$5 · Whistle Up the Inlet: The Union Steamship Company

Whistle up the Inlet: The Union Steamship Story by Gerald A. Rushton Paperback, 1974, readable copy, spine broken (see last picture) and shelf wear. ".. the story is suffused with that warm glow that seems to typify recollections of ships and the sea. a job well done by a man with love in his heart for the old ships and the old ways." Norman Hacking, Vancouver Province The small, hardy, red-funnelled ships of the Union Steamship Company were more than mere ships to the people of the British Columbia coast; they were a lifeline. And this is not the usual sort of company history; it is an adventure story of men, ships and a constant battle against unpredictable weather and a treacherous sea. From the Company's beginning on July 1, 1889, to its end seventy years later, more than fifty ships carrying Union Steamship colours battled great odds to maintain the tenuous link between 4,000 miles of rugged coast and civilization. Their story is one that catches the pulse and character of the British Columbia coast. Gerald Rushton joined the Union Steamship Company in 1920 and by his retirement thirty-eight years later had known most of the "old timers" first hand, served under eight of the Company's thirteen managers, and been as close as any one man could be to its day-to-day operations See pictures Pickup in Langford Cross posted