The Portland daily press., 1884-01-18
THE CITY OF THE STRAITS.
Farther Particulars of Her Loss ON lake
HurOn-Capt. Wilson secs His Wiie
Drown and is PowerIess to Save Her
The Engineers Story.

TORONTO, Ont, Jan. 1.-Three weeks ago
the propeller "City of the Straits" foundered
in gale off Kincardine, Lake Huron. Six of
the crew were drowned after great suffering,
and although eleven managed, after much diff
iculty, to reach the shore alive, but few par
ticulars were obtained of the haraships suffer-
ed by the crew until today. The survivors,
many of them, remaining about the country in
the vicinity of KiAcsrdine, and others return
ing to their various homes Engineer Elliott
of the ill fated steamer, has just arrived 10
this city, and tells narrowing story of the
wreck. The vessel was loaded heavy with
iron ore, bound from Marquette to Cleveland.
He says; "All the way do Hn Lake Superior
we had rough though favorable weather, and
expected to make a quick passage and lay up
for the winter. About the fourth day out we
were going down Lake Huron, when storm
struck us from the Northwest. We labored in
it for six or eight hours, when discovered that
we had sprung aleak. The third plank from
the keel, On the starbosrl side, had sprung out
and perfect cataract came pouring in. Ten
minutes later our fires were out. and in less
than five more "The City of the Straits" was
resting on the bottom of Lake Huron. told
the captain, and he at once ordered the crew
to clear one of the life boats. Iuto this we
make the shore few miles above Kincardine
We walked down to the town, where every at
tention was paid as. tell you it was hard for
poor Capt. Wilson to see his wife and child go
down before his very eyes, and unable to even
make an Effort to save them. Mrs. Wilson got
frightened, aud without waiting to see what
was being done, clasped her infant in her arms
and sprapg into the sea. One of tie gang
planks was floating near, aud on this she
cambered, but the wattr was very cold. and
fh4 uuin c cho k,
numbed, her hold on the plank gave way, and
she sank with her babe in her arms. The
captain was in the life-boat at the time, but it
was all our lives we're worth to go near the
vessel. Had we done so she would have
drawn us down with her, as she made the hnal
plunge. AS soon as the captain saw how
things stood, he turned the bow of the vessel
for the shore. but as 1 said before, she went
down five miles from land We had two pas
sepgers aboard, one moulder and the other
machnist. Both were saved. saw one man,
who had $1,000 in his pocket, lash himself to
plank and jump overheard. Somehow or
other the plank turned over with him, and
held his head under water till he was drowned.
Another poor fellow struggled in the water for
some time, but the cold was too much for him,
and We saw him go down. Up to the time /
left no bodies had been found. The captain
waited for while, in the hope of finding the
body OF his wife or child, bat at last gave it up
and started for home. We were loaded with
iron and ore, some of the Jumps being the size
of small barrel, and they were dumped into
the hold out of the shoot. The captain was al
ways afraid of dropping these battering rams
into the hold, and had piled lot of cord wood
under the hatchway to break the fall of the
ore. think, however, some of the p eces
must have struck the skin and loosened the
plank. Bolts are not always driven in as they
should be, and the plank must have been
sprung in that way. I'll never forget the
sight of the captains wife and child clnging
to the plank all covered with ice while we
were unable TO save her.