Book No. 7 commenced on board the CP SS “Alberta” on Lake Huron, on passage from Fort William to Owen Sound via Sault Ste. Marie (Soo)[1] canal, September 17 1898.

The closing page of my last journal described the last hours at Winnipeg. The special lake train left there at 4:30, Thursday afternoon, alternate days only, Thursdays, Sat., Mon., & returns from Fort William, Fri., Sun., & Tue. We had the advantage of a very fine, clear evening & nearly 3 hours’ daylight, & during that time saw many good farms, & all busy on them. Some leading corn, some hay, some threshing & so on, & much standing corn in the fields (the car I travelled [sic] in was “Minneapolis”, a handsome sleeping car, & all who engage berths are entitled to use the car day & night, & they are so comfortably & handsomely upholstered, & the sides largely glazed. The advantages are great & very pleasant. I had again a lower berth, No. 7, same as I had in “Quebec” from Vancouver to Winnipeg), but the land for agriculture is by no means so good hereaway. The prairie side of Winnipeg is the land flowing with grain & cattle food. As we proceeded, we came into scrub & bush, plenty water, & all looked very green & pretty. The autumn tints were[2] [7:2] not so pronounced as amid the Rockies & Vancouver way, British Columbia. After dinner I began a bundle of mails & got pleasure out of them & the journals till it was bed time, & at 10 had my bed made up – darkie steward – & in I turned, & a fair good rest I had, but of course not so restoring as either sea or hotel.

On Friday morning, the 16th, I awoke at 5 past 6, drew up the blind, & “keeked”[3] out into bush. It was a dull morning & had been raining. I lay, head elevated by 2 pillows, & looked out as the train scudded along, & till 7 when I got up, went & had a wash, & returned to my berth & dressed. Here we stopped at Finmark station, only for 2 or 3 minutes. We soon came on the most beautiful River Kaministiqua & skirted the margin, sometimes not 3 feet of[f] it for many miles, the wooded sides especially. The other side was lovely & eye pleasing, & here & there pretty green islands, & some places very rocky, then Kakabeka & Murillo[4] just through bush. I had breakfast at 7:30, dining car was carried all the journey, & after breakfast I went to the end, last carriage, & stood on the platform looking back (center opening as well as side ends) through a long straight (single lines of rails) cutting throug[h] scrub & bush. At intervals, surface men were maintaining the road, others replacing telegraph poles beyond this & for great intervals not a house or settlement to be seen. We arrived at Fort William at 8:10 by our watches, but we had to put them on 1 hour & it was now local time, 9:10. As we approached Fort William, we skirted a fine range of rock, tops of some parts apparently flat & like raised artificial forts, so I take it the place takes its name. Here we saw large elevators, said to be the largest in the world. The grain is conveyed down here from Winnipeg & the province of Manitoba for [7:3] shipment to the cities & seaboard for export, & these elevators are simply great grainaries [sic], as we know the phrase. These elevators are certainly enormous in size, & the rapid method of discharging trucks & loading steamers is the great novelty. Our baggage & passengers were soon transferred to the steamer “Alberta”, which was waiting for our arrival, & soon we were under weigh & steaming down the Kaministiqua River into Thunder Bay, breakfast meantime going on, & soon we put into Port Arthur, a pretty place & of great importance. We took up some passengers at the CP Ry. jetty & was [sic] off presently for Sault Ste. Marie, but let me say, at Fort William there was a great coaling wharf with many thousands of tons of coal on it. Steamers coming for grain all come here, fetch coal, & load grain back. It was a fine morning & a fair prospect of a kindly passage across the largest lake in the world. The Alberta is a very handsome steamer, screw, 1,800 tons, built in Glasgow & transported here by the usual means. After arriving at nearest port on the East coast, reduced to sections, & transported to nearest navigable water. Her saloon is handsome to a degree, a splendid table – all within the saloon pure white even to the waiters’ dress cap & all, & smart fellows they are. The best I’ve seen on my trip, & they fetch the tray on the one hand extended upright arm & at fullest walking speed, really very laughable to witness, & they know it. I’ve got a set of menu cards, the best yet, I think. She has a fine upper promenade deck, the clearest I’ve yet been on. I marked 83 steps end to end, but on enquiry I was told that the circle was 13 laps to the mile. The saloon is 160 feet long, a splendid view from end to end, & berths opening into it on either side. Mine is 27 & all to myself. She travels about 15 knots & the steadiest vessel I’ve yet sailed on. Her engines are most beautifully [7:4] polished & quite a treat to look at. The distance from Fort William to Sault Ste. Marie – look at your atlas – is 287 knots. We have a lot of passrs., local & tourists. We were soon out of the little harbour of Port Arthur & steaming away for the Cape Thunder, a fine prominence. I got a distant snap, & pretty scenery to the right of the narrows, after which we were into the great lake or sea & soon not an object was to be seen, & could imagine I was in mid Pacific, only the great circle of horizon to view, [Pergont?] gulls flying behind us & in every way like as at sea. The day passed as at sea, nothing much to chronicle. After lunch I turned in & had 2 hours’ good refreshing sleep, & I felt I needed it, after which I got trimmed up & began my diary, dinner at 6, & afterwards worked on till I completed the last page of book No. 6. I turned in at 10 but the afternoon nap spoiled my night, however, I was up by 7 as I saw we were running between land & nearing Soo, as the town & canal is locally named, & dredgers here & there we passed, fishing & other craft, & some very pretty scenery, breakfast at 7:30, some beautiful fruit to begin with on every table (& there are 10 each seating 8): peaches, grapes, pears, plums (Gages), bananas, & oranges, a dish of beautiful flowers on every center, & always a glass of ice water at the right of your plate. This is Yankee as I noted. Everywhere Yankees had a glass of water to breakfast & before his coffee or tea, hot rolls, toast &c. &c., but you’ll see the menu by & bye. C&B‘s condiments all kinds on every table. One needs not to wonder where all the manufactured articles go to. England is evidently the world’s provider in all such like preparations. Now we enter the channel for the lock. We see on our left a huge swing railway bridge & beyond, spanning the rapids, a miniature Forth bridge.[5] These connect Canada with the States. We soon had to tie up at the side of channel & wait our turn to get locked down 18 feet into Huron Lake. I bought 8 fine [7:5] photos, a nice series, which will help me to graphically describe this most interesting place to you, by & bye (the nice cosy winter nights before Bezique[6] begins). Some huge steamers came up to the level of Superior out of Huron. All this is within very, very short view, only a question of yards. The SS “Martin” is small to many we saw, only these are great beam & light draft, tho’ 21 feet can be let in to the low level & raised the 18 feet. A big 3 master now came through & it is wonderfully soon done, but it is going on continuously night & day, & every day there are two locks, one on either side of each other maybe 60 feet of quay between one. The old lock we went through is 515 feet gate to gate, 80 wide, & the other newer one 800 feet long, 100 wide, & 21 feet on sills. This Soo is in Lat. 46 N. & Long. 84 W., & 1/6th of the US commerce passes through the Soo ship canal, there is the same exactly, but not quite so big, on the Canadian side, just beyond the rapids, & only a very short distance away. As we were tied up some of us landed & it was my first landing on United States soil. I photo’d the “Alberta” waiting her turn, then stopped & saw her through, & went into the town. It was now about 9:30 & we were timed to leave at 12. I sent off a few post cards, one of which was to my Comely & one to Nelly Smith.[7] Before we sailed, I saw a great number of steamers & sailers, in tow, come & go. One was a new steamer, 3 master, & her first trip, named the “Troy”.[8] The captain & canal supt. were walking along side as she was going through, so I got into conversation with them, & was very genial & courteous. She is 402 feet long, carries 6,000 tons on 18 feet, a great beam, but I did not get the figures. These steamers carry ore, coal, & grain. Another big one I saw was the “Andrew Carnegie”. Some had 2 funnels & 3 masts. The canal supt. told me that yesterday the [7:6] SS “Morse” passed through, 475 feet long, carries 8,000 tons on 17 feet 6 inches draft.

All the bridges on vessels here are right forward on the fo’c’sle[9] head for lake & river navigation. I may here note for future reference: the white, 3 funnel steamer seen in one of photos is larger than the White Empress steamers of the CP – 2 of these are owned by the North Pacific Ry. Coy. – SS “Northland” & “Northwest”. The Alberta has some 22,000 bushels of wheat in & she was only drawing 10 feet forward. I was pleased to see her go down with the water & out of the lock into Lake Huron, or rather just there St. Marie River, they call it. This was about 9:15 o’clock. As she lays alongside, you walk out through door ways in the side onto the wharf, no gangways. A very pretty little park with a fountain in it skirts the canal, & several pretty Rowan trees full of berry just like about Kirn & Ardanadam[10]. Indians run canoes down these rapids close to canal, & some passengers had gone down. I had been writing post cards (6) during the while, else I would have had a treat also. The bridges I’ve described belong to the CP Soo, & Minneapolis Ry. Coys., & international. There is more traffic on these canals than goes through the Suez & I can believe it. Every 3 minutes is the average for vessels going through. 2 & 3 sometimes lock through at once, side by side & end on. You’ll see this in one of photos.

Well, we got away at 12 sharp & the most beautiful scenery opened out to view. I was perfectly charmed with it, islands here & there, vegetation to the water edge, & coast likewise, forest grown, very little clearing & we go through narrow channels, Canada one side & States on the other, & what traffic we meet. We are in what is called St. Marie River. Lake Superior water flowing into Lake Huron, widens out [7:7] now & again, but still a very narrow channel buoyed every ¼ mile, & we go very slow, meeting so many craft, & these hurry past to get good turn through the locks. Often the traffic becomes congested at the locks. It took us 4 ½ hours from Soo to the great lake proper, & it opened out like a sea, & we could see lots of ships, sailers with all sail set & steamers emitting the black volume of smoke. We passed some very beautiful spots & scenery before we got clear of the channel, & some places put me in mind of the Kyles without the hills, & another place like the junction of Whiteadder & Tweed. One place, called the Tours, was important. Several coal drops & a big saw mill &c. &c., & here were lots of stake nets in the water. The lake fish are very fine. Op[p]osite this place were some fine residences like a watering place. A house had its name across the front near roof, “Ashiganikaning”. Several people were in little boats fishing & sporting. Much of the land was covered with bush & scrub. Here we passed the Colin Campbell of Milwaukee, a big cargo boat, & soon after the “Interlaken”, another big boat. At the little town of Tours was a “Destructor” or Burner, the Yankees call them. We had had a wonderful passage across Lake Superior, very fine, & up till this it has been fine, a lovely, hot, clear day, but a breeze is getting up & the wind seems changing & every likelihood of a change, & now it is nearing 9 & the Alberta is rolling a bit, & some passengers has [sic] come down quite wet, had got a little sea on deck & many are off to their berths. Now I am again up to date & will close for tonight. Good night!!![11]

[7:8]

[1] Three ship canals, two in the U.S. & one in Canada, at rapids in St. Marys River connecting Lake Superior & Lake Huron.

[2] Inserted on facing page: “7. Wigwams? Squahs.”

[3] Scots dialect: peep or peek.

[4] Waterfalls

[5] Located 9 miles west of Edinburgh, the Forth Railway Bridge is a remarkable cantilever structure, which is still regarded as an engineering marvel and is recognised the world over.  The opening ceremony was held on 4th March, 1890.

[6] Bezique is a two-player card game that originated in France in the early 19th century.  It was extremely fashionable in the mid-nineteenth and early 20th centuries.

[7] Later, Nelly Whitehead?

[8] This may be the SS Troy that collided with the Interstate Bridge between Duluth MN and Superior WI in 1906.

[9] Forecastle:  Living quarters consisting of a superstructure in the bow of a merchant ship where the crew is housed.

[10] Cities in North East U.K

[11] Inserted on facing page: “Mr. John B. Laing. Provincial Municipal Auditor, Parliament Bdgs., Toronto. Fellow passenger on ‘Alberta’.

Had section of land range lot no. 22, 16 East PM, Manitoba, 480 acres.

‘Awl Abôôard’.

Engines have a large ship’s bell, no whistiling.

Freedom moving about & in & out cars as the train speeds along. Conductor chewing tobacco & squirting on the floor.

Not many smokers to be seen on the streets but mostly all chew tobacco.”