SINKING OF THE MAYFLOWER: LOST NOVEMBER 12, 1912 Stephen Weir Burnstown (Ont.), General Store Publishing House Inc., 1989. 160pp, paper, $12.95, ISBN 0-919431-42-9 Distributed by General Store Publishing House Inc., 1 Main Street, Burnstown, Ont. K0J 1G0. CIP Grades 7 and up/Ages 12 and up Reviewed by Jack Brown. Volume 18 Number 3 1990 May Late evening November 12, 1912, the paddle-steamer Mayflower was plugging along amid a heavy wind and falling temperatures on Lake Kamaniskeg in the upper Ottawa valley. She was an ugly ship, looking like a square box sitting on a flat scow. A dozen people on board, one of whom lay dead in his coffin, were reluctant passengers. Safety precautions were non-exsitent; indeed, the lifeboat had been left moored at the dock back in port. About nine o'clock the steamer sprang a leak and almost instantly sank in eight metres of water. The pilot put on a life-preserver, the only one to do so, and swam toward land, but he died at the shoreline. All others drowned except four who clung to the floating coffin, and only three of them survived the ordeal. Weir, a journalist and public relations officer, investigates the events leading to the disaster and presents what is known about the people who were involved. He outlines the evidence given at the inquiry. He describes the remains of the Mayflower and writes as a diver and historian, giving underwater descriptions and directions for finding the wreck. There are over fifty good photographs in the book. Jack Brown, Kingston C.V.I., Kingston, Ont.