Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1885-03-24
A STEAMER SUNK.
The Michigan Goes Down In Lake
80 Michigan. g.
GROUND AND MASHED BY IcEBERGs.
A FruitIess Search After the Lost
Steamer Oneida Results
Disastrously.
GRAVE FEARS FOR THE ONEIDA,

GRAND HAVEN, Mich, March 23.-At
late hour this afternoon Captain PEindvill,
Of the Grand Trunk propeller Michigan,
reached here and reports the loss Of his ves-
sci on Thursday. The steamer sank, but
all the crew we're taken off BY the tug Arctic
which was near at the time The Michigan
has been locked in the ice for nearly four
weeks. The Captain reached shore from
the Arctic on the ice. The Michigan was
built in 1882 and was valued at Sl45, 900.
The steamer Michigan left here February
., in search of the propeller Oneida, which
was imprisoned in the ice, and short of pro-
visions. She was caught in the ice and has
been frozen in since. She sank about
eighteen to twenty miles off Holland at 4
o'clock Thursday afternoon last. Her
strong iron sides gave way under the
tremendouss pressure of the ice which
piled up around her to height from 25 to
35 feet and was nearly torn away or bent in
all conceivable shapes her port side allow
ing water to fill her compartments to an
extent that soon made it apparent to the
crew that her fate was sealed, steam pumps
being insufficient to cope with the increas.
ing volume of water However men
kept at work hoping to
keep the vessel afoat and with
the help of the tug Arctic, which was near
by, to save the the valuable propeller, but it
was of no avail. Gradually the body Of the
vessel disappeared between the huge ice.
bergs which lined her sides, crushing and
grinding, until at last the crew were COM
PEELED to save themselves and abandon the
vessel. A lifeboat was swung over the side,
and half a dozen half frozen individuals
rapidly pulled it some distance
from the sinking propeller while
the rest prepared to follow. Captain
Prindiville was the last to leave the boat.
They got about quarter OF mile from the
propeller when the top masts disappeared
in about four hundred feet Of water. The
trip to the tug Arctic, which lay about four
miles off, was attended by considerable suf-
fering from cold and danger Of getting un-
der the ice which was moving and continu-
ously piling up under their feet. However,
with the exception of slightly frozen ears,
the crew reached the tug at
night, where they we're cared for
Had it not been for the close proximity Of
the Arctic, not one Of the crew would have
reached shore alive, as all would have per-
ished from cold on the ice during the night
and not one would have been left to tell the
tale of the Michigsn's fate. Nothing Of the
crews personal prosperity was saved and all
went down with the propeller. The crew
consisted Of Captain Prindiville mate Jas.
McMann, engineer Philip Roth and ten
men.
Early this morning they left the Arctic
firmly packed in the ice. with no prospect
of getting free, and arrived at Holland this
/ afternoon and here this evening. With the
exception of being badly worn out from the
dangerous trip of fourteen miles over the
ice, causing sore feet, etc the entire crew
look well. The Michigan was built at
Wyandotte in 1882 for the Goodrich Trans
portation Company, Of Milwaukee, at a cost
of $l5O,OOO and had a tonnage of $50,
classed as propeller.
The Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee
railroad became her owners two years ago
and the Grand Trunk Line in 1885, Moth.
ing is known here of the Wisconsin's where,
abouts, and since the above disaster became
known grave fears for her safety are enter
tanned. The Michigan was loaded with
small cargo but both vessel and freight is
y,lieved to be fully insured.