[From the private galley book of Mary MacLean, head cook, S.S. Iphigenia, 1912 season. Octavo, canvas-bound, kept in her cabin under the lower bunk. Distinct from the steward's official galley provisioning book, which was retained in the purser's strongbox and went down with the ship. Mary's private book was carried across from the Canadian side in May 1914 by Mr. Hannes Ehrlich of Walpole Island, Ontario, who had it from the husband of a cousin who worked the wrecks on the north shore; Ehrlich would not take money for the crossing. He sent it on by mail to Mrs. Catriona MacLean, Mary's elder sister in Halifax, with a note that read only she kept two books. Mrs. MacLean deposited the book at the Hume Polytechnic Library in 1919 with no covering letter beyond for safe keeping, the time being not yet right. Black ink throughout. Mary's hand: schoolmistress copperplate degrading to a sailor's shorthand by the last fortnight.]
Week ending 13 October 1912 — Detroit run, return cargo light.
- Salt pork, half barrel — galley.
- Cabbage, two drums — galley. Sound. The Buffalo lot.
- Flour, one sack — galley.
- Tea, six pounds — crew mess.
- Tea, eight ounces, China — captain's table; drawn from the locker.
- White sugar, twenty-four pounds — galley; four pounds spoilt damp, returned to steward, see his book.
- Onions, one sack — galley.
- Coffee, ten pounds — crew mess.
- Brandy, one bottle — captain's; drawn at start of run by Mr. McCausland. Returned near full. Mr. McC. asked I keep no count of it in the steward's copy. I have kept it here.
A quiet run. The Captain dined at table only once; on Wednesday he did not appear; on Thursday he sent word he was unwell. He came down to the galley himself on Wednesday at six bells, asking for the brandy. Mr. McCausland came after him with a face like a parent fetching a child from the rectory. He stopped Capt. in the passageway and they spoke in low voices. The Capt. went back up. Mr. McC. came in and asked me for the bottle. I gave it to him. He poured a small measure into a glass and took it out himself. He returned the bottle to me. He said, Mary, in your book the bottle does not leave the locker. I said, Mr. McCausland, in the steward's book it does not. In my book it does. He looked at me a long moment and said, Then I am content. He is a good man. The Captain is not a bad man, only a thirsty one. There is a difference between the two, though the lake will not know it.
Week ending 20 October — Buffalo–Detroit, two stops.
- Provisioning entries as previous, abbreviated. Steward's copy holds the full count.
- Brandy, two bottles — captain's; both drawn by Mr. McCausland Tuesday p.m. and Friday p.m. Both returned, mostly full. Friday's bottle: two fingers gone. Mr. McC. said, The man is bad-tempered to-day.
Teofil came down to me Saturday morning crying. He is fourteen and his father was here last passage as a passenger, going on to a wedding in Buffalo. He says he asked the Captain at the wheel a question and the Captain swore at him in a way he had not heard a gentleman swear. I sat him down at the worktable and gave him a hot ginger biscuit and told him a captain at the wheel is not a man, he is a furnace. The boy ate two biscuits and went up again. He is steadier than his elders here. He should not be at sea. Mr. McC. has put him on the day-watch for the next run so he will not be near the bridge at night.
Week ending 27 October — Cleveland run, light.
- Provisioning abbreviated.
- Brandy, three bottles — captain's; Monday, Wednesday, Saturday. All drawn by Mr. McC. He has begun returning them in his own hand, marked for the steward. I keep the count true here.
Mr. McC. came into the galley on Wednesday evening and sat on the flour bin with his cap in his hands. He said, Mary, do you think a man can be the cause of another man's drinking? I said, No. He said, I cannot make him stop and I cannot make him resign. I can only stand between him and the boys. I said, That is what a first mate is for. He laughed in the way men laugh when they would rather not. He said, And what is a cook for, then. I said, To feed the man who stands between. He said, You will be the death of me, Mary MacLean, and he went up. He had not eaten anything.
Week ending 3 November — Buffalo, one stop, return.
- Provisioning abbreviated.
- Brandy, four bottles — captain's; drawn each day. None returned. Mr. McC. did not draw any after Wednesday; the Captain came himself Thursday and Friday. Friday he put the bottle in his coat and went up. He did not bring it back.
Loading at the long quay all Saturday. We are to make for Detroit Monday with the cargo from the Westbrook bond, and up the north shore as Mr. Edmund has ordered. The Capt. has the chart in his cabin and has not been seen at table. Mr. McC. ate alone with Mr. Brant Saturday and I heard them through the door. Mr. McC. said, We should refuse the route. Mr. Brant said, We cannot refuse the route. Mr. McC. said, Then we should keep him from the wheel. Mr. Brant said, We cannot keep him from his own wheel either. I went into the messroom with their soup and they stopped. Mr. McC. looked at me and I saw he had decided something. I will write what he tells me when he tells me.
Week beginning 4 November —
- Monday: Departed Port Hume 5:30 a.m. as Mr. Edm. ord. North routing. Brandy, one bottle drawn captain; not returned. Salt pork, a quarter-barrel to crew mess; cabbage, one drum.
- Tuesday: Heavy weather since middle watch. Tea, four pounds to crew, doubled. Brandy not drawn from galley locker; supposed in captain's cabin. Mr. McC. came in for hot water at two bells of the middle watch. He said:
[Entry stops mid-line. The remaining pages of the book are blank.]
[On the inside back cover, in a different hand, in pencil, undated:]
This book was my sister Mary's. It was found in her cabin on the wrecked ship by a man on the Canadian side who would not give his name; he sent it across to me in Halifax with a note that said only she kept two books. I have kept it as she kept it. I have not given it to the Company; the Company offered Mrs. Malinowski ninety dollars for her husband and I think a sister's grief is not for sale at that price either. I am giving it now, in 1919, to the Polytechnic Library in Port Hume, to lie in a drawer until somebody who reads it will know how to use it. My sister stood between a captain and a fourteen-year-old boy and put hot ginger biscuits in front of both of them. That is the woman whose book this is. — Catriona MacLean, Halifax.