Autos Across Mackinac: Gov. Sigler and Ziegler Disagree on Causeway
Part 38: The Jubilee
By Les Bagley

As part of the 25th Anniversary Celebration for Michigan State Ferries in 1948, Miss Straits of Mackinac, Alice Beatrice West, served a slice of the anniversary cake to Governor Kim Sigler, at a VIP dinner held aboard the Icebreaker Mackinaw. Republican Sigler would lose his bid for reelection that fall to upstart Democratic candidate G. Mennen "Soapy" Williams. (Michigan Department of Transportation)

In last week's serialization of Les Bagley's unpublished history of Michigan State Ferries, "Autos Across Mackinac," we recalled the 25th Anniversary of the ferry fleet, celebrated in the summer of 1948. This week, we include additional photos of that celebration and continue the story immediately following the end of the ferry jubilee.

Following all the publicity of the celebration, the ferry waits in August 1948 increased, but despite predictions of a crush like never before seen, and perhaps because of the huge traffic surges earlier that month, Labor Day weekend proved only slightly larger than the year before. Of all the cars and trucks that crossed in 1948, only 16 (0.01%) more vehicles crossed than in 1947. The "big day" of the weekend was Saturday, when 5,633 vehicles were transported in a 24-hour period.

In a fundraising effort, Straits-area businesses sold Silver Jubilee Tokens, worth a quarter at participating stores. While some were used in trade, most ended up as souvenirs and today fetch between $4 and $10 when sold on Internet auctions. (Author's collection)

The big news was that on September 3, a 27-year-old farmer from Amand, Ohio, Arnold Shavers, while returning from his Northern Michigan vacation, drove his car onto the ferry, making it the 5-millionth car to make the crossing. Altogether, August traffic was 5% greater than it had been the year before.

The weeks leading up to Labor Day saw a small skirmish on the ferry docks become a war of words in Lansing. On August 23, Ferries Superintendent Capt. John Kelsner issued a memo to dockmasters at each terminal stating, "There will be no selling or soliciting whatsoever on this dock." The order was actually initiated by Commissioner Charles Ziegler, who felt that all the vendors were interfering with traffic flow and the loading of the ferries. He also wanted to protect small children, some as young as six years old, who had been running through the lines selling sandwiches, soft drinks, popcorn, and candy to motorists waiting to board. The result was that newspaper vendors were banned from selling on the ferry docks just as the lucrative Labor Day Holiday was approaching.

The anniversary celebration included a swim across part of the Straits of Mackinac, with participants leaving from British Landing on Mackinac Island early in the morning and trying to reach St. Ignace. It was reportedly the first "sanctioned" swim across the Straits. (Michigan Department of Transportation)

That brought a howl of protests from the paperboys, who contacted the governor's office, the Michigan attorney general, and just about anybody who would listen. On September 2, the attorney general wrote to Ziegler saying that his banning of paperboys and others on state trunkline highways, including the ferry docks, was illegal, and if it was enforced, it would have to mean that no other pedestrians could walk on the docks, either.

The fastest swimmer was Dave Pushman of Detroit, who reached Dock 1 in 2 hours, 22 minutes. Of the dozens of swimmers who started the day, only four managed to complete the entire 4-mile course. (Michigan Department of Transportation)

In a statement to the Detroit Free Press, Governor Kim Sigler reportedly said, "I can see no reason why any state officials would attempt to ban the sale of newspapers on state property. Freedom of the press is involved in this, and as far as I'm concerned, newspaper reporters and newspaper boys may have access to any state property."

Asked if that meant the boats as well as the docks, Sigler said, "That is state property."

But later, Sigler told Commissioner Ziegler he was misquoted. And in mid-September, Ziegler pointed out that the legal precedent cited by the attorney general failed to include the act of selling, and that the freedom of speech and the press guarantees did not extend to disrupting traffic and forcing the acceptance of printed matter by pedestrians or motorists. The newsboys and other vendors were, therefore, restricted to selling in the space only between the street and the tollbooths, a distance of about 300 feet. "Every motorist has to pass right by them there, anyway," Ziegler noted.

One of the most popular events of the 25th Anniversary Celebration was a moonlight cruise and dance aboard The Straits of Mackinac. Under beautiful, clear, moonlit skies, more than 600 people danced the night away on the cardeck, while the ferry cruised around Mackinac Island. (Michigan Department of Transportation)

Newspaper sales on the docks, however, were just a tempest in a teapot compared to Governor Sigler's other message. Besieged with letters from motorists complaining about delays and ferry lines, at the end of July, Sigler asked Ziegler for a complete review of the idea of moving the northern ferry terminal to the end of the abandoned causeway. He asked how much the Highway Department had spent to build it, and what it would take to move the dock there, saving "at least half the time of the crossing."

Sigler also discussed the idea with a group of about 30 men at a Young Republican's luncheon over Labor Day weekend, saying he actually preferred a bridge or tunnel across the Straits, but realized such a project wouldn't be feasible without federal assistance.

Commissioner Ziegler had already said he was opposed to moving the terminal to the causeway, and he prepared an extensive report, stating the causeway and its approaches had so far cost just under a million dollars, but Sigler told his audience, "Charles Ziegler and I can't see eye to eye on utilization of the causeway, but I believe the State of Michigan can't dump a million dollars worth of rock into the lake and let it go to waste."

Ziegler said consultants, not the Highway Department, had designed the causeway and it was too narrow and too low for safe driving when winds of 50 miles per hour or so whipped waves over it. The commissioner said he'd personally been on the causeway to observe those conditions and "no motorist would drive through that, even if there were a ferry waiting for him at the end. To make it safe, it would have to be raised at least 15 feet higher."

While Ziegler said he'd never actually measured the distance from Mackinaw City, either to the existing dock or to the end of the causeway, he believed it was actually only a savings of 3.5 miles. That wouldn't mean proportionate time savings, he noted. The time in docking, turning, loading, and unloading would still be the same, no matter where the dock was located.

Since he'd taken office, ferry captains had been recording when wind and waves would make landings difficult, and they checked ferry logs to find that over the last seven years, the average was about 40 to 50 days a year. To make landings safe there under those conditions would require at least $7 million in breakwaters and improvements to build a harbor, Ziegler noted. He concluded that he couldn't see spending $7 million more to save a $1 million investment, unless the governor "wanted to throw good money after bad, or throw state money down a rat hole."

"Charlie and I have two honest, different points of view in the matter," the Governor replied. "He says the causeway is already showing signs of wear, and it will cost millions to make a pier out of it, and the engineers I've talked with say it won't cost nearly that much.... Every one of us has prejudices, and I believe Charlie's viewpoint may be affected by the fact that Pat Van Wagoner built the causeway. Van Wagoner has done of lot of fine things in Michigan, and I believe we can use that causeway now. I'm going to keep on talking on this matter and will try and interest the people of the State of Michigan in this matter. I can't demand the Highway Department use this causeway, but something will be done to improve the traffic flow at the Straits, even if I have to call on the people of the State of Michigan to help me." Sigler said.

But Ziegler noted that in 1941, there had been a 14-mile backup of hunters when six boats were running. Now, with only four boats in service, the traffic was much greater, but the lines were only half as long, owing to small changes in operating procedures and efficiencies.

"I have another item of importance in mind which would make the difference in running time only about six minutes more per trip than if the ferries were operating to the end of the causeway," Ziegler added. "I will discuss this with you when we get together."

No minutes or notes of the Ziegler-Sigler meeting have surfaced, but, apparently, Ziegler suggested an alternative docking plan. With a new, larger ferry on the drawing board, the state had nowhere to dock it on either side of the straits. Ziegler was eyeing a new dock at the existing location in Mackinaw City, but he also was considering moving the St. Ignace terminal to the old furnace site, which the Highway Department had purchased years before. It is not known whether he discussed that plan with Sigler.

Meanwhile, as the Labor Day rush began, and citing what he called the "deplorable idleness of a million dollars worth of rock in the Straits," the governor took it upon himself to inspect each of the state ferry terminals, ride each of the ferries at the Straits, and interview each of the captains and crew members. He took along a "recognized authority on boats," a former commander in the U. S. Navy, Eugene McDonald, now president of the Zenith Radio Corporation, who made a report "to the effect that our state ferries are efficiently operated, very safely handled, and well maintained." The governor's expert did, however, ask for some improvements in public relations. He suggested installation of public address systems on the ferries and broadcasting a history of the region and sightseeing attractions during the crossing. He and Sigler also looked at the boats with regard to requests from the traveling public for lunchrooms, but made no public opinion on that matter.

Still one matter the ferries never did address in their "public relations," was the "smoke nuisance." William Walt wrote his state representative complaining that the smoke of every boat was so terrible "it blankets the view completely in all directions, and with so many boats running, the view is mostly covered at all times. Is the coal so plentiful up there that it can be sent up the chimney just to see a stream of smoke following each boat? ... What satisfaction is it to the Lords to be to see that boats and passengers are covered with soot on each trip so that you could not tell them apart, if they are white or colored? ... What must be done to stop this nuisance?"

Apparently, nothing could. The coal burning ferries from both the state and the railroad continued to belch huge black clouds of smoke for as long as they ran at the Straits, and residents simply took as a matter of course to check the wind direction before hanging any laundry out to dry.

Nor did Governor Sigler let the matter of the causeway terminal drop. He continued to discuss it into October, in a radio address he delivered in Marquette. And, fed up with Ziegler's apparent inaction on the matter, he even hinted that he might seek to change the Highway Commissioner's job from an elected office to an appointed one.

On September 13, 1948, the ferries went to the fall schedule, with a boat leaving each side every 90 minutes from 6 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., and two nightly sailings spaced three hours apart. That schedule would last until hunting season brought all four boats back online November 7.

Then, on September 27, a different breed of politics came to call. A 36-year-old Democrat, wearing a green polka-dot bow tie, visited Mackinaw City and St. Ignace on the opening day of his campaign to unseat Kim Sigler as governor of Michigan. At first, hardly anyone noticed him. In fact, one paper said that G. Mennen "Soapy" Williams was "of the shaving cream Williams," and hence his nickname. But Gerhard Mennen Williams was the heir to the Mennen Toiletries fortune. Born February 23, 1911, in Detroit, he'd already been a lawyer for both the state and federal governments. A large man, at 6 feet 4 inches and 220 pounds, he stood out in any crowd, and he was a protégé of former governor Frank Murphy. Although he'd never before held a political office, Michigan would hear a lot more about Soapy in the weeks and months to come.

Williams was just one of the passengers that made September a record month for ferry ridership, with traffic increasing a whopping 26.1% over the previous September's levels. That made the year's average 10.4% greater than 1947. Tourism officials blamed good weather, lengthened resort seasons, and, of course, the Jubilee for the increase.

In fact, on October 5, the St. Ignace Lions Club gathered to hear Ralph Swan of the Highway Department summarize the recent Ferry Jubilee Celebration, watch movies of the event, and hear recordings of the radio broadcasts it generated. The Lions reported that, despite a huge cost of $4,600 to stage the event, the group still had a balance of $6.11 in cash and savings in their account. Swan also called for making the Straits swim an annual event. He also noted that the anniversary had received two full pages of pictures in the U.P.'s own Hiawathan Magazine.

October's traffic increase was 10.7 percent above the previous year, with 3,598 more vehicles crossing. With a huge crush of hunters expected to start around Armistice Day, all their available extra boats were moved to Mackinaw City and St. Ignace to be ready for the rush.

On November 1, Captain Kelsner and his family moved to one of the new Lipnitz houses on Medora Street. And around Michigan there was other movement, as well. Soapy Williams was moving around a lot!

With his wife, Nancy, at his side, he crossed and recrossed the state in a beat up gray Desoto convertible, piling on the mileage and stopping wherever he could find someone to shake his hand and listen to him speak. He normally gave at least 25 speeches a day, and he felt the day was wasted if he hadn't tallied at least 2,000 handshakes. With that firm handshake, his brash good looks, and wide smile, he quickly gained voter support across the state.

Williams strongly supported New Deal Democrats and FDR's social programs. An avowed liberal, he was a good friend of organized labor, courting the CIO's backing of the Democratic Party, even before he agreed to run for Michigan's highest office. He may have spent so much time at the Straits because of the problems ferry workers were having trying to regain recognition of the CIO.

That fall, unlicensed personnel had contacted the union about what they felt was an unfair calculation of their payroll. Back in 1946, the Civil Service Commission had ruled they would bank an extra day's pay for every 7-day week they worked, in effect, giving them a day of overtime for anything over 48 hours. Most men used the extra days as a cushion during the winter layup. But if they took the seventh day off, they were docked a day's pay, plus they didn't receive the overtime. Further, some men who did take time off during the running season found that they were charged 14 days of vacation time for every two weeks they took off, even though they were only supposed to be working six days a week and banking the seventh day, in effect, causing them to be charged twice for the same day. And lastly, the men complained that some workers were told on short notice that they were to take some vacation time in the middle of the running season, contrary to Civil Service rules about scheduling their vacations when they wanted.

The men asked the union to intervene, but the Civil Service commission balked at recognizing the union again.

Meanwhile, the ferry officers petitioned for a 15¢-per-hour raise as well, saying that inflation and poorly adjusted salaries were seriously eroding their standards of living at the Straits.

While Williams courted the CIO and labor votes, Governor Sigler pretty much relied on newspaper reporters to carry his story to the voters. Apparently he felt his reelection was a shoe-in with such a huge Republican majority in the state government, but he really only enjoyed weak support from his own party. Some were still miffed at his handling of the highway bills the year before. Many considered him a maverick. Although most papers reluctantly favored Sigler, Williams was gaining ground.

As the November elections drew near, Sigler finally made a few hops to political speeches via a private plane he flew himself. He also finally bought some radio time. But it was too little, too late. In a surprise election upset, based mostly on the strength of Detroit area organized labor, Soapy Williams was declared the winner of the Michigan Governor's race. Williams had collected more votes than any other candidate in Michigan, but the GOP margins in Congress and the Legislature were still maintained, a status that would cause problems for the state in the future. Nationally, President Harry Truman was reelected.

Hunting season brought all four state ferries back into service, running wild to accommodate a projected rush of more than 16,000 vehicles. Even with the Chief Wawatam augmenting the other boats, the best estimates guessed the northbound traffic backup would reach five miles.

The best estimates were wrong again. Bad weather delayed the start of the northbound rush, with high winds and heavy snows resulting in appreciable property damage. For three hours, the ferries were held in their docks on Tuesday but resumed service as soon as possible. By the weekend, when the hunters started to arrive, more than 50,000 jammed the ferries with nearly 17,000 vehicles on Friday and Saturday alone. Traffic snarled, with lines reaching back from the dock for nearly 14 miles. Hunters sat in the rain for hours, the tedium broken only when one motorist tried to "buck" the line. Irate drivers slashed his tires as he drove by.

The southbound exodus was almost as bad. Another storm brought high winds and heavy rain, driving hunters from the woods and into ferry waiting lines. Because of the storm, Capt. Kelsner ordered The Straits of Mackinac and the Chief Wawatam to stay in their docks to avoid trying to turn in the heavy winds. The three double-end loaders kept running, but at a slower pace, and traffic backed up for as much as 7.5 miles on Friday night. The rush continued unabated all weekend.

That lineup spelled a busy two days for St. Ignace youngsters, who, despite recent bans on roadside selling, kept busy peddling hot coffee, donuts, pop, candy bars, and sandwiches. Many earned as much as $20 a day feeding the ravenous hunters. One entrepreneur even got 500 milk bottles from a defunct area dairy and used them to distribute hot coffee from an area restaurant. Locals amused themselves by driving their own cars along the lineup several times a day to keep tabs on it's progress toward the ferry crossing.

By mid-November, the ferries had already carried more cars in 1948 than they had in all of 1947. The highway department estimated a 10% annual increase would be likely. They guessed figures would top 550,000 cars annually, including 769 more cars and 2,000 more hunters during the current hunting season.

With hunting season winding down, Capt. Kelsner made a factfinding expedition to Ludington to examine the City of Midland, a Skinner Uniflow-powered rail and auto ferry being used between Michigan and Wisconsin. He then returned by the end of the month, in time to greet officials from Great Lakes Engineering Works and State Finance Director W. J. McDonald when they arrived in St. Ignace with the latest plans for the state's proposed new icebreaker.

The group poured over the drawings for nearly a day and into the night before Kelsner said they represented a boat that Commissioner Ziegler thought would be the best boat possible, at a cost that reflected "cutting out the trimmings."

Captain Kelsner was the guest speaker at the Rotary Club in Cheboygan, where he added that the fate of the proposed boat now rested in Lansing. He hoped lawmakers, the Administrative Board, and financiers would be able to provide money for the ship and a contract would be offered in 1948- 49.

The ferries' early winter schedule went into effect on December 1, with a crossing every 90 minutes from 6 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. It would go to every three hours when the Sainte Marie (II) took over the run, or with one of the larger boats at mid-month. For the winter, The Straits of Mackinac was nosed in close to the shore at Dock 1, while, to placate residents of her namesake city, the City of Cheboygan was taken to winter quarters where the Ariel had been tied in the river so long ago. The local Jaycees had been lobbying to return the entire fleet to Cheboygan for winter layup, including lucrative contracts for off-season maintenance and repair work.

Meanwhile, Capt. Louis Strahan's car was taken to a garage for repairs. He escaped injury when it collided with the passenger train at the Truckey Street crossing December 1, but the auto was heavily damaged. And while fitting out the Saint Marie (II), one of her crew members was injured when he fell from a ladder while fastening equipment to her stack. Francis "Dooley" Belonga broke his knee in the fall. He had lost his balance in the wind, but fell rather than drop the heavy equipment he was holding on the men steadying the ladder below.

While the damage wasn't too heavy at Dock 2, Luedke Engineering was hired to do maintenance and repairs there, driving in two new rows of pilings during the lull between hunting season and the Christmas rush.

The year ended with more than 10% more traffic than 1947. December was up 12.8%, alone. The Highway Department wanted the pier to be ready for the next banner year already anticipated in 1949.

Next week: Highway Commissioner Charles Ziegler squares off against newly elected Governor "Soapy" Williams.

Copyright 2007 by Les Bagley. All rights reserved.