The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-01-17
THE CITY BEFOGGED.
Danger to Human Life on the Rivers and
in the Bay-.A Great Number OF
Reckless Collisions.
The Ferryboat Mortified, with TOO Passengers
Plays Billiards with the Stone Pier on the
Battery and smashes Three Granite
Pillars-Colisions on the Other Fer
ries and Among the Shipping.

O'Clock yesterday morning were struck with be-
wildered establishment to find themselves sud-
denly envelOped In a dense fog that came down
upon them, rendering everything obscure at q dis
lance Of a few feet from the line OF vision.
1t was.a "thunderng," intense London fog-a
binding, heavy fog; a fog almost as thick as
pea soup and as impenetrable the ar
NOR OF wizard. II filed every niche
and open and hollow space and clothed the silent
sleeping city with an enormous Opaque funeral
pail. In the streets policemen ran against each
other and grappled and tussed with each other,
and where q window was left open in q dwelling
the binding mist marched into the spaces OF
sleeping chambers in flmy but concentrated vol
umes.
''oFF SANDY HOOK"
At sea in the vicinity OF Sandy Hook and inside
Of the bar and IN the Lower and Upper bays the
terrible fog rendered the passage OF ves-
sells very dangerous, and collisions were
numerous but, far yet known
no lives have been lost. Old and experienced sea:
men, who have navgated for twenty-five and
thirty years in and out Of the harb0r of New York;
were puzzled to find their bearings and, to make
matters worse, many of the most important can
and spar buoys have been washed from their
moorings or foated Off by the dense masses of
movable ice during the late violent and stormy
weather.
Between seven and eight O'Clock Yesterday morn
ing the rivers and Upper Bay was almost impossible
to vessels The different steamtugs and lerryboats,
as well as the larger steamers, were creeping this
way and that way on the surface of the North and
East rivers or in the Upper Bay like number OF
intoxicated individuals returning home from a
late dinner. Fog and alarm whistles were shrek
ing and singing in the most demOniacal manner
and filing the air with their sound.
The amount OF profanity and bad language ex.
pended by steamboat captains and their subordi-
nate officers in getting matters to rights was some
thing to frighten one. The signal lights burned
dimly, and looked hollow-eyed and wan.
TUGS AND STEAMBOATS, CoLLIDED
in the Zimmerman darkness and the grating OF dis
located tlmbers seemed to involve an utterance of
thousands Of marine and steamtug oaths. The
yawing OF vessels was accompanied by the eternal
yawp OF the deckhands and the screams of passen-
gersrawoke on the steamers-which were bound to
New YOrk-from their restless sleep.
In fact all things were in dire confusion on the
water, and where so much life and limb were at
stake and in the charge of pilots there was sure to
be great deal OF dissatis action. Yesterday until
noon none of the Jersey boats on any of the lines
connecting the CITY with the suburbs pretended 10
make their regular trips. 1t was found impossible
to make regular trips with any safety to the pas
sengers or the boats themselves
Some Of the pilots YESTERDAY morning on the
ferry boats, while impeding their craft behaved in
what seemed to be a very insane manner.
AN AQUEOUS BILLIARD MATCH.
serious accident befell the Staten Island ferry
boat N0rthned, which left Edgewater for this city.
at eight O'Clock yesterday morning. She was very
crowded. having on board seven or eight hundred
in New the Vessel Wa
nearly two hours in getting up to the city, the
pilot laboring under dense log and cropping his
way in most perpleXed manner. Finally, when
near the Staten Island Terry house, on this side, the
pilot having lost all patience, made q frantic dash
and ran his old Nortnfeld the Whitehall pier
amid wild screams from the women and the Wells OF
dismay from the bewildcred male passengers. There
was terrible scene for few moments
for all on board were very much frightened, ex-
cepting the pilot, who seemed to think he was en-
gagged in game OF drunken billiards. The passen-
gers had hardly recovered from the first shock
when the pilot reversed his engines and as every
thing was obscured, he made his way blindiy,
hugging the Battery until he came north OF the
Governors Island barge house, where lie made
ANOTHER DASH AT THE SHORE
and this time he succeeded in producing an i'm
stone pier OF the Battery every beam in the old
N0rthfeld shreked and cried FOR mercy, while the
passengers began to say their prayers or made
ready leap from the boat, thinking that they had
collided with another vessel and that u second
Westfeld disaster was about to happen. few
persons whose visual organs were sharper than
the majority, looked through the fog as well
they could and saw that they were at the Battery,
and a number
and saw that part Of the boat had been carried
away and stove in, and that three OF the upright
granite pillars on the Battery pier had been dashed
down by the force OF the collision.
number OF the passengers suffered from slight
bruises but none were seriously injured. Those
exclamatons against the ferry company which is so
careless OF its passengers lives.
The Fulton ferry had but one collision yesterday
but none OF the trips, usually made In five minutes
from slip TO slip, were made In less than from
twenty minutes to three-quartcrs Of an hour,
which caused the most serious inconvenience and
delay.
ON THE BROOKLYN SIDE
of the river there were lines OF market wagons ex-
tending from the ferry house up to Concord street,
and O'Clock in the morning the last OF these
wagons had not got through thewide gates of the
ferry. Some of the owners OF these wagons lost as
much as 500 each by this long delay, as they
found no market fnr their produce, which was ne
cessarily of pershabe nature, when their wagons
arrived at their destination. Every one OF THESE
marketmen felt an ardent desire to see the Brook
Ign bridge finished, and IL was TO this subject that
their conversation was chiefly devoted during the
At the Hamilton and South ferries there were a
number Of collisions, one OF which was OF danger
GUS nature. Teams blocked up the streets leading
boats bound to New York were crowded to the
waters edge with passengers. AT nine O'Clock
the ferryboat Columbia, Of the Hamilton Terry line,
SEVERE COLLISION
with the ferrybOat Monticello, OF the south Terry
ine near the New YORK side OF the river. The pilot
of the Monticello feeling desire to play carr0m
game of billiards with his boat against the Column
ba, and against the rules OF the company, pro-
PEELED it into the river before the departure of the
Columbia. The prov OF the Columbia came In con-
tact with the bow OF the Monticello with tremen-
lumba was torn and rent away, as II
the elamped wood and ir0nwOrk had been
made OF so much brown paper. An awful scene
occurred on board Of the Columbia something
more intense and concentrated than that which
had occurred on board of the Northfeld Some
few passengers were bruised and number were
very near being precipitated into the seetbing
river. The superintendent OF the Hamilton Terry
denied That the Columbia had suffered any serious
injuries, although 1t was known that her engines
had been displaced and she had TO be taken lmme-
diately to the shipyard for repairs Another boat
belonging to the Hamilton Jerry
DRIPTED ON THE GOVERNORS ISLAND SHORE
with large number OF passengers, and 1t was some
moments before she could be got of anu Ito
rights"
ferryboat belonging to the Roosevelt street and
South Seventh street Terry started from Williams.
burg and, after coasting up and down and around
the river with large cargo OF alarmed passengers,
and the pilot having got tired OF looking for game
OF billiards. he at last made up his mind to land the
passengers at Grand street, East River, instead OF