The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Though the lake season in 1908, commercially considered, was back- ward, the wrecker Favorite of the Great Lakes Towing Co.'s fleet suc- ceeded in putting in an unusually ac- tive year. The Great Lakes Towing Co. is now preparing a brochure upon the wrecker's operations and will is- sue it in a few days. Much attention has of late years been paid by the Great Lakes Towing Co. to physical equipment, and the results of this pol- icy are certainly apparent. The com- pany is prepared to go anywhere in all weathers, a condition which has proved of inestimable benefit to those engaged in lake trade. For the per- fection of this organization, great credit is due to Capt. Edward Smith, who, since he became the head of the company, has made its physical ade- quacy his chief consideration. TO begin with, the Favorite is one of the most' ¢omplete wreckers in the 'world, certainly the most resourceful TAE MaRINE Review craft that has ever operated on the great lakes. Her equipment includes a large sized punch and shears, elec- tric drills, modern towing machine (the largest built), 1,800 ft. of 2-in. wire line, boom with three-ton ore grab bucket capable of handling 75 tons an hour, a larger bucket capable of handling 90 tons of coal per 'hour, nine steam pumps, 30 100-ton jacks, four 80-ton purchases with steel ca- bles complete, five air compressors, a- complete machine shop, a saw mill with all necessary lumber for con- structing cofferdams, and a complete electric light plant to enable her to operate quite as readily at night as by day. She was designed to reduce the cost of wrecking operations to the minimum. That she accomplishes this is reasonably proved by the fact that eight of the most serious wrecks on the lakes during the year. were te- leased for a total sum considerably less than the wrecking bill of the SHOMAL (Roh CATE ree OF STACK CASING OF THE WHITE STAR LINE STEAMER WAUKETA. "upon her and =the cofferdam was Season's Work of Wrecker Favorite steamer W. E. Reis alone, which went ashore abreast of Harson's Island in the fall of 1907. The wrecking operations of the Fa- vorite were greatly facilitated by Capt. Alex Cunning's extraordinary capacity as a navigator. The past sea- son was not an easy one for navi- gators, owing to the fact that they had to operate for weeks together in dense smoke; yet he found his way about in obscure places without once getting the Favorite into trouble. A notable instance of this was the relief of the Arthur H. Hawgood at Cathead Point, Lake Michigan. He had been sent to the relief of the Wawatam, ashore on Poe's Reef, Lake Huron, but discovered thiat she had released her- self about 20 minutes before his ar- ~ rival. He went to Sheboygan for or- ders and was told to return to Port Huron. He reached Port Huron at 5:30 P. M., Sept. 23, and found orders awaiting him to proceed to Cathead Point, Lake Michigan, to go to the re- lief of the Hawgood. He remained only long enough to fuel, leaving Port Huron at' 8:30 P. M. Dense smoke overhung the entire lake, but he reached Cathead Point at 9 P. M. the following evening. As the Haw- good did not answer his signals it was midnight before he could feel his way to her. In the interim a car- ferry and the government steamer Hy- acinth had 'been pulling on her with- out success. He 'began jettisoning her cargo at midnight and released her at 10 o'clock the next morning apparent- ly in good condition. 'The first job..of the./season. was the release of the steamer J. W. Rhoades, ashore in Hammond's Bay, Lake Huron.. She stranded on May 22, being out' 2 ft. 6 in. forward and 1 ft. aft, with her fore peak filled with water. Air. compressors were put aboard, but about 1,500 tons of. her cargo had to be lightered before she could be released. The second job was a steel dredge belonging to the Starke Dredging Co., which sunk: at Bar Point, Lake Erie, on-June 1. The dredge was totally submerged with one; corner of the roof of the house just: awash. It was necessary' to coffer- dam the entire House. The Favorite, has a .saw mill...installed constructed® out>of lumber which she regularly carries as part of her equip- ment. It took three days to build