Stevens County tribune. (Morris, Minn.) 1877-1880, 1879-03-20
WIDOWED AND ORPHANED.
Probable Loss OF Fishing Fleet of FOur-
teen TeSseIs-One Hundred and Forty
Sir Lives Supposed to Haze Beeaa.LOst.

Probable Loss OF Fishing Fleet of FOur-
teen TeSseIs-One Hundred and Forty
Sir LiUes Supposed to Haze Been. Lost.
Boston Special, March H..
A disaster, appalling in its terrible fatali-
ty, and heavy in the financial loss it has
caused, has fallen on the city of Gloucester,
which previously contained far more than
the usual proportion of widows and orphans,
and enterprises sorely smitten by the bust
ness depression of the past few years
On the night of the Doth OF Februar
gale of almost unprecedented violence,
companied with binding snow and sleet,
came roaring down upon the Georges feet.
About fifty vessels occupied the most danger
GUS positions, and of this number it is feared
that fourteen were lost.
If all that is feared did happen,
ONE HUNDRED AND FoRTY-sN MEN,
the husbands of forty-one wives and the
fathers of nearly one hundred children, and
property which cannot be replaced for less
than $4,000, were swallowed up by the
raging waters.
For the past week or ton days the excite
ment in the city has been intense.
At first not much alarm was felt, but, as
vessel after vessel that had weathered the
storm came in and brought no tidings of the
missing ones, the gravest anxiety began to
prevail. .ssaJ
None of those that are missing have been
reported since the gale.
Of the safety ONE of them there is yet
a ray of hope, but is certain that the most
of them will
NEVER BE HEARD FROM AGAIN.
| The anxious waiting for their return has
oe
| to the forced conviction that they and their
I crews have persisted. = - - a. .
It is probable that no financial distress
will be occasioned, but distressing infu-
ence will be felt directly or indirectly in
every portion of tho business interests of the
city. # ar ~ -
THE WIDOWS AND ORPHANS '
will have to be cared for, and the insurance
on the vessels and outfits, which was all
| placed in the Gloucester Mutual Fishing
/ insurance company, will have to be assessed
upon the firms, and will thus come out o
| the general business. The total insuranc
is a$36, 289. y
The merchants of Gloucester, however, al
well as her fishermen, are hardy, determined
people, and quickly forget the troubles Of
the past in their present endeavors and fu
ture planning. Without asking any outside
help they will settle their own losses, add /
new list of names to the worthy, poor whom
they assist, and steadily pursue the Will.
their historic work of catching, buying ani
selling fish.
GEORGES BANK, ~
upon which the vessels and the men wen
down, is situated about 40 miles east south
east from Gloucester, and Is the famou
feeding grounds for Goldfish and paddock. +
4 The water shoals gradually from the dec
sea to the center of the bank, where i
ranges in depth from six to twelve fathoms
ON THE NIGHT OF THE STORM,
J fifty sail are supposed to have been inclose
within a circle of two or three miles north
east of the shoal sbYsss 2 H F7yTT &
About fifteen miles northeast from thes
was group of seven or eight sail, and ava
on Browns bank, about sixty miles furthe
to the northeast, were several others
BREEZE SPRUNG UP ABOUT NOON
/ .of Thursday, and the signs foretold Oh
coming storm. oTg EN
AS the hours passed the wind increased i
violence, and at midnight was blowing tel
J Eible gale from the northeast. arlIi I
The air was filed with snow and froze
| spray so thickly that nothing could be seen
Every vessel, exposed as they all were
7 the wild force Of the gale and the wave
dragged its anchors or parted its cables an
ALL DRIFTED
j more or less rapidly. No canvass could r,