Was there a "nautical" reason for the canvas covering across the bow of the ferry?

[The "nautical" reason for the canvas windscreen would be to keep the passengers' hats from setting sail. - Dave]

What a great image! I love the two young lads on either side of the pushcart. With their hats down over their brows, you can tell they are waiting to check out the young ladies who might be arriving on the ferry.

However, I must say that the shadowy figure on the far left gives me the creeps.

In 1880, the Garland ran over a chartered yacht on the Detroit River and killed 17 people. Most of them were young boys.

Way off in the distance on the left edge of the picture you can just make out a rail car ferry, the darker gray against the lighter gray of the shoreline - the twin stacks and the white deckhouse above the aft end are visible. Also, you can just make out "Woodward Avenue" on the edge of the building (partially obscured by the boat), so this dock was likely at the foot of Woodward, an area currently occupied by Hart Plaza, about 2 miles downriver from Belle Isle.

Since becoming a Shorpy addict it almost seems that you have to go back 100 years or so to enjoy class, beauty and style.

It's been a long time since one needed to take a steamer to reach
Belle Isle. There are still a lot of things to see, one thing you probably won't see are so many bowler hats!

Great details of period clothing, but I cringe at the paucity of lifeboats. Of course, after Titanic, boats like these were required to carry more, which caused stability problems and may have contributed to the 1915 Eastland disaster in Chicago.

I could not find specs for the Garland, but a sister in the fleet, the S.S. Pleasure, was listed at 140 feet long by 39½ wide with a 14-foot draft. A boat this size would probably displace about 1600 tons. Very stable.

I like the wreath for the namesake on top of the Wheel House

I love this picture, there are so many things to look at. But the biggest thing that I noticed is that boat appears to be really top heavy.

Great shot of a slice of life long ago. The clothing and the hats! Everyone was just so civilized and proper. A far, far cry from today's world. It would be fun to send back one of the pierced and tattooed men or women of today, with spiked hair and tattered clothing, and here the gasps of horror and disbelief.