New-York tribune., 1868-04-13
THE LAKE, MICHIGAN DISASTER.
THE BURNING OF THE sEA-BIRD-vIvID DE-
sCRIPTION BY a SURVIVOR.

|
hCRIPTION BY a SURVIVOR.
We Chicago newspapers of Friday publish
A.. a.,,,' Of the awful disaster Lake Michigan, as
,, from IN, lips OF the two survivors The substance
~ Mr. lanes II. L4onard's description OF the scene
reached us by telesraph and was printed N SATURDAY
TRIBUNE. Edward n nneoeTry tns i oagr &
seaman belonging TO the oo"'i'''' ''''' ''O''
About persons ncludna the crew SN were on pOsr Id
the boat-eight or ten of the ur Der peng women ana
seven or eight small children went to my berth at
about IL o'clock p At about 0t ~ ' doot bnoy,
remember we stopped at Racine. nm 1V1 naIy tis
tIhnrsdsyl morning, about o'clock 1 DE- ,n saw,
about an hour and half. should think whs ord
smoke arising the main deck IN the port qua % arc
just below the ladies' cabin. Tho smoke haa he
noticed when saw a blaze spring up. 1 at once etied
out Fire hrep Several Of the crew who wero up
came hurrying to where the fire was, the bea
rung and the passengers who were not mp before
came tumblng out from their berths and staterooms
The fire was long way aft the engine aud boiler IN the
port quarter The flames spread almost instantly into
the ades cabin overhead throughout the freight the
main deck II did not to take FIVE minutes before the
after part OF the boat was all on fire The fre spread into
the ladies' cabin rapidly that do not think all tho
women had time 10 leave it.. heard some one say that
some OF the women and children were burned we al
rushed into the forward part Of the boat Back OF the
engine the beat was all in flames. Some Of the crew
tried TO get at the small boats, which were art
I went with them but did not get further
than the smoke-stack. II was no use trying the
themselves were op FIRE was perfectly cool all the
time. knew the boat was going up ana somehow
felt that all right SO waited about ten minutes.
think before with the assistance Of five or SIX Others
showed the gangpank overheard During this time tue
flames were making great headway, and IN pVe or eN
minutes after the fire was first seeh by mo tho engines
stopped working All the psssehgers had crowded into
the bow, and some OF them the womon ana childre9
especially were crying and wringinR their hands and
moaning pieUu5y Six or seven q US showed the gang
plank oyeT, jist forward of the paddle-5o1es Mr.S
until the gangplank had Oated past and then Junpe
! was the first man overheard swan TO the gangpank
the plank caused it to sink and we all had hard
+, work 90 keep " and ourselves up. l got esYng
oetty well until three or four seeing that was holding
WI around i shook
them a. of except cOored boy, the cooks helper lie
"a 20 then ne ped him to get on the plank and
@ 5en Ibeiped on the plank two or three times
We ali struggled very hard but there MT man said
a word got hold Of one OF the gang-piank ropes ana
stuck to it until was picked of could see about me
men having hold of boxes chairs tenders and two men
clngng to bag OF wool We tloated past lhe pag
and one OF the y men rs a gans io %Tcy FAST There was
veTytheavy sea- aud after we ma 9ee III tne wser 70 &
Sop,i1as 90 mtsPu'fs & An swell who % had hold q it oT
cept me washed away and did rhC not t see see
was amo,; at freezing point was Just aDle 20 cmo or
TO the es the gest ae gone @ nn anu So stood
stayeam the wAter cous 80, .;.T -
had all my clothes aud these were frozen stin
As stood on the gangplank, all alone by myself had
IN being saved from the first still clung to me- looked
about me &na though the ,es Tas % rolling heavily ISoa
! OF tLe wreck, 10 many OF which men were cllngng
and women was clnging to t. As was watching her
saw her disappear under swell the fender after
ward gone The boat drifted 10 the leeward
In shore much faster than | on the gang plank About
20 minutes after had left her the crowd OF pas
sengcrs all gathered the hurricane deck Many OF the
stripped 10 their shirts. Nearly all of them
had life epreseryers or were asled tO tables, panks
boxes, and doors This about the last OF the
boat. did not hear any screaming the OF
the drowned all that The last noticed particularly
about the wreck she burned almost TO tho waters
edge, and tho walkngbeam was just falling IN.
chilled through. and felt myself freezing did not dare
lot Of the ropes, for n did should I've washed away
so changed hands, although my fingers frozen
sR About o'clock saw aschOOner bearing south, about
two wles away, aud under full sail. knew they saw
me from on board, and know they must have tho
burning wreck; but they did not bear down me- and
kept night on y was lfeeEIIs just Ike Winter and
/ could not have held out much longer, when,
about 10 O'Clock schooner which had been four OF
five miles wndward tack about and bear down on me
This proved 10 be the Cordea She passed me first and
went down the wreck to the leeward She sent out
her small boat and took of Chamberlain from the for
ward netting and then came back for me. About IL
O'Clock they took me of. / was pretty near frozen l
went into the cabin where took OFF my clothes, and
dried them. We arrived I'm Chicago about Al o'clock
ROCKLASD STATION, April g-The wreck OF the boat
which was burning the Lake of this place driied 10
within mile OF the shore whrfc SUNK
The shore for mile covered with the debris OF te
wreck boards barrels, and cord wood.