The James E. Ferris. I don't think it had long to live when this picture was taken. It was scrapped when I was in junior high, sometime between '75 and '79. It was owned by Kinsman Marine Transit Co., now S & E Shipping. Which was still being ran by Henry Steinbrenner, George's dad. I'd like to meet George some day and tell him that my dad used to cuss out his. Henry was a very hands on owner, and when Dad needed some part in a hurry, sometimes he'd end up arguing about it with Henry himself.
Actually I'm a pretty inarticulate person when I meet somebody famous, and I'd probably just end up tongue-tied.
I believe that's the coal dock in Superior, WI. I was on another boat of the Kinsman line - the William A. McGonagle, I think - one day, walking along the deck toward the ladder to get off, when lightning struck that crane. I thought a bomb had gone off. There was a blinding flash and the sound of an explosion. These days I would assume it was a terrorist attack, but then I couldn't imagine what it could have been. It shut the crane down for a while, but nobody was hurt. Of course, the operator refused to get back in until the weather cleared up.
