Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-11-27
AFLOAT ON A RAFT.

I'll AOAA O4N IA 1OAI L.
The Terrible Experience of Three Sailors
on Lake Michigan--Wrecked In the
Storm, They Float for Thirty One Hours
on Raft-Almost Frozen to Death.
SPECIAL Telegram to the Globe.]
MILWAUKEE, Nov. 25.-The propeller
Wisconsin that reached Milwaukee this
morning, brought the Iews of terrible,
marine disaster that occurred on the lake,
fifteen miles north of Milwaukee, and.
twenty miles out from the shore, on
Thursday afternoon. The Wisconsin also.
brought the three survivors, of the crew of
eight, OF the i'll fated craft. Soon after
the arrival of the steamer this morning
Capt. McGregor gave the GLOBE represen-
tat1ve the following particulars of the dis
! aster:
| when we were about two
and half hours out from Grand;
| Haven last evening, between 10 and IL
O'Clock, the second mate of the Wisconsin
and the lockout, who were on watch. heard
cry of some one in distress ahead of the.
boat. They called me and the boat was at
once stopped. The night was very bright.
and there appeared to be some one in the.
water. The life boat was at once manned
and lowered, and three half frozen men.
were found clinging to raft, part of a.
vessels deck. They were brought on
board and everything was done to alleviate
their terrible suferings. They proved to-
be three of crew Of eight of the schooner
Collingwood of Chicago. After they
had been thawed out sufficiently to talk,
they said that the Collingwood went down
on Thursday afternoon. Four of the crew..
including the captain, went down with the
vessel, and four got on the raft. One of
the number died yesterday afternoon ON
the raft, and the other three chung to-
the frail thing until we picked them up
last night. They were on the raft about
| THIRTY-ONE HOURS
and suffered untold agonies from the rough
sea and the extremely cold weather. They
were covered with ice, and were so numb
when discovered that it was with difficulty
that we got them from the raft to,
the boat. They gave their names,
as Nicholas johnson, R. D. Sheldon,
mate of the craft and Frank MacFee. We
did all we could for the poor fellows and,
provided them with means to reach their
homes"
| THE SURVIVORS OF THE WRECK
were found on the boat and they proved a
sorry looking lot. Their hands. feet and
limbs were badly frosted and swollen, and
it was with difficulty that they could walk.
Mr.. Sheldon, the mate, said the sufferings,
OF himself and his companions during the
long time that they were drifting around
at the mercy of the cold, cruel waves were,
terrible in the extreme, and that words,
were inadequate to describe what they
had gone through. Nicholas Johnson, a
bright fellow abont thirty-fve years of
ago, who seemed to stand the terrible or
deal better than any of his Inpanions,
gave the following graphic description of
the loss of the boat and the sufEerings of
the survivors until rescued:
''The Collingwood was loaded with cedar
telegraph poles, and was going from ST.
Helena to Chicago, where the boat was
| owned. She was miserable old thing,
and was almost unseaworthy. The boat
was worth about $4,000 and the cargo.
about $4,000. st. Helena IS near the
mouth of the straits. The name of the,
captain was Willets, and he was good old
soul, about sixty years Of age. lie lived
at Kingston, owned one-thir;i of the
boat, the other t?yo-thirds being
owned by the Keith Brothers, of
Chicago. Well, during the gale Thursday
afternoon the vessel got water-logged and
we worked the one pump that Was aboard
for all it was worth. About ( o'clock in
| the afternoon the pump got choked, and
| things began to look pretty blue, I can tel.
you. The gale was blowing from the
| northwest, and about O'Clock the sea
caused the craft to roll over There we
| rested right on the broadside until the top
mast fell when, with 4 great groan, she
Strengthened up on her beam end and re-
| manned in that position for about an hour.
Then, all of sudden the decks burst up,
| caused by the pressure of the water against
| the cargo of poles, and She
rolled over and went down head first. The,
crew, eight of US, we're all
HANGING FOR DEAR LIFE
to the taffrail, thinking that it would be
the last thing that would give way. After
she started down the third sea washed us
overheard. The captain and the three,
men were last seen floating with posts under
their arms. My God, that was an awful
moment. There was piece of deck almost
six feet square and three of US got on to.
it, as soon as we realized that we were left
to battle for ourselves, Mate Sheldon sue
ceeded in getting on to a large piece OF
the raft about 15x12 feet in
size, the raft on which we we're,
when found. When 1 got on my raft I
said, "Where are you, captain and he,
answered, "Right here" and then saw
that he had drifted off five or six yards
That was the last saw or heard of the.
captain and the rest of the crew, and I
"