nothing short of a tourist attraction in the St. Peters area during the three years it rested on the shore at Cable Head . The Turret Bell was the first vessel to go ashore during this storm on Friday morning, November 2nd at five o'clock. Built in Newcastle, England in 1894, it was owned by the Inverness Railway and Coal Co. Before running ashore in Cable Head , the Turret Bell was on its way from Montreal to either Sydney or Port Hastings in .* Lying on a rocky ledge a mere hundred feet from the shore, the ship surprisingly did not break up. (49) During the next few days, headlines ran "To Assist Turret Bell," "Latest From the Turret Bell," and 'Turret Bell Condemned " in the Examiner. (50) Apparently the rest of the Island, in addition to the people living in the St. Peters area were just as fascinated with the large ship that had gone ashore in their midst. Perhaps part of the fascination was the wonderment of how such a large ship, so far up on the shore, could possibly float again. It would take three years to figure this problem out. Not known for its beauty, the Turret Bell was actually considered quite unattractive in appearance. Categorized as a 'whaleback steamer,' the strength of its whaleback hull was ultimately responsible for saving the lives of the twenty-two people it carried. Although the ship was condemned, efforts were made to re-float it during the next three years. To accommodate the salvage efforts and the crowds of local residents, who came to see the boat, a road was constructed: At first, they traveled north on the to the dune area on the Gulf side of the of the St. Peters Peninsula. Later, when efforts to re-float the ship got underway, a new road was cut through the woods on the Sutherland farm, at right angles to the , to provide a more direct route to the sire of the wreck. Besides conveying the curious, it was used to haul supplies and heavy equipment for the salvage effort. (51) This road is still called the 'Turret " and is located approximately two and a half miles down the . Many older residents in the area remember the Turret Bell and the fascination and excitement it caused. Marie Maclsaac of St. Peters recalled that "at night you would hear the scrunging of that ship on the rocks." When her aunts came home from in 1906, they took her to see the ship at Cable Head in a horse and buggy. (52) Freeman Leslie of St. Peters was hired by the Reid Wrecking Company to work in re¬ floating the Turret Bell * The newspaper accounts of the event contain conflicting locations of the final port of destination for the Turret Bell. 40