Our second Ship of the Month in the January issue was the Misener canaller PAUL MANION, (a) C. H. HOUSON (49). We stated that we believed Mr. Houson to have been an executive of the Dominion Sugar Company Ltd., with which the Misener fleet had close connections for many years. (CLAREMONT ran many cargoes for Dminion [sic] and even carried the company's name painted on her bows.) Member Alan Mann confirms that Charles Henry Houson was an executive of Dominion who started with the company at Wallaceburg in 1902, that eventually he became president, and that he was instrumental in arranging the merger of the firm with the Canada Sugar Refining Company in 1930.

The HOUSON/MANION enjoyed a relatively uneventful career, but it is known that she was involved in at least one noteworthy incident, as recounted by member Ivan S. Brookes in his book, The Lower St. Lawrence. Ivan credits the Dominion Wreck Commissioner's report for the details of the accident, which occurred in the first year of C. H. HOUSON's life. We thank Skip Gillham for bringing the reference to our attention.

"A collision off Cap au Saumon (in the St. Lawrence River between Murray Bay and St. Simeon) in thick fog on the 28th of July, 1929. between the Black Diamond collier WABANA and the canaller C. H. HOUSON brought the wrath of the judges down on several heads. The captain of the WABANA was suspended for twelve months for giving misleading and disturbing signals, for ordering erasures and substitutions of entries in his engineer's log, and for leaving the scene of the collision without announcing the name of his ship or making any obligatory enquiries. His chief engineer received a severe reprimand for acceding to the captain's demands, and for being a party to the alterations in his log. The master of the C. H. HOUSON was in default for altering his log, for having too much way on his ship in heavy fog, for altering course and for permitting his pilot and his look-out to leave the bridge during the fog."

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