The Lambertville press. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1858-1???, 1860-09-19
Gen&ral glrms.
Distressing Steamboat Wreck.

$1,000
1t appears that the Lacy Elgin left
Chicago on Friday evening, the It'll
inst, with about four hundred persons
on board, excursionists, tourists and
passengers. The steamer was bound
on an excursion mp Lakes Michigan
and Superior. Till near dawn on Sat
urday morning, all went well and mer-
rily The saloon was then the scene
Of music, dancing and general festivity.
Who on board. that steamer, in her
brilliant saloon, joining in the mirth
and jollity of their last festival, and
enjoying the delights of the popular
Terpischorean art, imagined for q mo-
ment that they were at that instant
OH the brink of an eternity into which
all but small fraction Of them were
to be precipitated within half an hour
afterwards Just before dawn, how
ever, on Saturday morning. there was
an awful interruption to the gay scene
on board the Inflated steamer. The
crash Of a collision startled all on
board. The schooner Augusta, run
ming at the rate Of eleven miles per
hour, came in contact with the Lady
Elgin, producing such q fracture in
her that she drifted helplessly for half
an hour in the darkness, and then
sunk in 800 feet of water, when some
thirty five miles from Chicago The
fearful scene attending the sinking of
the Lady Elgin, frightens Imagination
rom picturing what it was. All on
board, with the exception of some fifty
or sixty persons, were, it appears,
simultaneously engulphed in the waters
of the Lake. There seems to have
been a most reckless and even criminal
lack of boats and life-preserving apa-
ratuS, as will be seen from the follow
ing account Of the disaster, given by
H. G Caryl, the clerk of the Lady
Elgin, who was on board when the
collision occurred, and was fortunate
enough to escape in the manner rela-
ted by himself:
THE STATEMENT OF Mr.. CARYL, THE
CLERK OF THE LADY ELGIN.
The steamer Lady Elgin left the
harbor of Chicago at half past eleven
o'clock on Friday evening, bound on
pleasure excursion to Lake Supe-
rior. There were about $50 excur-
sionists from Milwaukee, Wisconsin,
on board, and among them the Union
Guard Of that city. About half past
two o'clock on Saturday morning, the
schooner Augusta, Of Oswego, collided
with the steamer when she was about
thirty-fve miles from Chicago, and ten
miles from land The collision took
place at the midships gangway, on the
larboard side Of the steamer. The
two vessels separated Immediately af-
terward, and the schooner having her
sails set, and the wind blowing freshly
drifted from the steamer very soon
When the collision occurred, there was
music and dancing going forward in
the principal cabin. Instantly after
the crash Of collision both ceased, and
the steamer sank half an hour after
Passing through the cabins I saw the
ladies pale, motionless and SILENT
There was no cry, no shrek on board,
no sound of any kind but that of the
escaping steam and serging waves
Whether the ladies were silent from
fear, or were not aware of the immi-
nent fate which they stood quietly
awaiting, I cannot say. A boat was
lowered for the perpose of examining
the leak, which soon made itself known:
but there were only two oars to row
it with, and unfortunately at that mo-
ment some one had taken possession
of one Of them, and the boat was con-
sequently useless. We succeeded in
reaching the larboard wheel once,
wherein the leak was, but were soon
driven fsom it by the fury of the waves,
and washed ashore at the village of
Winetba. There were only two other
boats on board the steamer. One of
these took thirteen persons from her,
all of whom were saved. The other
boat took eight, but only half that
number reached land alive, the other
four being drowned on the beach,
The rush of water through the leak
had extinguished the fires before I
left the steamer, and the engines had
ceased working in consequence. The
wind was blowing so hard and in such
direction as to drift the boats, bod
les of the drowned and fragments of
the wreck mp the lake, and most Of
them will probably be washed ashore
in the vicinity of Winetka. fancied
| could see from the beach to which I
was drifted, fragments of wreck and
human beings struggling with the wa
ters, drifting towards shore.
THE Prince of Wales on Tuesday,