6.3.54
c1913
- July 1914 -- S. S. Cheakamus (ex Cheslakee) at Sechelt wharf.
Herbert
Whitaker owned the wharf at this time or perhaps (if the photo dates from
1915) he was in the process of taking legal action to recover his Sechelt
properties from the Canadian-European Investment Corp. Ltd.
Apparently
this German syndicate (which had purchased the properties in December
1913) had permitted the wharf to fall into a state of sad disrepair. Note
that the deck of the approach has lost a large segment on its west side.
The
flag pole on the wharf does not appear in later photos. Note pile driver
and donkey engine, also wheels of cart protruding beyond shed on wharf.
Why was the cordwood stacked on the wharf?
S.
S. Cheslakee was built in Ireland but her superstructure and cabins were
not built until after she arrived in Vancouver, September 26, 1910. Cheslakee
sank alongside the wharf at Vananda, Texada Island, on January 7, 1913
with the loss of three passengers and the second cook. The vessel was
raised, lengthened 20 feet and returned to service in June 1913 under
a changed name; S. S. Cheakamus. During WW11 she was converted into a
towboat and sold to the U.S. government as a salvage tug in 1914. (Query
1941 as Gerald Rushton's table of vessels lists Cheakmus 1913 to 1942.)
Photograph
probably by Charles Bradbury.
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