In 1835 and years immediately following, additional names appear in the Toronto harbour steam-marine lists—the Experiment, the Queen, the Gore, the Princess Royal, the Traveller, the City of Toronto (the first steamer so named), all of them boats built at Niagara under the superintendence of Capt. Dick, and all of them, with the exception of the Traveller, in the Royal Mail Service. The City of Toronto, built in 1841, and commanded by Captain Dick, was the first steamer that conveyed the mails westward. The mail-service previously had been performed by Mr. Weller and his stage-coaches. The principal owners of the vessels named were Mr. James Lockhart, of Niagara, Capt. Dick himself, Mr. Andrew Heron, also of Niagara, and Mr. Donald Bethune. The Experiment, above mentioned, was the Government Despatch boat which, under the command of Capt. Dick, did such good service on the Lake during the troubles of 1837.
When the steam-packet Canada was finally sold, Capt. Richardson commanded and principally owned the Transit, on the route between York and Niagara. This Transit was in reality the steamer Constitution, of which we have already heard as being commanded by Capt. Zealand, conjointly with the Transit. A steamer named the Queen was for a time maintained by Capt. Richardson on the route between Niagara, the head of the Lake, and York. The Queen was under the charge of Capt. Richardson's son, Mr. Hugh Richardson, assisted by two brothers, Charles and Henry Richardson. Simultaneously with the Transit and Queen, the City of Toronto (the first steamer so named) also plied to Niagara, under the command of Capt. Dick. After some years the Transit was sold and became a tug-boat on the river below. The steamer Chief Justice Robinson was then built by Capt. Richardson for the Niagara route, in some respects after a model of his own, being provided, like the ancient war-galleys, with a rostrum or projecting beak low down on a level with the water, for the purpose, as was generally supposed, of breaking a way through ice when such an impediment existed; but by Capt. Richardson himself, the peculiar confirmation of the prow was expected to facilitate the vessel's progress through the heavy surges of the Lake. About 1850 the Chief Justice Robinson became the property of Capt. Dick and Mr. Heron. This transfer closed the career of Capt. Richardson as a commander on the Lake. From 1852 to 1870 he filled the post of Harbour-master at Toronto, and on the 2nd of July, 1870, he died, in the 87th year of his age. The Chief Justice continued to ply between Toronto and Niagara, in company with the City of Toronto, until the removal of the latter vessel to the waters of Lake Huron, where she became famous as the Algoma.
In 1855 the Peerless was placed on the Niagara route. The Peerless was an iron vessel, first constructed in the Clyde in parts, then taken asunder and shipped to Canada, where she was put together again under the eye of her owner, Capt. Dick, at Niagara. The number of pieces entering into the composition of the Peerless was six thousand. Such a method of transporting an iron ship from the Clyde to Niagara, if complicated and troublesome, was shown to be, at all events, a dictate of prudence by the fate which befell a vessel intended to be a companion to the Peerless on Lake Ontario. A steamship of iron named Her Majesty, built in the Clyde expressly for Capt. Dick, was lost in the Atlantic, with all the men in charge on board, sixteen in number; so that no clue was ever attained as to the cause of the disaster. We now find ourselves treating of times which, strictly speaking, do not come within the scope of these 'collections and recollections.'
For the sake of imparting roundness and completeness to our narrative, we have ventured on the few details just given. We finish by simply naming the successor of the Peerless on the route to Niagara, Capt. Milloy's splendid steamer, the Zimmerman. It fell to our lot to witness the last agonies of this vessel in the devouring flames as she lay at the Niagara quay, near the mouth of the Niagara River. On that never-to-be-forgotten occasion (Aug. 21, 1863), the long-continued shrieking of the steam whistle, the resounding moans and convulsive sighs issuing fitfully, in a variety of keys, from the tubes of the boiler and other parts of the steam apparatus, gave to all hearers and on-lookers the painful and most affecting impression of some gigantic sentient creature helplessly undergoing a fiery death, suffering in the process grievous pangs, protracted and inexpressible.
HOC OPUS EXEGI; FESSÆ DATE SERTA CARINÆ;
CONTIGIMUS PORTUM, QUO MIHI CURSUS ERAT.
APPENDIX.
