News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1885-02-19
A VOYAGE OF DEATH.
SAILED BY LAKE PROPELLER
THIRTY YEARS AGO.
With a True Story of Strange Fatality
that BefelI Party of immigrants.


~ worked in different capacities OIL
lake steamers for over twenty years, ant
had some rough and dangerous expert
ences," said an engineer ID large
manufacturing establishment. sI have
been on more than thirty vessels tha
we're wrecked and on scores that hac
narrow escapes, and on one occasion
was the only person saved, after foul
| days floating about on a spar and bar
rel in bowling storm, such as one only
sees on the great lakes. I look back on
those dangers calmly and without @
shudder, but the remembrance of the
very first trip I ever made is attended
with sense of horror that time fails to
remove. was not much more than q
boy when hired out as deck hand on
the old Allegheny, one of the best pro-
pellers of her day. She piled between
Buffalo and Milwaukee. I shipped on
her at the former place in 1850, when
Capt. Morrison was running her. She
had on board that trip, besides about
forty cabin passengers, $50 steerage
passengers, all Swedish emigrarts.
These were going in body to Milwau-
kee, where several hundred of their
countrymen had preceded them. They
were forwarded by some colonization,so-
ciety, and were in charge of a man
named Jansen, the agent of the society.
All their money, nearly 800, 900, was in
his possession. With the exception of
Jansen none of the Swedes could speak
English.
"The propeller always stopped at
Beaver Island. King Strang, as he
was called, occupied the island at that
time, with his colony of Mormon
and Free Love followers. During our
stop on this trip little Swedish girl
was taken suddenly i'll and died. Her
mother had died on the ocean voyage
and was buried at sea. We buried the
child on the island. We had passed on
not more than ten miles from the island
when the father of the child died in
the same manner. Between there and
South Manitou Island no less than
twenty-five of the emigrants died of the
same mysterious disease, which now was
spreading rapidly among them. A
panic ensued on board. The cabin
passengers were placed in quarantine in
their quarters, and the crew of the pro-.
peller were kept busy caring for the un-
fortunate Swedes.
eve landed at Monitor and buried
the score and half of dead in one large
trench. 1t was impossible for us to lie
to anywhere before we reached Milwau-
kee, and we left Monitor literally 81
floating charnel house. Scarcely an
hour passed that an emigrant did not
die. 1t finally became almost impossi-
BILE to attend to the wants of the suffer.
ers, although the entire crew devoted
e~sry PossiAIa minute Iaissnt 'ssIl1 eIay, 20
their service. The stencil became al
most unbearable. There was no mistak-
ing those who were doomed to death
among the emigrants. The victim be-
came hollow-eyed, and gazed with a va
cant, far-away look that made one shud-
der to meet it. When that appeared,
death was but an hour or two away-al-
though the victim might be on his feet
and moving about. Death was attended
with intense agony. You could look
among the emigrants and count one
hour how many would be dead within
the next. There were some pitiful
sights, I tell you. One poor man had
seen his wife cast over the side into the
axe. We threw them overheard as
last as they died, weighted SO they
would sink. Such thing as shrouding
L corpse was entirely out of the question.
they were cast into the water Just as
hey died. This poor man was speak |
ng of had seen his wife buried in this
way, and he had four small children left |
% care for. The day after his wife died |
saw this man sitting with his four
holding two on his lap, while |
he other two clung weeping to his
lnees. Through all the terrible and |
scenes that had been constant
y before me for days, I had borne up
with nerve worthy of one with more
years and experience, but the sight of |
his group was more than could stand. |
It was not because of the utter sadness |
md desolation that surrounded them, al
though that was enough to melt heart |
IF stone, but it was the sight of that
Door father pressing his sobbing little
)nes to his breast, while the tears
,treamed down his own cheeks from
ayes hollow and vacant, weeping for his
lead wife with the hand of death at his
OWN throat. The seal of doom was upon
lim. 1t was more than / could stand
md I hurried to the deck and fell upon
t utterly helpless. Two hours later we
,ast the poor mans body into the lake.
Two of the children followed him next
lay. The remaining two were taken in
,harge by other kind hearted emigrants.
"Up to the day before we reached
none of the crew had been
lttacked with the disease, but on that
lay the second cook died with it, and
'eceived the same burial as the other
7ictims. That day will never be effaced
rom my memory. The cook had not
)een buried more than two hours. l
vent below, and on the way met the en-
yineer. had never spoken to him, and
lad seen him but two or three times. /
When met him this particular time | |
.arew up my hands and started back
ward in horror. He started in the same |
manner when he saw me-"
My God 7 I exclaimed. You've got |
that death look in your eyes ?
'He pressed his hands to his head and |
turned deadly pale, and then, pointing
to my eyes, almost yelled:
"'And so have yoHr
81 must have flown up the steps. I |
rushed without ceremony to the Cap
tain's room, and looked in a small mirror
that hung there. That was enough.
The hollow. vacant stare that I had seen
in many of the poor Swedes was now in
my own. At the most, I had two hours
and half to live. ] walked to the deck.
The men all started as I met them. l
sat down by she vessels side, and looked
into the water that L felt soon must be
my grave. 1 am not sure, but believe
| was on the point of springing over to
escape the agony of the death that /
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