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The following is the Abstract and Table of Contents from Commercial Navigation on the Rideau Canal, 1832-1961, Manuscript Report 247 by Edward Forbes Bush, Parks Canada, 1981. Republished by Friends of the Rideau as digital book DB-MR247, 2013:
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This paper is in three parts. The first deals with the evolution of the various types of vessel used on the Rideau Canal during the period when it served as a commercial route. The second treats the waterway - its operation, facilities, and regulations. The concluding section describes the forwarding trade in the context of the economic conditions pertaining at different periods, the traffic patterns developed, and the volume of various commodities carried where comprehensive statistical data is available. Data on individual vessels known to have been in the Rideau service is found in Appendix A, followed by various appendices of statistics used in the text. 5 Abstract 6 Acknowledgements 7 Opening of the Rideau Canal 8 The Origins of Steam Navigation 8 Early Steam Engines: Britain, France, America 11 The Boiler 12 The Screw Propeller 14 Evolution of the Steamboat on Inland Waters 14 American and British Forerunners 16 The Apogee of the American River Steamer 17 Canal Boats: American and British 20 The Rideau Steamboat and Barge 20 Steam on Canada's Inland Waters 21 Early Commercial Navigation on the Rideau 23 Steamers and Barges: 1832-1850 25 The Rideau Steamer and the Barge: 1850-90 26 The Olive 27 Freight Boats 28 Barges 33 The Tug 37 The Passenger Boat 39 The Last Years: 1890-1935 39 The Passenger Excursion Steamer 46 The Small Dual-Purpose Steamer 48 Government Patrol Vessels 51 The Dredge 52 Pleasure Craft 55 Steamboat Fuel 56 Registration and Inspection 56 Registration of Vessels 57 Steamboat Inspection 61 Steamer Crews on Inland Waters 62 Shipyards and Engine Works 66 The Rideau Steamer 68 The Rideau Canal: Commercial Waterway 68 A Navigable Waterway 74 Canal Regulations 77 Sunday Observance 79 Wintering 80 Dry Dock 81 Wharves and Warehouses 87 Lighting 87 Dock Facilities outside Ottawa 92 The Rideau Carrying Trade 92 The Early Years: 1832-50 95 Robert Drummond et al., Pioneer Forwarders 100 The Ottawa Rideau Forwarding Company 107 Macpherson and Crane, Forwarders 112 Hooker and Henderson, Forwarders 114 Other Forwarders 114 The Rideau at Mid-Century 115 The Middle Years: 1850-90 116 The Lumber Trade 117 The Mining Industry 118 The Coal Trade 119 Wheat, Flour and the Cheese Trade 120 The Passenger Trade 121 Canadian Canals and the Rideau 122 M.K. Dickinson, Forwarder 124 Benjamin Tett and the Chaffeys 129 Adam Foster, Forwarder 131 Montreal and Ottawa Forwarding Company 131 Other Rideau Forwarders 132 The Mid-Period in Retrospect 132 The Late Period: 1890-ca. 1961 133 The Lumber Trade 133 Ores and Minerals 134 Grain and Agricultural Produce 134 The Coal Trade 134 The Cheese Trade 135 Merchandise and Manufactured Goods 136 The Passenger Service 137 The Rideau Canal in Context 139 Nationality: Steam vs. Sail 139 Ottawa Forwarding and Transportation Company 141 The Rideau Lakes Navigation Company 148 Captain G.A. Davis, Forwarder 158 Epilogue: Summer’s Idyll 162 Appendix A. Rideau Canal Vessels 236 Appendix B. Rideau Canal: Number of Vessels, Vessel Tonnage, Number of Passengers, Freight Tonnage, Tolls, 1832-1970. 240 Appendix C. Rideau Canal: Principal Articles of Freight Carried, 1888-1961. 242 Appendix D. Rideau Canal: Classified Freight Tonnage, 1873-1921. 244 Appendix E. Rideau Canal Vessels: Builders 246 Appendix F. Rideau Canal Vessels: Engine Works 247 Appendix G. Agnes P., Engines and Boiler details 248 Appendix H. Rideau Canal: Commercial and Pleasure Craft, 1936-54. 249 Appendix I. Wharves and Warehouses: Kingston to Ottawa [1850-90]. 250 Endnotes 270 Bibliography |