Village Squire, 1980-07, Page 131
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ship's publicist advertised "for health,
recreation and freedom from care, this
Quise is unsurpassed."
PLAY A ROUND OF GOLF
The Hamonic and her sister ships
followed the route of voyageurs and fur
traders up the Lakes, stopping so
passengers returned to the ships to dine on
tempting meals, featuring lake fish in
lobster sauce, baked ox tongue, prime ribs
of beef, a selection of desserts and coffee
or tea served with a Canadian cheese tray.
In 1913, the Hamonic was joined by the
S.S. Noronic, an even more palatial
passenger steamer, launched from the Port
Arthur dry dock.
The Noronic was fitted out with a
beautiful interior made from maple, ash,
white pine and birch, cut from forests
around the port and seasoned in local
lumber yards.
The Noronic sailed on her maiden
voyage on a bright morning in mid-May,
1914, and it was a gala occasion. Hundreds
of friends and relatives of the crew
clustered around the harbour to watch the
ship as she slipped out into Lake Huron.
The Noronic's 362 -foot, five -deck length
was nothing short of a marvel and seemed
to combine the latest technolgy with
luxurious furnishings to ensure shipboard
safety.
One of the veteran sailors on the
Northern Navigation Ltd. steamers was
Captain Horace Beaton, who retired to Port
Elgin after a lengthy career on the lakes.
In 1942, when he was only 39 years of
age, Horace Beaton, who had already
served as first mate on the Noronic, was
named master of the Hamonic.
Three years later, the captain brought
his ship up the river from Detroit on a
seemingly routine cruise, and docked
safely at Point Edward. When the ship was
safely secured at 5 a.m., Captain Beaton
retired below decks to catch up on his
sleep.
A short time later, a fork life operator
on the dock was loading freight on board
the Hamonic when the lift's engine
backfired, right under the gasoline tank.
Fire spread quickly along the dock and
Captain Beaton wakened to shouts, "The
shed is on fire!" Flames raced along the
dock and jumped to the lifeboats on board
the Hamonic.
The captain reacted quickly. He sounded
the alarm, rang the engine room telegraph
and ordered the engines double full astern.
His quick action prevented what might
have been an unforgettable tragedy. The
Hamonic was backed out into the St. Clair
River, clear of the blanket of thick smoke
from the burning dock. Then to allow
passengers and crew to escape, Captain
Beaton steered the ship full speed ahead
into the Century Coal dock.
ALL ESCAPED
The ship, with its wooden fittings, was
now well ablaze, but passengers and crew
The Pilot House Museum, located on the
banks of the St. Clair River south of Sarnia,
Is the former pilot house of the S.S.
Hamilton, an oil freighter launched In
Collingwood in 1916, and originally known
all escaped. Some jumped into the river,
where they were rescued by fishermen,
some slid down ropes from the boat to the
docks below and others were rescued by
Edward Kleinsmith, a crane operator,
who brought passengers down in the
bucket of his crane.
Captain Beaton stayed with the ship
until he knew the situation was cinder
control and then jumped to the river below,
not realizing both his face and hands had
been burned while he stayed at the wheel.
The fire destroyed the S.S. Hamonic,
which was later towed to Windsor and sold
for scrap, but it didn't claim any lives.
Most passengers escaped with little more
than rope burns or an unexpected dip in
the river.
In 1949, the Noronic, captained by
another veteran master, Capt. William
as the Sarnolite. The museum includes
displays of life on board ship, with officers'
quarters and the wheelhouse restored to
their original state.
(Photo by Gibb)
Taylor of Mooretown, was also struck by
tragedy midway through a special end -of -
the -season cruise.
The excursion, with 524 passengers,
mostly from Michigan and Ohio, started in
Detroit and crossed Lake Erie, went
through the canal and into Lake Ontario.
On Sept. 16, the "Norey" was tied up in
the Toronto harbour, and many passengers
had gone ashore to party or dine in the
evening. By early morning, most were back
on board and had retired to their cabins.
A passenger, Don Church, was wander-
ing down one of the ship's halls when he
caught a whiff of smoke. He opened the
linen closet and discovered a smouldering
fire. He alerted the first crewman he
found, but it was seven minutes until the
ship's alarm, a klaxon horn, was sounded
to alert passengers. It was already too
VILLAGE SQUIRE /JULY 1980 PG. 11