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It was a wondrous sight. Fred watched all winter as the steel hull of the Bonnington was put together, piece by piece, extending on and on until it reached almost 200' (60.96 m). Every part placed at the right time before the deck was enclosed - capstan, boiler, smokestack, engines, drive arms, pipes, wiring. It was like a giant jigsaw puzzle, only the pieces weighed tons.The large crew was made up of a varied group of craftsmen. A contingent of men from Nova Scotia worked on the hull and stayed at the Leland Hotel. Fred always got a chuckle out of watching them glide down the hill in the morning riding a twelve-man bob sleigh. Men of great experience like Jack Fyfe, Dave Stephens, and Dave Bulger, supervised the operation, while at the same time Henry Aalten and Joe Parent, still not in their teens, got a dollar a day for pressing red hot rivets into the hull plates. George Keys masterminded all the framing that, unlike a house, was always following some type of curve which was the style of these boats.
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Comaplix impressed Fred by its busyness and lively approach to life in spite of the seclusion and rural position attached to its location. Even though most people seemed very friendly, there was a faction that, because of their isolation, caused some disturbances. Too much time at the bar was the main cause of fights and serious threats. He heard stories about some guys trying to rob the hotel. Another story claims one man was running after another with an axe in his hand. All was most likely true but nothing close to what happened later in 1910. Fred read the headlines story in the Revelstoke Mail Herald."…. Arrowhead, Dec 6, 1910. Fanny St. Clair of Comaplix, a small town eight miles from here on the northwest arm of upper Arrow Lake, was found yesterday morning lying in a pool of blood in her kitchen. She had been brutally murdered by some unknown person…"
"…Her throat was cut from eat to ear with a carving knife, which was left lying on her breast. The room showed evidence of her struggle to defend herself…."
Murder in a little town, most gruesome, made Fred ill. This just shouldn't happen. It was winter, Christmas was coming. Best settle back and have some wine. He knew Fanny was a prostitute but she bothered no-one. All was not well in Fred's world.
3
Building of the SS Bonnington1911
Nakusp Shipyard
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Building of the SS Bonnington1911
Nakusp Shipyard
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SS Bonnington - Shipbuilders1911
Nakusp Shipyard
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SS Bonnington Launch1911
Nakusp Shipyard
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SS Bonnington Trial Trip1911
Arrowhead, BC
8
Arrowhead's loss of the Big Bend Mill didn't seem to impact the town as severely as it might have. Now that the Bonnington was put into service, passenger numbers would climb considerably and the spin offs from this would be quite measurable.So it was off to Comaplix, its location made obvious from the smoke emitted by the mill as it drifted down the Beaton Arm.
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Comaplix Townsite1910
Comaplix, BC
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Comaplix Store1910
Comaplix, BC
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Comaplix Baseball1910
Comaplix, BC
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Comaplix Salmon1910
Comaplix, BC
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