The Fate of the Christmas Tree Ship It was late November and the
sights and sounds of the holiday season were creeping into the
bustling city of Chicago. Each year, the arrival of the creaking
old three-masted schooner Rouse Simmons served as a signal for
the beginning of the Christmas season. The schooner always ended
her shipping season by bringing to Chicago a large and
profitable cargo of Christmas trees. Along with the annual tree
buyers, peg-legged and bearded Claud Winters eagerly awaited the
arrival of the Rouse Simmons Claud and Captain Schunemann, owner
and master of the ship, had an unusual bond. Although their
lives were quite different, they seemed to understand and
sympathize with each other. Claud was softhearted under his
rough outer appearance. As a child he had lost a leg under a
boxcar, so he couldn't handle the demands of being a seafarer.
Claud admired the Captain as a fearless sailor and a smart ship
operator. In the great storm of 1889 the Rouse Simmons was the
only sailing ship that wa