Boats Were Ready For Post War Season Following the completion of another successful winter work program, our boats were ready to take care of their share of the first post war shipping season with the anticipated tonnage comparable to that of any shipping season during the war. As
feature adds a great deal to convenience of operation as well as to the safety of the men on the dock handling the lines. Another safety feature was the installation of water proof light fixtures in all the showers on the boat.
usual there were a few minor details that had to
The straps and buckets of the center conveyor
be taken care of after the operating season began. With the large tonnage to be handled this year
of the Str. Robinson were overhauled, The hatch
the shipping program on the Great Lakes was slowed up a great deal as a result of the railroad and coal strikes. An attempt is being made to catch
up' as much as possible during the balance of the
combings were raised. This required a lot of weld ing and riveting. New tile floors were put in the refrigerators of both the Robinson and the Bradley. The Bradley also received a new stainless steel drinking water
season. This will mean a very busy operation for the balance of the navigation season. The success
tank.
of a full operating season can in a large part be attributed to a well planned and well organized
was the usual amount of checking and repairing done on the electrical equipment of all the boats. The same was true of all the conveying equipment. Many chutes were relined, some rivets replaced, and repairs to the cargo holds were made. As dur ing the past years, many improvements were made to the living quarters on these boats. This adds to
maintenance program. The result of the winter work program of the Bradley Transportation Com pany speaks well for itself in this respect. '•. Four boats of the Bradley fleet were laid up at Calcite. They were the Steamers Bradley, Robin son, Taylor, and Calcite. The Munson and White were at Toledo. The nature of the work.to be done
In addition to the above mentioned items, there
the comforts of the crew members. All these im
provements that were made add to the efficiency of the operation of these vessels and increases the
on these two boats made it necessary for them to be at a shipyard.
safety of the crew members.
This winter again found many familiar faces on the job. Charles Frederick was chief engineer. Cash Sobeck was again in charge of the erection and hull work, with Victor Klee and Paul Mulka as assistant foremen to keep the hull, conveyor, and construc tion work on all the boats progressing to schedule. Norman Henderson was in charge of the mechan ical work. Victor Koch very ably took care of the timekeeping duties. We had the usual group of
sembled at the General Repair Shop, are being in stalled during the operating season on the Steamers Munson. Taylor, and White. William Heller and his .shop men are to be highly commended for the fine. cooperation given this winter work program at all times. When considering the hazards encountered in this
welders and burners, most of whom were well ac
quainted with this type of work. John Miller and his crew of "huskies" took charge of all the handling
jobs, many of which were tough ones. Lawson
New electric hatch winches, which were as
type of work and the limited time in which these jobs need to be finished, the safety records show that all the men are safety conscious. Most of the accidents included minor cuts and scratches with a
number getting foreign objects in the eyes.
Macklem and his electricians were a busy group
Top left view on next page is of Tony Yarch
of motors and other electrical equipment along with the trouble shooting on the electrical equipment in .use. We had with us Joseph Ackers, who under the
in setting brick in lower boiler room of Str. Taylor. Top right is view of air heater section going aboard Str. Taylor in new boiler installation. Right center
doing a lot of new wiring, cleaning and overhauling waiting for his helper to pass on more mud used
direction of Robert Lucas took care of the engineer
is Norman Henderson, Joseph Buck, Frank Mayes,
-new boilers in the Str. B. H. Taylor.
Brege and Cash Sobeck touching off the first fire
ing details in connection with the installation of Joe Acker, John Smolinski, Ford Winfield, Dick .
: The major job of the last winter's work was the Teboilering of the Str. B. H. Taylor. As soon as
under the new boilers they spent clays assembling. Right center is the handling crew hoisting a new stainless steel drinking water tank aboard, for the
the old boilers was begun. This was finished before the lay off during the Christmas holiday season. Erection of the foundations was begun after New
Str. Bradley. Lower left, the new stack swings into place on the Str. Taylor.
Years. The slow delivery on many items for this job
Lower right a crew raises the hatches on the Str.
^possible after the operating season, dismantling of
hindered the progress to some extent. In spite of Robinson. the'fact that many of the items were hard to ob These were just a very few of the many jobs that tain and slow in being delivered, the Taylor sailed the Bradley winter work crew do each year when only a few days following the other boats of the the snow is deep and the chill winds blow. fleet. A new high pressure cylinder and column
were also installed on the Taylor. Two new typhoon whistles similar to those on the Steamers Bradley
and Robinson were installed this spring. The coal conveying system was overhauled. Shipside con
trols for the mooring winches were installed. This mi
Kindness is a language the deaf can hear anr* the dumb can understand.
It ain't no disgrace for a man to fail, but to lav there and grunt is.—Josh Billings.