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Mar. 7, 2003The Steamer Asia: A Local Connection
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My articles on shipwrecks brought some interesting recollections from readers. An email from near where I live described an interesting connection with the famous steamship Asia.
In 1901 Fergus Bethune married Catherine McDonald and their daughter Mabel married Louis Allard and moved the fourth concession (Maple Road) in Chisholm Township. Their son Elmer Allard, who I have written about as a member of the Algonquin Regiment, still lives in Chisholm, as does his daughter Gladys Hummel who contacted me about their family connection to the Asia.
Fergus Bethune, brother of Angus, and a couple of McDonald cousins were working on the steamship Asia on Georgian Bay in the early 1880s. Details of their life that long ago are scarce, but much has been written about the Asia.
The Steamship Asia The Asia was originally a canal boat, built for the quiet waters of the Welland Canal but was adapted for use as a freighter and passenger ship on Georgian Bay. She was 136-feet (40.8 metres long) and twenty-three feet (7 metres) wide, with a single screw steam engine and an auxiliary sail (see photo). Thirty "staterooms" and an observation deck were added for the forty passengers. The fact that it was not built for open water and that it was top heavy when loaded made steering difficult. On one occasion it drifted into a barge and had to be run ashore in shallow water to prevent sinking.
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The steamship Asia on Georgian Bay in 1882.
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To make more money, the owners increased the number of possible passengers to 150 and took excessive loads of freight. Angus Bethune and his cousins were on board, probably as deckhands, as a part of a crew of twenty-four in September 1882. One McDonald was listed as a first mate, and may have been one of the McDonald cousins. On Thursday September 13, the Asia loaded its passengers and freight at Collingwood and started on a trip to the French River and Sault St. Marie with stops at Meaford, Owen Sound, and Presqu'ile Point.
The Asia left Owen Sound about midnight with 102 passengers including eleven women and nine children, and considerable freight including fourteen horses for a lumber camp. The weather the next morning became intolerable. Passenger seventeen-year-old Duncan Tinkis recalled later that he and his uncle began to get worried and that life preservers were put on. Soon the horses, pulpwood and other freight were dumped overboard to help stabilize the ship. Angus Bethune and his cousin were probably involved. The ship was having trouble steering and began to swing into the dangerous gully between waves.
As the Asia began to list, lifeboats were put overboard. The upper deck began to separate because of the waves and wind. Duncan Tinkis jumped overboard and made it to a lifeboat, only to be thrown out as it rolled over. He swam to another boat and was pulled aboard. That lifeboat rolled over three times, losing people each time. By the time the storm subsided, there were only seven left on board. These seven included the Asia's Captain Savage, First Mate McDonald, Christine Morrison (another seventeen year old) and Duncan Tinkis.
As the storm subsided the lifeboat drifted through the wreckage toward Point au Baril to the east on the Canadian shore. For some unknown reason, the five men on board died during the next few hours, leaving only the two teenagers. Duncan and Christine finally drifted ashore, but could not walk because Christine's leg was damaged. They removed the bodies and paddled south along the shore looking for help. As it got dark, they went ashore and slept. The next day, a native couple found them and took them twenty-two miles (35 km) to Parry Sound. Here they got the news that they were the only survivors among the 102 passengers and crew of twenty-four. The word that Angus Bethune and his McDonald cousins were missing soon spread through the shocked family.
The Aftermath Duncan Tinkis went back on a tug to retrieve the five bodies from the lifeboat, and along with Christine gave detailed reports of the tragedy to an inquest, which became something of a trial. There was criticism of the government inspectors for allowing overloading, and for poor training of the crew. The captain was particularly criticised for his bad judgement.
The Asia did not sink because of hitting a shoal or reef, as was first suspected, but the fact that it was the largest loss of life on Georgian Bay produced a mammoth mapping survey of the Great Lakes and other changes that improved safety in the years ahead.
The 1995 book, The Wreck of the Asia by Robert Higgins provides a list of those drowned, including Angus Bethune and several McDonalds, and gives extensive detail on all aspects of the disaster. Another more readily available account is contained in the book and video The Ghosts of the Bay by Lynks Images, where the story of the Asia is profiled. The video provides an interesting animated recreation of the sinking. For more information on the search to find the wreck log on to
www.findtheasia.ca.
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