The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1866-11-30
Unfortunate Collision.

Superior propeller Lac III Belle col
iided on the night Of the 23l inst,
in the St, Clair river, the propeller sinking
in Ave minutes. The engineer, named JAS.
Evans, aud one cclored waiter were drown
ed. The Incl Belle was valued at Sl2O,-
600, and was insured for $50 0oo. She had
a large cargo of copper ore and iron o,e, fish
and general merchandise. FROM the de-
srails of this sad affair, we eondensc the fol-
lowing particulars fr9a Detroit paper,
giving the statements Of the officers of both
of the boats An investigation will he held,
which viii settle who is at fault in. the
affair: ~
According to the statement Of the Lac In
Bellies officers. leiore rounding bend in
the, st. Clair river, about two miles above
the a-.ts, u steamer was iiscerned ahead.
which subsequently proved to be the NJ
acauhee, with proper lights burning, and
rhe Lac ia Belle kept on her usual course.
After rounding the bend, the steamer was
kept close to the American shore, and blew
her whistle once, which was a signal to the
I Milwaukee to take The .starboard or right
haud side the river. The two steamers
/ kept on. After signalling the Milwaukee,
the wheel Of the Lac la Belle was put u port,
and then a second signal was given. At
this time the wheel of the latter was pu'
still more a-port, ,and she was run as close
to the shore as was considered prudent.
Shortly aiterward .5he Milwaukee struck
I the Lac Ia Belle Oh tht port side. about for
ty or fifty feet from the stern, with terrible
force, cutting her almost in two. and crush
ing her timbers etc, like so much paper
She rceled slightly, and the damage being
great, she speedily filled, and sank inside of
| FIVE minutes She went down in about
twenty feet Of water, and now lies with a
portion of her upper works only, exposed
above water From the movements of the
| Milwaukee, it was supposed that she de
sired to pass on the port side. bnt, as the
Lac Ia Belle was close to the American
shore, it was impossible. especially as her
wheel had been put hard port and she
was swinging to change her course IN time
to prevent collision.
When the Milwaukee struck the Lac Ia
Belle, she penetrated her side 50 far that
for time she was unable to extricate her
self. The captain Of the former, aided by
. Cadtain Spauldng, Of the latter had lines
made fast from one bo It to the other. and
with two exceptions, which will be referred
to below. were transferred from the il fated
steamer to the Milwaukee. end conveyed to
Detroit. where they arrived at late hour
| The following is the statement of Captain
James i. Trowcll, of the Milwaukee,: She
left here Yesterday afternoon, at ha'f-past >
o'clock; arrived at the Flats at half past
and about an hour afterwards. met the Lac
la Belle coming around the bend Of the
river. lust above Sanders house. The Mil
waukee was near the Amer n shore,
while the Lac la Belle appeared near to the
Canada shore. The Lac la Belle showed
her headlights on the StarhOard side. The
Milwaukee then blew two Whistles to letthe
Lac la Belle know that she would pass hel
on the port side while the Lac Ia Belle
would pass the Milwaukee on the starboar
side. or, in other words, that each would
pass the other on the left hanl side After
4 CAPTAIN Trowell had blown the two whis-
ties, he heard one whistle from the Lac la
Belle, and Immediately afterwards two
whistles. One whi tie denotes that the
Lac la Belle would pass the Milwaukee on
her port side. or that both poufd pas each
o'her on the right hand side. Immediate 5
after hearing the TWO whistles from the Lac
/. Belle Cartain Trowell saw her commence
swinginr, and >h" showed hor red light.
which denotcl that she w0n'i pass the
Mi'waukea on her port. He siw ia
| there WAS some misunderstanding in the
matter. and Immediately stopped and re
vcrsed his engine, and put the wheel t.
/ port in order. if possible, to clear the Lac
Ia Belle and avert collision. Ills eilnrtS,
however, proved futile. and the Milwaukee
s,rilck her about fifty iect from the stern.
e u. ~ Il M
the milwaukee went into her hull and
cabin. The Lac la Belle took fire inrnc6.
iatelv after the cnl!siou. and Captain lrow
eli remained by her, had his hose brought
out. started the pony engire, and wen; tc
work putting out the fire. The NJ Milwaukee.
also, took fire between decks. but the
Games were ,oon extinsui>bel By buckets,
without much damage. The eng Inc con
tinued throwing water upon the Lac Ii
Belle until she went down, which wa
about fifteen or twenty minutes after the
collision She sunk to the promenade
deck in. about twenty FIVE feet. OF
water. After she went down
detachment of her crew were. lett on
board to keep watch during the night, and
; the Mlwauke ee steamed for Detroit. Cap
tain Trovel states that he was. making
about six miles an hour, while the Lac la
Belle, which had the advantage of the
cnrtent, was running at the rate OF abos'
twelve miles per hour When the cot
hSion occurred, the first engineer OF Lac
La Belle was at his post. and one Of the
steam pipes burst. Without first az
tempting to save his own live, prnban'y
not knowing the nature Of the accident,
he Immediately went, to examine the
pipe, ana when he returned he was
Washed back Ly the terrible rush OF wa
ter and drowned. His name Is james
Evans, and he resided at Cleveland,
where he leaves wife, and family. A
coIore1 man, named Rvdd, who was
employed on the same steamer in the
capacity of waiter, attempted to Jump
from the Lac La Belle to the Mllwau
kee, but in dolng so, fell hetween the
boats and was drowned. lie also fe-
sided in Cleveland, bnt it was not known
whether he had arg family. s..et-.
IMPARTIAL SUFFRAGE.-At the equal
rights convention in session at Albany
"Wednesday, the following resolution was
adopted: ssa sEfa as ~ss.as. 81