, those guys hacked their way through the woods, setting section corners and the like.  However, the U.S. Lake Survey did their work by triangulation, and they had a series of stations covering the midwest, and they tied these stations in to other networks which covered the country.  There were orders of stations.  A First Order Station would be used in the triangulation through from one point to another.  First Order surveys were of very high accuracy, and had fairly long legs.  There were also Secondary and Tertiary Surveys (and monuments) to map out local areas.  The legs of these triangles were shorter, and consequently more stations were established.  These surveys led to the production of the charts we still use today.

Contour map of Rock Island

"It so happens that a First Order Station was established on Rock Island in 1864.  In the Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers for 1902 the U.S. Lake Survey positions for all of these stations are given.  From the Rock Island station azimuths are given to the stations at Door Bluff, Bark River and Peninsula Point.  That meant that towers had to be visible at these points as well.  Unfortunately the map which accompanied the report was torn off in my copy  and the part showing these stations is missing.  These stations were used more that once.  For example, in the report that I have (which lists all these stations), there was, in 1901 a resurvey of the Apostle Islands.  In this report the writer enumerates the methods used, types of stations established, etc.  Consequently, if a person had the time (I don't) or the inclination (I do) to look through other reports, the last probable use of the tower on Rock Island could be determined.

The monument has been in use since its establishment in 1864, and a current datasheet on it is attached.  I've plotted the position on a map and included that as well.  With this information, it would be a simple matter to enter the coordinates into a hand-held GPS and take a metal detector along and find the monument.  According to the info, it is buried 3' below the ground, mostly in an effort to protect it.  Once the monument is found, it would be another simple matter to search in a radius around it to see if any remains of the base of the tower exist.  I would guess that the tower was removed so that the material could be used elsewhere.  However, these towers had to be very stable so some sort of base must have been constructed. As an aside in this, First Order monuments are still established, but it is done with a GPS unit.  The unit sits on a station for a given period of time (usually pretty long), and then the electronic record is taken into the office and a computer post-processes the info an comes up with an accurate position. 

Pages from original Rock Island survey notes, c. 1835

"To digress a little, since section 23 of T34N, R30E lies entirely on Rock Island, I looked up the original survey notes and plat which were done in March - April of 1835.  According to the notes, this line was run north from the SW corner, and posts were set at the W 1/4 of section 23, and then again at the NW corner.  The south line of the section was run, and points along it were noted, such as where they encountered a swamp, and when it was left.  I've included those notes as well.

"Since the US Lake Survey used triangulation to set their monuments, and the reports tell of the towers and equipment used, I feel pretty confident in saying that the tower shown in the pictures was used by them.  This is substantiated further by the continuation of the monument up to present time.  It would be a lot of fun to scout out this area and see what's there.  Also, since the Public Land Survey ran the lines I doubt that this would have had anything to do with the establishment of the monuments used in that survey.  That was an interesting exercise for a Sunday morning and early afternoon (before and after church, and lunch too).  Thanks for throwing that out there.  I'll have to look over these photos the next time I visit the Archives."



And in a follow-up email, Eric wrote:


"Since those stations were so far apart, I think that they did a lot of that surveying at night.  A more clear atmosphere, and then they would have some sort of "something" up there that burned.  Of course in 1864 background lights wouldn't be the problem they are today."


Thanks for the information.  Perhaps we'll be taking a trip to Rock Island one day to find that location.   -  Dick Purinton

PUMP DESIGNED FOR THE AGES

Washington Island, Wisconsin -

Back on September 17, I had posted information about a piece of old machinery, thought to be associated with a steam vessel that might have repowered at Richter's Point on Detroit Island.

That location is where it was uncovered in sandy soil by Dr. Rod Johnson, property owner, who then offered it to the Jackson Harbor Maritime Museum.   It would be, judging from old photos, at least 100 years old, as that was when this tip of Detroit Island directly across from the present island ferry docks was active with fishermen and their craft.

We could only guess at how the heavy cast iron piece was used, and so I asked if readers had any ideas.

Responses came from several people, each with experience and background in marine matters (well, one is a lawyer with an avid interest in all things maritime, old and new).

David Foss, engineer for the Interlake fleet and retired Senior Chief Engineer, U.S. Navy, identified it as a steam pump, and went further to guess it might have been removed from the L.P. Hill.   I suspect David might have had a photo that identified the Hill moored at the Detroit Island dock.  There are several old Detroit Island photos (copy machine copies, actually) I have that show many fishing craft moored to the Richter Point fishing docks, and in one, a very large steam tug.  Other, much larger, cast iron parts are half-buried beneath the existing dock, too heavy and awkward to move.

Lew Clarke, retired attorney with a great deal of time on the water as a kid riding along with Chris Anderson on the Wisconsin, did recognize it as a pump, and he recited some working pressures that passed me by.  Lew did not think such a piece was ever used as a boiler feed water pump, however, and for that we will give him only a B+.

Eric Bonow, also a Great Lakes sailor and mate on Interlake ships, looked up some helpful information and sent along copies from that literature describing the type of pump found on Detroit Island.  Most surprising is that this design is apparently so timeless in marine applications (and elsewhere, too) that nearly the identical pump to the one now at the Jackson Harbor museum can be ordered from the internet.  According to a Gardner Denver site, this Duplex Steam Pump can be air, steam or gas driven, and has application for boiler feed, oil service, water service, or general service, with pistons and valves of different materials depending upon specific intended use.

The topmost illustration was copied by Eric from the Audel Power Plant Engineers Guide c. 1945, 1948.

From pages of a book titled Practical Marine Engineering, c. 1918, also sent by Eric, we learn more about this type of pump and why it was versatile in steam application:

   "DIRECT ACTING PUMPS

In early marine practice the flywheel pump was a favorite type, and was used for all ordinary purposes where an independent pump was required, as for boiler feed, fire purposes, or for general purposes on shipboard.  This pump consisted essentially of horizontal steam and water cylinders with the piston and plunger on a common rod and moving together.  Attached to the rod was a crosshead with connecting rod leading to a crank and shaft carrying a fly wheel.  The fly wheel served to carry the pump past the dead points, and the shaft served to carry an eccentric which actuated a simple slide valve on the steam cylinder.
  This type of pump, however, has almost entirely disappeared from modern practice, its place being taken by the direct acting pump with its greater compactness of form and better adaptation to the conditions of service.
  Now consider briefly the essential features of this type of pump, with a few examples drawn from modern practice.
  As illustrated in Fig. 325, the pump is horizontal and consists of two cylinders, one for steam and one for water, carried on a common piston rod.  The steam end is operated by means of a suitable valve gear as a simple reciprocating engine, and this communicates the same movement to the pump plunger or piston.  Each end of the water cylinder is provided with both inflow and outflow valves, as shown, and thus the pump becomes double acting --- that is delivering on each stroke alternately from one end and then the other.
  For operating the steam ends of pumps of this type, a great variety of ingenious valve gears have been devised.
  The need of especial devices arises from the fact that there is no rotating part and no chance to use an eccentric, and that the valve cannot be operated directly from the main piston rod.  Where it is thus required that a single set of principal moving parts be self operating, the valve gear usually consists of the following features:   (listed) ..."

Complete copies of the literature provided by Eric were passed along to Kathleen Morris, Director for the Jackson Harbor museum.

There you have it:  more than you ever cared to know about this steam pump, a design for the ages!
  -  Dick Purinton