The conflicting rumours, which for many months have been in circulation as to the inability of Messrs. Peterson, Tate & Company to fulfil the terms of their agreement, have finally been set at rest by the cancelling of the contract, and the Canadian Government calling for tenders for a weekly steamship service for carrying Her Majesty’s mails for a period of two years from the 1st of May, 1899, from Montreal and Quebec to Liverpool, during the summer months, and from St. John, N. B., and Halifax in winter. The time occupied in making the voyage from Rimouski to Moville and _vice versa_, is not to exceed an average of seven days. This is clearly a temporary arrangement and not an implied abandonment of a faster service than already exists. The opinion, however, in business circles seems to be gaining ground that something much less costly than a twenty-knot service might for some years to come meet the requirements of the country. FOOTNOTES: [34] The _Angloman_ was wrecked on the Skerries, in the Irish Sea, in February, 1897. The crew were rescued, but the ship, with her valuable cargo and a large number of cattle, became a total loss, though fully covered by insurance. [35] The SS. _Memphis_, of the African Steamship Company, but employed by the Elder, Dempster Line, went ashore on the west coast of Ireland in a fog in November, 1896, and became a total wreck. Ten of the crew were drowned and 350 head of cattle. [36] The Manchester ship canal is 35 miles long, 120 feet bottom width, and 26 feet in depth. The docks at Manchester cover 104 acres and have five miles of quays. It was estimated to cost £10,000,000 sterling, but cost over £15,000,000 before it was completed. Arrangements are in progress by a Manchester syndicate for the establishment of a weekly line of steamships of 8,500 tons capacity, to be provided with cold storage and the most approved equipments for carrying live stock. The best modern appliances for loading and discharging cargo, grain elevators being included, are among the attractions which enterprising Manchester presents to the shipping trade of Canada. [37] “Montreal Board of Trade Report, 1897,” pp. 52, 88. CHAPTER VIII. STEAM ON THE GREAT LAKES. The History of Steam Navigation on the Great Lakes—The Construction of the St. Lawrence, the Welland, and the Rideau Canals—The Port of Montreal.