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THE BAY AND RIVER STEAMER "CHARLOTTE," BUILT AT ERNESTTOWN, U. C., 1818.

In 1818, the Charlotte, a river steamer, was launched from the same yard where the Frontenac was built, to ply between Prescott and Carrying Place. She was the first river boat in Upper Canada, and was built by Henry Gildersleeve (who was also the assistant builder of the Frontenac) for a committee consisting of Smith Bartlett, Solomon Johns, Daniel Washburn, and Peter Hetsel. Although these two boats held almost a monopoly of lake and river transportation, the future was so doubtful to the editor of the Kingston Gazette, that he consoled himself with the reflection that "whether they prove profitable or not, they are calculated to promote the public good." It was said that the proprietors not only sought government aid, but the exclusive right of steam navigation,-a right which the legislature of Lower Canada had more than once declined to grant to Mr. Molson. The fate of the Frontenac in a measure warranted these fears; for, although she cost about £17,000, she was sold in 1825, at auction, for £1,550, to the Hon. Jno. Hamilton, of Kingston, whose whole life has been spent in developing steamboat transportation on the lake and river.

The celebrated Swedish engineer, Ericsson, while in England in 1837, successfully applied the screw to the propulsion of vessels. In 1841, the Vandalia, the first of a class now numbering over one hundred and twenty on the lakes, was built at Oswego, and afterwards sold to Canadians.

The whole number of steamers, propellers, and tugs now upon the lakes is 363, with an aggregate tonnage of 132,327 tons, and a valuation of $5,576,000. Of these, 100 are Canadian, having a tonnage of 30,511 tons, and a valuation of $1,397,000.

OCEAN STEAMERS.

The magnificent subsidy awarded by the British government to the Cunard line had the effect of diverting Canadian

traffic with Europe from the St. Lawrence river through the ports of Boston and New York. The policy of the Imperial government, which tended to build up American seaports at the expense of Canadian, left the colony no other resource than competition. On the 13th of August, 1852, a contract was entered into between the commissioner of public works of Canada, and Messrs. McKean, McLarty & Co., a Liver. pool firm, for the term of seven years, by which a line of screw steamers of not less than 1,200 tons carpenters' measurement, 300 horse-power, and capable of carrying 1,000 tons of cargo besides coal for twenty-four days, were to commence running between Liverpool, Quebec, and Montreal, in the spring of 1853, once every fortnight during the season of navigation, and to Portland once a month; the outward passage not to exceed fourteen days, and the homeward passage thirteen days. The maximum rate of freight to be charged was 60s. per ton. Fourteen trips were to be made from Liverpool to the St. Lawrence and back, for which at least five steamers were to be provided; and five trips to Portland and back, for which three steamers were required. The vessels were all to be ready and to commence their fortnightly service on or before the 1st of May, 1854; and a sufficient number to be ready and to commence the monthly trips in the spring of 1853. The price to be paid by the province was, for fourteen fortnightly trips to the St. Lawrence, £1,238 1s. 11d. sterling per trip. The Grand Trunk Railway was to pay £336 6s. 8d. sterling for each monthly trip to Portland.

In October, 1852, Messrs. McKean, McLarty & Co. formed a provisional company under the title of the "Liverpool and North American Screw Steam-Ship Company," and pe titioned the board of trade for a royal charter, with limited liability. In this they were vigorously and successfully opposed by the Cunard company, and generally by British ship-owners not protected by limited liability, and were

compelled to attempt the formation of their company under a Canadian charter.

Under this contract, the Genova, a small steamer of 700 tons and 160 horse-power, was sent out in 1853,-the first transatlantic screw steamer which entered the St. Lawrence. The Lady Eglinton, 600 tons and 160 horse-power, and the Sarah Sands, 1,200 tons and 150 horse-power, followed; these boats made five trips only in 1853. The average voyage out was fourteen to twenty-two days, and home twelve to eighteen days; and 80s. freight, instead of 60s., was charged. In consequence of this total failure on the part of the contractors, the government of Canada annulled the contract, and on the 28th of September, 1855, a new one was entered into with Hugh Allan, of Montreal, to commence in April, 1856, and give the same time and number of trips as before, but with vessels not less than 1,750 tons builders' measurement, and not less than 350 horsepower. The subsidy was £24,000 sterling per annum, and a penalty of £1,000 for every trip lost was provided for, besides the deduction of a pro-ratâ amount of the subsidy. The contract was terminable by the contractor, at the end of any year, by giving six months' previous notice. Although the line was not remunerative in its first season, 1856, the contract was fulfilled in the most satisfactory manner, the outward passage being under thirteen days, and the homeward a little over eleven days.

The inefficiency of a semi-monthly line, especially for postal purposes, in competition with the subsidized line to Boston and New York, led to a revision of the contract in 1857, by which a weekly service to the St. Lawrence commenced in May, 1859, at a subsidy of $220,000 per annum. In April, 1860, a new contract was entered into with Mr. Allan, to continue in force until the 1st of January, 1867, for a weekly line between Liverpool and the St. Lawrence, and in winter Portland. All the vessels, except the Anglo

Saxon, Canadian, and North American, to be not less than 2,300 tons builders' measurement, with not less than 500 horse-power. Under this arrangement the ships must call at any port in Ireland which may be selected. The average passages in 1860 were twelve and eleven days, instead of fourteen and thirteen, the contract time. The subsidy is $416,000 per annum; the penalty for every trip not performed is $5,000, besides the contract value thereof; and the contract is terminable by the contractor on giving six months' notice, but by the government only in case of default. The doubling of the subsidy was in consequence of the losses of the company in the first year of the weekly line, in which two of their steamers, the Indian and the Hungarian, were lost in the Atlantic, en route for Portland, while off the coast of Nova Scotia.

In the winter of 1859, the Canadian steamships for Portland commenced to call at Cork, receiving supplementary mails, with letters written in London after the steamer had left Liverpool; but as Cork was not suited to the St. Lawrence route, Londonderry was selected for the Irish port of call, and the first voyage, stopping there, was made from Liverpool on the 30th of May, 1860. The day of departure from Liverpool was also changed, in July, 1860, from Wednesday to Thursday, taking an extra day from the Cunard line, which leaves on Saturday.

The Canadian line, in 1860, carried 620,000 letters between the United States and Europe, and received $104, 641.68, from the United States' post-office, for this service. Previous to the arrangement of 1859 and 1860 the claims of the British and American post-offices, for packet and trans charges on Canadian correspondence with Europe, averaged $165,000 per annum; but, after 1860, they were reduced to $50,000-the difference of $115,000 per annum being the amount accruing to Canada from the transport of her own European correspondence.

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