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.