Barlow CumberlandA Century of Sail and Steam on the Niagara River
By Barlow Cumberland
TORONTO:
The Musson Book Company
Limited
COPYRIGHTED
IN CANADA
1913
PUBLISHERS' NOTE.
Although the book is published about two months after the author's death,it will be gratifying to many readers to know that all the final proofswere passed by Mr. Cumberland himself. Therefore the volume in detail hasthe author's complete sanction. We have added to the illustrations aportrait of the author.[Pg v]
FOREWORD.
This narrative is not, nor does it purport to be one of general navigationupon Lake Ontario, but solely of the vessels and steamers which plyedduring its century to the ports of the Niagara River, and particularly ofthe rise of the Niagara Navigation Co., to which it is largely devoted.
Considerable detail has, however been given to the history of the steamers"Frontenac" and "Ontario" because the latter has hitherto been reported tohave been the first to be launched, and the credit of being the first tointroduce steam navigation upon Lake Ontario has erroneously been given tothe American shipping.
Successive eras of trading on the River tell of strenuous competitions.Sail is overpassed by steam. The new method of propulsion wins for thiswater route the supremacy of passenger travel, rising to a splendid climaxwhen the application of steam to transportation on land and theintroduction of railways brought such decadence to the River that all itssteamers but one had disappeared.
The transfer of the second "City of Toronto" and of steamboating investmentfrom the Niagara River to the undeveloped routes of the Upper Lakes leadsto a diversion of the narration as bringing the initiation of another eraon the Niagara River and explaining how the steamer, which formed itscentre, came to be brought to the River service.
The closing 35 years of the century form the era of the Niagara NavigationCo., in which the period of decadence was converted into one of intenseactivity and splendid success.[Pg vi]
Our steam boating coterie had been promised by Mr. Chas. Gildersleeve,General Manager of the Richelieu & Ontario Navigation Co., that he wouldwrite up the navigation history of the Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence Riversections upon which he and his forbears had been foremost leaders.Unfortunately he passed away somewhat suddenly, before being able to dothis, and they pressed upon me to produce the Niagara section which hadbeen alloted to myself.
The narration has been completed during the intervals between seriousillness and is sent out in fulfilment of a promise, but yet in hope that itmay be found acceptable to transportation men and with its local historicalnotes interesting to the travelling public.
Thanks are given to Mr. J. Ross Robertson, for the reproduction of somecuts of early steamers, and particularly to Mr. Frederick J. Shepard, ofthe Buffalo Public Library, who has been invaluable in tracing up andconfirming data in the United States.
Dr. A. G. Dougaty, C.M.G., Archivist of Canada, Mr. Frank Severance, of theBuffalo Historical Society, and Mr. Locke, Public Librarian, Toronto, havebeen good enough to give much assistance which is warmly acknowledged.
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