In the same number of the Loyalist we hear again of Capt. Richardson's new steamboat, the Canada. We read of her first passage across from York to Niagara, thus: "The new steamboat Canada, Capt. Richardson, made her first trip to Niagara on Monday last, and went out of the harbour in fine style. Her appearance reflects much credit on her builder, Mr. Joseph Dennis; and the machinery, manufactured by Messrs. Wards of Montreal, is a specimen of superior workmanship. The combined excellence of the model and machinery of this boat is such," says the Loyalist, "as will render her what is usually termed 'a fast boat.' The trip to Niagara was performed in four hours and some minutes. Her present route, we observe, is advertised from York to Niagara and the Head of the Lake. In noticing this first trip of another steamboat," continues the Loyalist, "we cannot help contrasting the present means of conveyance with those ten years ago. At that time only a few schooners navigated the Lake, and the passage was attended with many delays and much inconvenience. Now there are five steamboats, all affording excellent accommodation, and the means of expeditious travelling. The routes of each are so arranged that almost every day of the week the traveller may find opportunities of being conveyed from one extremity of the Lake to the other in a few hours. The Niagara and Queenston from Prescott, and the Frontenac from Kingston once a week, and the Canada and Martha Ogden between York and Niagara and the Head of the Lake every day, afford facilities of communication which the most sanguine could scarcely have anticipated at the period we speak of. Independent of these boats, it must be mentioned that the Cornwall on Lake St. Louis makes a trip every day from Côteau du Lac to Cornwall; the Dalhousie runs between Prescott and Kingston twice a week and conveys the mail; the Charlotte and Toronto once a week from Prescott to the Head of the Bay of Quinté; thus affording to every part of the country the same advantages of convenient intercourse. These are some of the evidences of improvement among us during the last few years which require no comment. They speak for themselves, and it must be pretty evident from such facts as these, that those who cannot, or will not, see the progress we are making, must be wilfully blind." (The closing remark was of course for the benefit of contemporary editors at York and elsewhere, who, from their political view of things, gave their readers the impression that Canada was a doomed country, going rapidly to perdition.)
From the Loyalist of Aug. 19, 1826, we learn that "the steamboat Niagara, on her trip from York to Kingston, had her machinery injured, and has put back into Bath to repair." In the same number of the Loyalist, we are told that the proprietor of the Frontenac had fractured his leg. "We regret to hear," the Loyalist says, "that an accident happened last week to John Hamilton, Esq., the proprietor of the steamboat Frontenac. In stepping out of a carriage at the Falls, he unfortunately broke his leg." In a Loyalist of the following month (Sept. 2, 1826), we hear again of Sir Peregrine Maitland's movements in the Frontenac. The Loyalist says: "His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor and suite arrived in town (York) from Kingston yesterday morning, on board the Frontenac, and after remaining a few hours, proceeded to Stamford." The next Loyalist (Sep. 9, 1826) speaks of an expeditious trip made by Capt. Mosier's Niagara. "The Steamboat Niagara, Capt. Mosier, made," it says, "her trip last week, from York to Prescott, and back again, in something less than four days, touching at the ports of Kingston, Gananoque and Brockville, going and returning, independent of the usual delay at Prescott. The distance is nearly five hundred miles."
From the Loyalist of Sept. 30, 1826, we hear of the steamboat Queenston, Capt. Whitney. A notice appears that "The steamboat Queenston, Capt. W. Whitney, will, during the remainder of the season, leave Niagara for Kingston and Prescott every Thursday at eight o'clock a.m., instead of 10 o'clock as heretofore. Queenston, Sept. 8, 1826." From a number of the Loyalist in the following month (Oct. 7, 1826), we gather that an accident, which might have been very disastrous, had happened to the Queenston. "With pleasure," the Editor says, "we state that the steamboat Queenston arrived here (York) on Thursday last, without having sustained any serious injury in consequence of the late accident which happened by her getting aground near Kingston. The apprehensions which were entertained for the safety of this fine boat are therefore happily removed. After getting off she returned to Prescott, where the necessary repairs were immediately made, and brought up several passengers and a full cargo."
A communication from Hugh Richardson, Captain of the Canada, appears in the Loyalist of Oct. 14, 1826. A passenger has leaped overboard from his vessel and been drowned. "To the Editor of the U. E. Loyalist. Sir,—On Friday evening a passenger on board the Canada, on her way from Burlington Beach to Niagara, was seen by the man at the helm to jump overboard. On the alarm being given, in an instant the sails were in, engine stopped, and boat lowered, into which I jumped with two hands, and rowed a quarter of a mile in our wake, but, I am sorry to say, without success. On returning aboard, his hat was found, as if deliberately placed near the gangway whence he jumped. The hat is a new white one, and beside the maker's name is written 'Joseph Jewell Claridge, Jersey City.' The hat contained a new red and yellow silk handkerchief, a pair of white cotton gloves, and three-quarters of a dollar in silver. He was a good-looking young man, well dressed, in blue coat, yellow waistcoat, black or blue pantaloons and boots. He had neither bundle nor luggage, and came on board at Burlington Beach. I am inclined to think from all appearances, and the trifle of money left in the hat, that distressed circumstances had pourtrayed, in a too sensitive mind, insurmountable evils, producing temporary derangement, during which the barriers of nature were broken down; and he rushed in frenzy before his Maker. Perhaps by your kindly inserting this it may meet the eye of some relation or friend, to whom, on application, the little articles he left will be restored. I am, Sir, your most obedient servant, Hugh Richardson. York, Oct. 3, 1826." (We shall have other communications of Capt. Richardson's brought under our notice shortly. They are always marked by vigour; and are now and then pleasantly racy of the profession to which the writer belonged.)
The Loyalist of Nov. 11, 1826, notices a second accident which has befallen Captain Mosier's vessel. It says: "The steamer Niagara, on her way from Prescott last week, unfortunately struck on a reef of rocks off Poplar Point, about fifty miles from Kingston, where, at the latest dates, she was lying on her beam ends, in about five feet of water. The Queenston brought her passengers up," it is added, "on Saturday last; and we are informed that, owing to the exertions of Capt. Mosier, the greater part of her cargo has been forwarded to York. Yesterday a person who came from the Niagara, stated that she had received no damage from the late gales of wind, and as she has weathered these, we sincerely hope that she may be got off without much difficulty or injury." In the next number it is noted that "at the latest dates the steamboat Niagara was still aground. The greatest exertions are making by Capt. Mosier to get her off. The weather has been tempestuous; but we are happy to hear that the Niagara has not received any material injury."
In this number is a notice that "a meeting of the stockholders of the Steampacket Canada will be held at York, on board of the Boat, on Monday, the 4th of December, at 12 o'clock. By order of the Committee of Management. J. W. Gamble, Treasurer, York, 15th Nov., 1826."—One result of the meeting thus advertised is an address to the stockholders from Capt. Richardson, which appears in the Loyalist of Dec. 9. The Captain is plainly uneasy in view of the possibility of the majority deciding that he shall not be in the sole charge and management of the Canada in the ensuing year. He announces his intention to visit England during the winter, for the purpose of raising funds among his friends which may enable him to buy out the few persons who are associated with him in the ownership of the boat. "Gentlemen," he says, "it having been decided at a Meeting of the Stockholders, held on board the Canada, that I should be invested with the sole charge and management of the boat the ensuing year, unless at a Meeting to be held the first Monday in March, other arrangements take place, I seize this opportunity, on the eve of my departure for England, to assure the Stockholders that I have made every arrangement for the safety of the boat and the necessary repairs. And at the same time I respectfully submit to them the ostensible motive of my voyage. Gentlemen, I am so deeply embarked in the speculation I have entered into, that the prospect of the stock depreciating, and of the boat's services and my own labours being rendered abortive in so lucrative a ferry as that betwixt York and Niagara, mainly by a plurality of the management, fills me with dismay. And, as I trust I am entitled to the confidence the Stockholders generally placed in my abilities, and am convinced that unless the power of management be invested in one person to act with all his energies in the scene of profits, to seize the advantages of market in the economy of the outlay with the discretion of a sole owner, loss and ruin to myself must ensue. With this view of the subject I embark for England to endeavour to raise funds and relieve those gentlemen who are averse to my management, and to take up the remainder of the stock, that they who so kindly confided in my assurances of individual profit, and placed implicit reliance in my integrity and abilities, may not be disappointed in their fair expectations. Confident that I possess the hearty wishes of success from many valuable patrons, in taking leave, I am happy to subscribe myself, Gentlemen, your most obedient humble servant, Hugh Richardson. York, Dec. 6, 1826."
By the 24th of March in the following year (1827) he is back again in York. In the Loyalist of the date just given is a second address to the stockholders, preparatory to the meeting which is to take place on the 2nd of April. He recounts his proceedings in England, and urges again his own appointment as sole manager of the Canada. As illustrative of the anxieties attendant at an early period, and at all periods, on individual personal enterprise, insufficiently supported, the document possesses an interest.
"To the Stockholders in the Canada Steamboat. Gentlemen, it must be fresh in the memory of you all that I am the original projector of the Canada; that my abilities, in whatever light they may be viewed, were wholly employed in planning, constructing and fitting her out. Facts have already proved that I led no one astray by false theories in her construction; and her engine is upon the model of the very best now generally in use in England. I have been all along by far the largest shareholder, and nearly the whole of the shares were taken up by gentlemen upon my personal solicitations, in doing which I did not fear, in the strongest language I was master of, to pledge the success of the undertaking, not only on the prospect of the lucrative ferry, but also upon the faith of my own personal exertions. Then do I infer too much by saying that a friendly disposition towards me, a confidence in my abilities and my integrity (with very few exceptions), was the basis upon which I met with such general patronage? However, after a certain period it was no longer possible to raise sufficient stock to complete the vessel; the expedient of borrowing was resorted to, and a debt of £1,200 contracted with the Bank. Upon this the boat commenced her operations, and ran from the 7th of August, a period of 98 days; during which time, Gentlemen, I look upon it as a matter of congratulation that at her very first starting, having an American boat to oppose her, the proceeds of the Canada not only paid her current expenses, but also a sum of upwards of £200 in extraordinary outfit, including £40 insurance on money borrowed, also the interest thereon; £50 nearly for replacing her wheels repeatedly destroyed, and considerable repairs. I see nothing but what is most flattering in this her first outset. Thus it would have appeared had I made my report: and had I done it in the most favourable light, I should have thought, as one of the guardians of the property entrusted to my charge, that I was only fulfilling a duty I owed the Stockholders when I enhanced, rather than depreciated, its value. At the end of the season, from disappointments and expenses in collecting the amount of the shares taken up, there was found still wanting a sum of £400; and at the last general meeting this further sum was borrowed, hampering the boat with a debt of £1,000. At this crisis, at a very great personal expense, and at a greater sacrifice of domestic comfort, I set out for England to trespass upon my own immediate friends; and now return prepared to relieve the embarrassments of the boat, and am willing, in the face of representations that went to disparage the stock, to invest a much larger capital in the Canada; in doing which I confer a benefit upon the whole, and trust I give further proof of the sincerity of my professions, when I undertook the arduous task of getting up a Steamboat. But, Gentlemen, things have not gone as I wished, or as I intended; and, perhaps, I am the only person who will have property invested in this vessel to such an amount as to make it of vital importance that success should attend the adventure. Therefore, upon this ground, upon the ground of my being the projector of this vessel, upon the responsibility of my situation as Master, ostensible agent, and possessing owner, I most earnestly solicit your particular support to my appointment as managing owner of this vessel; and to that effect may I again solicit the most general attendance of the Stockholders at the meeting to be held on board the Canada the second of April. I am, Gentlemen, your very obedient and very humble servant, Hugh Richardson. York, 24th March, 1827."
It is to be supposed that Capt. Richardson's views were adopted at the meeting.