The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1872-10-17
LOSS OF THE PROPELLER LAC
LA BELLE.

The steamer Lac La Belle Of the Engel-
mann line between Milwaukee and Grand
Haven left Milwaukee at 8 o'clock Sun
day night with passengers and crew as
given by the clerk to the number OF. fifty
three, and a cargo of flour, grain, feed,
pork, whisky & sundries amounting to
500 tons. About midnight when about
twenty-five miles off Racine with a. heavy
sea the vessel sprung a leak which put
out the fires and stopped the engines
About 80 or A. III. the passengers
crew and officers took to the boats, five
in all. Five.or six or more remained on
the vessel, some reports saying that they
refused to go on the boats and Others that
they stood where they had been placed
calling to be taken on the boats.even as
the vessel went down and then three or
four of them jumped into the water. How
many sunk or jumped into the water as
the vessel went down is not certainly
known. One only Of those remaining. on
the vessel or trusted to luck on parts oil
the wreck, asfar as yet known, seaman,
Nelson, has been saved Hs was rescued
by the propeller Cuba. The boats are all
safe. One came ashore two miles sou til
of Kenosha, one at Racine, one at Calumet
and one was picked up by the schooner
Floretta about five miles off Waukegan
The messing orr last boat, as given by the
Inter- OCEAN, containing precious freight
or twelve souls, had drifted near Evanston
and was taken up by the schooner Kate
. L Bruce and taken into Chicago. AL
who took the boats according to all &C
: counts were saved.
] The officers and nearly all the crew anC
: passengers are probably praise worthy
f and entitled to much credit for there be
t ing so many saved.
r The Lac La Belle was built at CleVe-
E land nine years ago. In 1865 she was
= sunk on the st. Clair Flats by the steam
T chip Milwaukee. She was raised and re
: paired and taken to Milwaukee in the
/ fall of 1869. She was of / ,185 tons bur
] den, was valued at $4,000 and insured
: for $4,000
Since the disaster we have seen tn,
statement in the Milwaukee papers tina
the Lac La Belle had been inspected
few days before and was highly com.
mended for her seawolthyness and splen
/ dor. All this talk of the splendor an
7 seaworthyness of the Lac La Belle, if APP
, provingly, and it seems to be, is unworthy
of the papers which give 1t publicity
Every body knows that vessel thai
}, would spring leak and founder, as the
} Lac La Belle. did last Sunday night, .wai
neither sca-worthy nor safe. The Lac La
, Belle might or might not have been safe
, for passengers alone. But with the pas
sengers and freight she had Sunday
| night her laundering proves her to have
been entirely unseAworthy and unsaf e
The shipping of a heavy sea is given a,
the cause of the disaster, but the
q real cause was probably the
faulty construction of the vessel
which was like that of all our other lake
9 pr0pellers except the Collin Campbell
;. and Inter-Ocesn, just completed. Of tn,
faulty construction the Inter Ocean speak,
thus:
Q "Our propellers load down to within
: two feet of the first deck. This is the
O hull line. Above this is nothing but incl
pine, with perhaps four gangways, any
one of which might be kicked out by q
man or ordinary strength. So long as
:. our propcllers are constructed on this
b plan disaster to life and property will be
f of frequent occurrence, and in many in
y slances the "shipping of heavy sea" will
. be the explanation. If these boats wkiol
e venture out with heavy cargoes and RELY
:. ing freight between decks were bosrdck;
t with oak to the upper rail we would Koal
of fewer of them going to the bottom
And if owners will endanger their prop
! erty and the property of others IN trans
: pertation it should be seen that the trav
cling public is not endangered.
-~WN
n THE UNION'S REGRET