Union Steamship Co. - Photos & Discussion

[lmtengs]

If you post those pictures of the house and town, we could probably figure it out for you just from that.

[Deleted]

here is an image of the town, a house, and another one just of boats in case anyone found it interesting. i'm sorry i can't seem to figure out how to post them into the message, only as an attachment.
thanks!

Attachments:

[Deleted]

the town...

Attachments:

[Deleted]

boats beside a dock.

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[mrdot]

these old style plates of the north coast canneries which were served by the Union ss co. are quite enlighting and illustrate a life that is long gone from the north coast, the cannery shot may be one of the many skeena canneries that were served by the Union ss co. much of the labour was transported in sterage like conditions as one of the pics. illustrates. mrdot.

[lmtengs]

Oct 23, 2010 14:49:54 GMT -8 @kk said:

the town...

Could this be the North Pacific Cannery?

[WettCoast]

Oct 24, 2010 8:23:23 GMT -8 @lmtengs said:

Oct 23, 2010 14:49:54 GMT -8 @kk said:

the town...

Could this be the North Pacific Cannery?

Yes, it very well could be the NPC. The layout & buildings look similar to what you see today. Unlike other cannery villages along the coast the NPC had/has a mainline rail track running just behind the village. If any of the photos show what looks like a rail grade then this probably is the NPC.

In that BC once had about 100 canneries along the coast a century ago it is very likely that quite a few of them were similar in layout to North Pacific.

[Deleted]

Thanks for all of the great information, this will help with my research. there are some interesting ideas to follow here. I didn't realise there were that many canneries on the coast, so maybe finding the exact one isn't possible.

[Low Light Mike]

I'm currently reading through Mr. Art Twigg's book "Union Steamships Remembered".

One thing that strikes me is how so many of the Masters, mates and engineers worked until they were in their 70s and then usually died 1 or 2 years after their late retirement.

I've read too many accounts like that, in this book. The lack of pensions appears to be the main reason for the long careers of those old men.

The apparent lack of enjoyable retirement years appears to be commonplace in that type of work.

[mrdot]

:)In those days that was true of many workplaces, as very few enjoyed any of the benefits that many of us took for granted in today's workplace environment. Mr Rushton and my dad talked a bit about that, and I brought back his copy and notes that he left my dad and I will give his copies and notes to wettcoast/whitecoast'to scan in future. Many in the marine industry did not have very secure retirements, and I owe much to my superannuation pension from both the ferry and municipal pensions. :)mrdot.

[captainjack]

Some never made it to retirement. My grandfather was Chief on the Catala from '25 until '45 when he died on board in Prince Rupert. At least he got a page or so in Art's book.

[Low Light Mike]

Feb 17, 2011 22:50:32 GMT -8 captainjack said:

Some never made it to retirement. My grandfather was Chief on the Catala from '25 until '45 when he died on board in Prince Rupert. At least he got a page or so in Art's book.

Welcome aboard here, Captain Jack. Your post prompted me to open my Twigg book just now, and read your grandfather's story once again.

[captainjack]

Thanks for the welcome flugelhorn, glad to be aboard. I'll admit I'm new to this forum/thread/blog/online discussion thing, but it seems worthwhile. I am surprised (disappointed) that there does not seem to be too many different participants. Of course the problem with dealing with a subject like this is that most of the people who had any direct connection to the Company are long gone. Personal anecdotes are far and away the best avenue to really getting the flavour of what the old ships were all about. At least we have Gerald and Art to thank for their great service in actually getting it on paper. Tom Henry's effort is commendable as a story-teller, however I don't believe he ever had any real experience with Union, but instead relied on the archives for his material. As mentioned my grandfather, Andrew Beattie (you figured it out flugelhorn) was Chief on the Catala for many years. Unfortunately he died many years before I was born, so I wasn't able to sit him down for an extensive interview. Too bad. He came out from Scotland as third engineer on the original Camosun, and settled in Victoria, then Vancouver. My great, great uncle was John Barnsley, formerly of Boscowitz Co., then general manager of Union. He did not last too long in that position before he died.

[Low Light Mike]

I've just finished reading Gerald Rushton's 1980 book "Echoes of the Whistle" and I was surprised to learn that 2 former CP BCCS ships were bought by the Union company in the early 1950s and converted to bulk carriers.

- Princess Mary

- Princess Maquinna

The "after photos" show the hulls stripped of their superstructures.

[Deleted]

I have just found these posts so Iam not all that surprised about the lack of input. I have been a fan of USSCo. since the late 70's..

[Low Light Mike]

"Vancouver, CPR, Tommy Roberts, Cassiar"

------------

Here's some more USSC culture:

The Grand Hotel

There's a place in Vancouver you all know so well,
It's a place where they keep rot-gut whisky to sell,
They also keep boarders, they keep them like hell,
And the name of that place is the Grand Hotel.

In the Grand Hotel when the loggers come in,
It's amusing to see the proprietor grin,
He knows they've got money, he'll soon have it all,
"Come on, boys, have a drink!", you will hear Tommy call.

Oh, the bartender laughs as the money rolls in
They drink beer and whisky, champagne, rum and gin
Till they all get so boozy they can't drink no more,
And the loggers lay scattered all over the floor.

In the morning the loggers wake up from their bed,
Their money's all gone and Oh lord! what a head,
They rush to the bar and they call for a drink,
And Tommy gets busy a-slinging the ink.

"Four bits for your bed, though you slept on the floor,
And the breakfast you've missed will be four bits more,
And a four dollar meal ticket, good at the bar,
And a pass back to camp on the old Cassiar."

-------
note: coll. from Bennett King Lesley, Shaughnessy Hospital
by Phil Thomas and in his Songs of the Pacific Northwest.
Another version collected by Ed McCurdy is in Fowke. The
building still stands. The song predates 1923, when Tommy
Roberts, the proprietor, was shot and killed while gambling.
With no banks for "stakey" loggers just arrived in town to
use, they were prime targets for robbers of every sort, so
Roberts would put their rolls in the hotel safe, and "run a
slate" for them, first making sure he'd taken out enough money
to pay for their trip back up to the remote logging camps on
the coast steamer "Cassiar". JB

from here:
www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/song-midis/Grand_Hotel.htm


Some more explanation:

The Grand Hotel/The Peekaboo Waltz/Buck’s Camp Down at Monroe

Here are two songs collected by Phil Thomas and published in his Songs of the Pacific Northwest, separated by a waltz that was popular in the logging camps. The Grand Hotel was a common destination for many of the loggers arriving in Vancouver on board the Cassiar from coastal logging camps. They would often hand over their “roll” to the proprietor, Tommy Roberts (1883-1917) for safekeeping, and Tommy would “run a slate” for them until the money was spent. “Buck’s Camp” makes sport of the conditions in a camp in western Washington at the turn of the century.

from here:
www3.telus.net/jonbartlett-rikaruebsaat/gfc.html

[mrdot]

:)a welcome to new member revid, you have taped into a group of U.SSco enthusiasts, and I will get my brother whitecoast, to direct you to a treasure trove of material that we have between several of our group. Welcome to the fold, as it were. :)mrdot.

[Deleted]

I thank you for a warm welcome mrdot. My intrest started with Rushtons book..never looked back, I also have Art Twiggs. Since 1978 I have travelled up and down the coast in the wake of the union steamships.revid

[mrdot]

:)futher to revid's thank-you note, our neigbour some years ago was mr. gerald rushton, he was a delightful gentleman, and several of the folks pictured in the last photo in mr. twiggs book attended with myself at his memorial service here in tsawwaswssen in 1993.There is much material in the Union S.S. thread, which you will find here, enjoy your voyage thru it! :)mrdot.

[EGfleet]

While at the Edmonds antique mall yesterday I came across this postcard which I snagged at once...
Catala on the beach at Ocean Shores.



Caption on the back says:
S.S. Catala, Ocean Shores Marina, Ocean Shores, Washington
Moved to this lagoon in 1963 to serve as a salmon fishing base for sports fishing, the former World's Fair hotel ship capsized in a violent 100 MPH windstorm New Years Day 1965.

[mrdot]

:)I am going to have to see if brother whitecoast can dig out my much happier vue of Catala in her prime somewhere on the north coast, as this will counterbalence the sad vue depected on EGfleet's evocative post. mrdot.

[EGfleet]

Well here is a *slightly* happier postcard...at least it shows what the Catala looked like at Ocean Shores before going aground.

[mrdot]

:)yes EGfleet, that new post of Catala is a much happier pose, thank you for that, yesterday's header of Queen of North was evocative also, and was much more shipspape in her first trim, but I am glad we switched back to Kalakla in old Victoria, a wonderful glance back in time. :)mrdot.

[EGfleet]

Nearly identical to the last postcard, although this one was produced before the ship went aground. Caption on the back says:
S.S CATALA
Ocean Shores' new salmon fishing base is the S.S. Catala, former World's Fair hotel ship, which is moored in a lagoon at the south end of the resort's long peninsula. The famous resort area is also known as the "Capital of the Clam Coast."

[Deleted]

Hi All
In order to keep harmony I have agreed to relinqish some of my damaged Union and CP tableware. If interested let me know...I will send picture(s) to the interested. The Union is belt buckle and banner logos. The CP are Can. Pac. and BCCSS......Revid