CALL NUMBER: T2342:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1976-07-28 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Captain Ed Johnson recalls his father and uncle, who came to Vancouver in 1895 and worked in the towboating industry on the B.C. coast and the Fraser River. Captain Johnson's first waterfront job was a mess boy on the "Venture"; he joined her in 1923, a few months before his 15th birthday. Then he moved to the "Camosun". He returned to school, then joined the Navy League. He worked on the Empress boats for two years, then switched to tugboats, serving on the "Sea Lion", the "St. Clair", and the "DBM". He worked for various companies, including Pacific Coyle Navigation, Champion and White, Cliff Tugboat Company, Vancouver Tug, and Kingcome Navigation. His experiences on the "Empress of Australia"; the working conditions of the Chinese crew members, and the impact of their strike. Experiences working on the "Venture". TRACK 2: The "Venture", continued. Towboating work. The Vancouver waterfront and False Creek. The Great Northern and CN Railway stations. Towing coal scows from Vancouver Island to False Creek. His progress on the tugboats and first job as skipper. CALL NUMBER: T2342:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1976-07-28 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Story of how Johnson threw a pie in an officer's face aboard the "Venture". Towboating on the B.C. coast; the lumber camps and the characters. Towing the floating lumber camps. Navigation on the coast, include the difficulty of navigating without lights or radio during World War II. A bad towboating trip on the tug "Northshore". The fate of independent towboat men on the coast. TRACK 2: Seamen's unions and union organizers.
