44

During the inquest, witnesses from the Dominion Weather Observatory in Toronto were questioned. There was criticism placed upon this organization because of the manner in which they communicated forecasts. At the time of the Great Storm, the weather observatory gave two weather reports everyday except on Sundays. It was mentioned during the inquest that more frequent weather reports would be beneficial. It was also raised during the inquest that it may have been this lack of forecasting and communication that led to so many ships being out in the lake. The inquest reads as follow: "The evidence of the representative of the Meteorological Department of Toronto stated in his evidence that it was well known to that department at 10.30 P.M. on the 8th Nov. that a storm of unusual velocity was about to reach Lake Huron almost immediately, but no intimation of this was sent out, reliance being placed on the continued display of the storm signals put up on the 7th and continued up as above stated. It is probable that had the knowledge possessed by the weather bureau at 10.30 P.M. on the 8th Nov. had been out by phone (or had wireless means been available for doing so) at least some of those vessels would have been prevented from going out into the storm then impending."

Another issue raised at the inquest was the storm warning system. Although the warning system indicated type of wind (i.e. gale, heavy gale, etc) and direction, it did not indicate when the storm would hit. This was a problem for freighters, especially near the end of the shipping season when pressure was on to get their last cargos delivered, as it was not known to the Captain or crew if a storm would hit in two hours or two days.

45

Over time, myths and legends grew out of the Great Storm of 1913. Some of these stories may have been based in actual fact.

One of the most famous stories is regarding watches that were found on the bodies of sailors that washed ashore. Many of the bodies that washed ashore along both the Canadian and American sides of Lake Huron all had the same time on their watches: 1:25. It would seem all their watches had stopped at the same time. It is believed that at 1:25 the storm would have been at its worst and this is when many of the ships on Lake Huron would have sank.

Another famous story is regarding that of the Charles S. Price and the Regina. Sailors washed ashore wearing life jackets from the Charles S. Price. These sailors were later identified as having been part of the crew on the Regina. Out of this grew the myth that the Charles S. Price and the Regina had collided and in the chaos, life jackets had been mixed up. This theory was laid to rest when a ship was found floating upside down near Port Huron, Michigan. Believed to be the Regina, a diver took a look a few days after the storm. It was discovered the upside down vessel was actually the Charles S. Price and it showed no signs of having been in a collision. Once the Regina was discovered at the bottom of Lake Huron, the theory was again laid to rest since no evidence of a collision was found on her hull. Today it is believed that when the Regina started sinking, the Charles S. Price was close enough that she was able to save some of the sailors. In doing this, some of the crew ended up with life jackets from the Charles S. Price.

Perhaps one of the oddest stories to emerge from the Great Storm is that of a man named John Thompson. He was a sailor on one of the lake's newest freighters at the time, the James Carruthurs. Before the storm, however, John had swtiched vessels and ended up weathering the storm in Toronto. He did not tell his family he had done this. In the days following the storm, descriptions of the bodies were printed in local newspapers. John's sister had not heard any word from her brother and saw a description in the paper that seemed to match her brother's. Believing it to be him, she telephoned her father. He went to Goderich to identify the body. John's father ended up identifying the body as his son. Although badly battered, the body had similar facial features, had crossed toes just like John, the same tattoos, and same scar on the thigh. The only difference was the hair colour; John had dark coloured hair and the body had light coloured hair. The undertaker accounted for this, however, by stating that exposure to the cold water could have changed the hair colour. Believing this to be his son, Mr. Thompson organized a wake and funeral. John read about the funeral in the paper. Rather than contact his sister or father, John decided to attend his own funeral. Half way through the ceremy, he walked in alive.