Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1880-07-30
Sinking OF Pleasure Yacht on the
Detroit River Several Lives Lost.


DETROIT July %.
Yesterday morning Father Bleyen.
bergh, pastor of the Roman Catholic Church Of
the Holy Trinity, of this city, started out to
give his altar boys their regular excursion
They went on board tAe steam yacht Mamie,
and were taken to Monroe, Mich. On their
return, while coming up the Detroit River
at about ten o'clock last night, at a point Just
below Grassy Island Lighthouse the yacht
was met by the steamer Garland Of Detroit,
having OF board the Molders' Union and a
large party of friends, and a collision took
place, the Garland literally running the steam
yacht down and almost running over her.
There were twenty-four persons on board
! the Mamie. OF these but eight were saved,
the others going down in the deep, swift
/ water, with no hope OF finding the bodies yet
| for days.
The Captain OF the Garland, George Horn,
was near the wheel-house with the wheels
man at the time, and, on being interviewed
! by an Egeti,tg Neos reporter to-day, refused
| to talk.
The wheelsman, H. w. Buff, says he saw
| light, which he took to be an anchor-light,
and no red or green lights When about
! fifty feet from the light he heard whistle
| from the Mamie, answered ii, and backed the
engines. He called to Captain Horn to help
on the wheel. He thinks the Mamie must
! have tried to cross his bow. Boats we're low
! cred Immediately and life-preservers thrown
overheard. There was a great lack of nerve
]
as the officers of the Garland were concerned.
An officer Of the Garland, or one appearing
| to be in authority, cursed those VINO were
throwing over life-preseryers, and made them
stop 1t, but a negro employe OF the boat
| seemed to have more nerve than any one else
belonging TO the boat and set the work OF
putting over life-preservers agoing again.
James Murtagh, an attache of the EVening
NepS, and level-headed, courageous young
man, says he was on the Garland, sitting at
the bow, when the accident occurred. He
says the Garland was running straight down
| the river on her course. The boats would
have passed, but the yacht suddenly, when
| but a few feet from the Garland, put her
wheel over and shot across the bow Of the
Garland, was struck, and went down. There
was but moment TO act as the awful trag-
edy was over in a moment of time, almost.
| There were several instances Of individual
| heroism of those on board of the Gariand,
conspicuous among them being that of John
Quirk, a young molder who dove from the
| boat and picked up two drowning boys.
The accident is the first of the kind here
in many years, and thrills the city with
horror.
OF those on board the Mamie the following
were drowned Mrs. Fred. Martin, wife OF
engineer; Miss Mary Hahn, domestic of the
parochial school, Trinity Church; Miss Lizzie
| Murphy, housekee eper for Father Bleyenbergh I;
Thomas Kelly, sexton of the church; Jim
Kelly, organ-blower; Andrew DOran, a boy
who was invited to accompany the excursion !;
Thomas McLogan, another boy, missing,
doubtless lost; Frank Solan, John Howe, David
Barry John Donovan, Willie Cuddy, David
| Cuddy, John Cosgrove, James Tooney, Joseph
! Monaghan, altar bOys-ranging nom eleven
to fourteen years Of age.
Captain Hoffman, Engineer Martin, Father
Bleyenbergh Miss Lizzie Dusseau, of Monroe,
and four others, were saved.
In an interview Father Bleyenbergh states
that just prior to the collision most of the
boys were in the cabin. He was sitting with
the Older members of the party, and they
noticed the steamer coming down the river
The Garland and the Fortune (another
steamer) seemed to him not very far apart,
and coming very rapidly. :" | do not know"
he said, " | hardly dare assert it, and yet it
seemed to me''-and the father made sig
nifcant pause, as though he thought they were
racing. he went on to say that he did not
dream of the collision, in fact had just said
to Miss Dusseau, who was sitting beside him,
that 1t was picturesque and eXhilerat-
ing sight to see the steamer pillow
through the water on such bright moon
light night when he saw the Garland sudden
ly loom up larger and instantly OWNED with
horror that a collision was imminent. The
Mamie whistled, and soon after the Garland
replied but bore down directly on the fragile
yacht, crushing it as if IL had been an egg
she'll fairly cutting 1t in two amidship. AT
the moment he had OWNED q collision was
unavoidable he had shouted to his friends and
children, "Come TO the front!' "Come to the
front!' Some of them did so. Miss Dusseau
followed him, and at the same time he felt the
boat give way beneath him, and caught hold OF
a rope on the Garland. The young lady did
the same. Somebody on board the steamer
pulled her aboard, and he climbed the rope
he had hold of unaided. The four boys who
were saved crawe ed out of the cabin windows
and threw themselves into the water. They
were picked up by the life boat of the Gar
land, which was Immediately lowered but
some who might have been saved were, he
a al u~s.n do hs
the Fortune, which plowed along very soor
after. This was not the fault of the Fortune
as they seemed to suppose that the Garland
people, who hailed them in alarm and anxiety
were cheering them. The father did moi
know how the accident could have occurred
at all, as IL was such brilliant moonlight thai
the smallest object could be discerned at Q
great distance
Persons on the Garland claim that the
right-of-way belonged to her. as she wal
going down stream and was larger boat. Tht
Mamie, they say, went straight toward the
Garland, signaling that she would pass to tn,
left by blast of the whistle, to which the Gar
land responded. Neither apparently changed
its course until the Mamie was almost unde
the bow of the Garland, when the pilot o
the Mamie threw his wheel over, and shC
swung herself across the stream and pre-
sented brOadside TO the Garland. In th
position the latter struck her sQuarely jus
aft the pilot-house, crushing in her side anC
submerging her whole forward part. Be
fore they struck the Garland stopped he
! engine, but did not reverse. She was appar
emily going at nearly her full rate of speed a
the moment of the collision. When the tive
vessels struck they lung together for mo
ment or two, and the pilot of the Mamie AMI
one or two of the passengers clambered OF
board the Garland with assistance. The Gar
, land then began to back, and the two vessel
separated. The Mamie drifted down tn
stream, her forward part submerged or en-
r tirely carried away. hut her stern out of wa
ter. She sank entirely out of sight in abou
, ten minutes.
In addition to the names OF the lost alread
sent, it is ascertained another boy namel
: John Grensel was also drowned.