During mid-February, the Columbia Transportation self-unloader WOLVERINE was put into service on the ore shuttle up the Cuyahoga River at Cleveland. It had been thought earlier that WOLVERINE might be used on such a winter run, but the idea was dropped in that it was not cost-effective. However, the mills ran out of ore, and WOLVERINE was pressed into operation as soon as ice conditions would permit.

Bad news from Toledo concerns the Cleveland-Cliffs Steamship Company's WILLIAM G. MATHER, which suffered severe fire damage aft while lying at the Hocking Valley docks on February 8. It would appear that a vagrant got aboard the 59-year-old steamer and started a fire which destroyed the galley as well as the officers' and crew's dining rooms. The man perished in the fire and his body was found by firemen who extinguished the blaze, but not before grievous damage was done to the freighter. This unfortunate event would appear to cast additional doubt on the already-questionable future of the MATHER.

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