Great Canadian Heritage Treasure

Empress of Ireland, 1914

Orig. silk - Size - 5 cm x 10 cm Found - Daytona, FL

A very rare and genuine memorial ribbon of Canada's worst marine disaster.

News Flash

Now We Know Why the Empress Sank

American ebay Seller Reveals the Cause...

In 1914, the Empress of Ireland, sank in the fog off Father's Point, near Rimouski, in Quebec. She sank in fifteen minutes with all her passengers, over 1,000, resulting in Canada's worst marine disaster.

It had always been assumed that she sank because of collision damage from being rammed by the Norwegian collier Storstad. In fact we now know that that was only a contributory cause.

In fact there is good evidence now that she would not have sunk at all, had she not been overloaded with her immense cargo of badly stowed modern reproduction souvenir bells, see photo above, that she carried on board.

Judging by the number of these very same bells that we have seen on ebay for the past few years, from the same vendor, it is a wonder she ever made it out of the harbour at all!

The con about the wife won't wash, nor the clash about decor... No wonder his wife says it must go. She's had a thousand of these, overflowing in her kitchen, dining room, and rec room - not to mention the other boxes full he has stashed in the garage, ready to sell on ebay to those crazed with the need to have a genuine collector's item from the Lost Empress.

This seller has been riding a huge wave of ebay sales of hundreds of genuine Empress ceramic and metal artifacts that a diver has been selling off for the past few years. Where does he couple the word Bell with REPRO, or COPY, or NEW, or MODERN, or, DECORATOR ITEM, or RECENT MANUFACTURE, ANYWHERE?

Notice how he has managed to clear away the grunge from a hundred years of grime to reveal the name and date... Very clever sales tactic which will snag a few no doubt...

These bells are obviously made by the giant repro brass telescope and bugle manufacturers busy using child labour in India to feed ebay's ravenous appetite for genuine antique items.

When we expressed our skepticism for what this item purported to be, requesting details on his treasured and personal item, hoping to exchange pleasantries about a wife who just will not be tolerant for treasured "finds," he answered left.

Howdy! Pineridge7 auctions hundreds of items each and every week here at eBay. Most of our items come to us in a mixed variety, from around the world, and in very large lots. We also sell many items for others on consignment. Therefore, in all fairness and honesty we sell all of our merchandise as unique copies not as antiques or originals. Also please remember that we offer a 7-day return policy, a full refund less the shipping costs on any purchase that you make with us, what have you got to lose? Good Bidding, PineRidge7

So what happened to the, "I found this rare treasure I'd like to keep, but sadly, my mean wife says this unique item has to go. I'm the poorer for it but you will be the richer for it." song and dance...?" Was he starting to sweat?

And what about never having seen anything like it before! He knew what was in his attic, under his bed, and and why his wife was cranky... She knows where she's stashed all these damn bells out of frustration - crates and crates of them... Even she won't be conned anymore...

Ooops, I've got to go. I've just heard the horn from the ocean freighter passing by, with another container load of Stunning Lost Empress of Ireland Ships Bells bound for the Pine Ridge 7 Ranch of no posted destination somewhere in the United States of America, whose national motto is: "There's A Sucker Born Every Day, And In God We Trust, to Help Us Find Him or Her!"

In all fairness, Pine Ridge 7 Ranch does offer a very lengthy disclaimer, which gets them off the hook for the hype in the opening paragraphs.

But by then few people will still be hanging in to read the fine print, which, when you read skeptically between the lines, says, basically, that, contrary to their ad's opening line on ebay, this item is NOT STUNNING, NOT a LOST item, NOT from THE EMPRESS OF IRELAND, NOT from 1906, NOT from a SHIP, and is NOT, and NEVER HAS BEEN, a SHIP'S BELL.

And furthermore the seller's taxonomy is not great either. It is not a playful porpoise, but a playful artist's conception of a fish famous in Chinese mythology and culture, and for which the Chinese have been fishing for centuries - the highly desirable Zaccar.

Here it has been carefully posed so you can't possibly miss the implication for what they are fishing for with this item - a giant "S" for Sucker.

A fish highly prized in all cultures...