, 1873-11-07
THE lRONSIDES.

uGEb Aau foiJ OtLSf.
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THE lRONSIDES. .
OFficinl Report Of the sacn1n bt,nt- Hfs-
Srcctorn 0ra tho 6.0ss OF the Vessci.-
H'oma,ti scnsvorthy and Not Overs
l0ntted.
Efon, the Milraukse WISCONSIN, Nor. =.
Wo present the fnl( report Of tic Stean,lont-
Inspectors III regard to tho Irotuidcs 1t Hots Mt
rost many Of tho rutnorH which were prevalent
at tho tin,o Of tile dlsaster, md should bu read
by nil who l'nyo boon watching the cnao. Tho
report has hapn forwarded to Washington, and
will suon appear officially:
Iisirios: s'''' 1'''' '''''''''"' ''''S''' A''''''
S1n: In compliance with your orders of the
10th inst, we iiavo tho honor to report TINT we
hnyo nlndo n thorough investigation into tho
sides. in 1!nko Michigan. on tho 18th Of Inst
Month, a,ld havo to mako tho following atnte-
n,enta in relation thoroto:
The dronsiaea Inf bfilwauioe, bound for
oran. Hayoi,, ~ 9:so o'cloc, p; m, OIL tho nth
Ing u pasnongera. Hor cargo, consisted Of
13i50 busion Of wlleat, 500 barrolB Of flour, 100
bnrro's Of pork, 420 kegs Of bcor, and small
amount of miscellaneous nlorc1lnnliae in nll
about 900 tons. Tho wllont and flour wna slowed
III tho hold, tito baianco waS OH deci It td
clear that tho vessel waB not overloaded. She
registers L. 183 tons, and hor cargo OF 500 tons
would DO about half her carrying capacity.
From MI That wo can learn We aro aatstiod that
lifc.sayitg appliances when size left milwaukee,.
Wo made oyory possible inquiry necessary to as
certain tho tr1le condition Of tho vosHel, moro
especially ns atntomonts wore III circulation to
tho eIoct that Hho Ind been leaking badly on
previous trips, but no evidence was obtainod thnt
would warrant any conclusion other tilnn tint
sho vas safo for tho business slo was ongngeG,
Tho weather was NOT bai, but dark and thrcat-
cning when tho Et1anor left Milwaukee.
at abont 1850 O'Clock, tho wind, however,
shifted from tue southeast to tho southwest. nnd
blew very hard, croating soon n heavy gulo. lilo
steamer nadc good weather until about o'clock
in tho morning Of tho 10TH, when tho starboatd
midshin gang"ay vas stovo in, admitting largo
breach was partially closed by showing Up tho
gang-plank, bnt It il evident the Vossol was
milking some water at this timo, for il required
more than the usual work Of THO bllgo-pnmps
on her courge until G o'clock d. NJ, being tI1oll
In sight Of Grand Haven, but the Gaptain, con-
Bdorng 1t unsufc to enter the llarbor, tho
steamer WAS headed down tho laho, rnnniug bo-
fore the sea. She continued on this course
aomo miles, or to noarly abreast Of AIuBkogon,
whom it wns concluded to turn the steamor'a
head to tho Bcn.
Up to this timo tho punlpB hcd no difficulty in
Keeping the vessel FREQ, Notwithstanding the
NJ yet no alarm foit Is. tho safoty of tic .
boat. Aftor tho vessel WAS headed to
the son sllo ran about 10 miles, strainiug
ansl laborlng very harl, shipping now much
larger quantities OF water, 1hich Hood
About 0 o'clock Mr. McG|uo. tho Chief Engin-
cor, sent word to tho Captain TINT tho pumps
would no lollgor kccp her free. aud requested
that tho Bteamor be put boforo the wind again.
An attoinpt was made to put the vcssot about.
but gottins into tho trough Of tho sea aho would
not mind her helm. I1or port gnnswayB wero
stove in aid Tho water matlo clean sweep over
her decks, bclug q foot Of moro in depth, large
quantities running through the grating over her
the hold
Every o1ertion waB made to relieve tho yosscl
Her engincH Woro worked, ono aLond aud tito
other aoael. md sail was made, but Of no avail /;
aho would not come about. Her Gre5 wero soon
bo abandoned. Two hours thereafter the Iron
sidca went down i'll 90 fatlonls Of ,9ator, tllroe
or four miles diatant from Grand Hnyen.
The lronsiacs was furnished with eight lifc-
bouts, rhreo Of 1nctnl md five Of wood. Seven
Of them wore launched, aud six Of them wcro
lsed in taking from the wreck all tile passengers
mud tho crow. tile Captain and tho Chief E;,,-
gineer being tho last to ienyo SLIP. Five Of tho
hoats reached sltore with. Hix pnsaorgcrs aud
tSonty-thrce Of tho crew. Tho boat il. charge
Aized, and alt were lost. Good orilor soems to
have prevailed throughout. and tierc seemed to
bo but littlo confuaion III launching tho small
w;t1 cnn,n"a md Sasa,. ~ .csou
,f;.o '"'t s'1'ts''oepso ~ LILY
! Va a,o co,nre,1cd IN or;+i,;so ,a,.,..o. ,,,a
,r;,u1nn,'t ~ liz T.oto;, H. ,,ft;,. !'oset, % 'a
about OF M.,sleson and driving l,cr usai;,st Il
saI ,,nr h Eon,,,Isa. 1,o nfn. n.a ~
or,,,.I i,.ro r,o F. NJ H. ue4gio ;Eu WITT In
mi nrdo toro ,,ood i',ror Tat1t tsaaa' e.an
1,na 1,at aoto, na'na .;rta"r E4p4' o"eis ~.
1o,,o. ,1 Saa vol na,,o;,toI ,a:tIl Isttn H. w. Luz
~ rn ny nvo "o mi III, H. ",si sle nrpGt y
r,i ho ort;.ni,, S',w ',,.,so - tt ah ~ s's ~ ~
H.; s,,r ~ oa1o und "f,, oc saa w.. f11,, Isor ~
a,,r ht a = 49, rout so ~ H. tg co
i;a vnsso hnn,; ~ NJ, a,,dna "o"o1 10 ~ ns
tit nnia ;nntn.1 ~ r,,;.,+s 80. ~ - "o4to ~