Milford chronicle., 1885-11-20

A fearful disaster occurred on Lake bu-
perior. OF Port lArthur, Saturday night ne
ma rnifcent ironclad steamer Agomal OF tnS
Canada Pacific Railroad, was wrecked anu
many lives lost. No., -. - 4ho
The first that was positively knoHh u 'nS
disaster was when the stermer Atha0asca' q
the safne line. arrived at Port Arthur, with the
crew Of the Algoma Consisting OF tnirteehl
and two rasseDgers who were the only ones
saved The Athabasca, which lett owen
Sound two days after the Algoma, came upon
the wreck at Isle ROyale and found the crew
and two passengers IN peIlsillIlh IasLeJ
on the island. The wreck had been easheti
bv the maddened waves against the rocks anu
finally beaten against the shore OF the islahu
The crew and two passengers saved themselves
hv taking to the hfebOat and battlng VIII tle e
waves until shore was reached. Inc Doa'
was washed over several times Dy ihe Naes5,
lint ri .hted again, while the men clung win
the despair Of death to the sides OF the Doatl
and succeeded in reaching land almost ueau
from exposure and exhaustion. III,
Tbe s.orm continued to rage furiously an
night long, The rescued renamed on to .ile
beach watching the wreck beat against me lne
roek-hound island and seeing dead Dolies
dashed IN fbe surf against the shore. Inc
Athabasca came along about nooni anu
os the channel is narrow, could hot
avoid seeing the wreck and the distress 9l
those on the island. boat was sent ashoIe
and brought the rescued to the AtnaDasca y,
Which nj All for Port arthur, where It arrived
ebo,t seven o'clock the same evening. There
Il intense excitement in the city, as many haa
friends on board. A list Of cabin passen can
1 10 bad nj Toronto or Sault Ste. Marie, Wnere
manifest of passengers is given TO customs
there .,.,-. ,,,,;I+ and
spendidlyequpped Oiyde-Dus t,,,oe hegSl heinz
! 7s0. length 270 feet breadth 5o ieet; @ @ene
vas conplete in every detail, the furnishing
/ I,eine iuIurious. equal to the finest ocean
/ steamers. She cost S450,OOO and Is lhsuIeu lo'
/ $780, 600. ss r,,,,rsloy
afternoon with thirty-eight passengers, pilh
cinsllv Canadians, but there were some lew
Amerieans. An went well until the storm
| strnck tbe Inflated vessel. The snow ana hal
end sleet were binding The speed et the
boat WAS reduced, but as the storm continued
to rage it was impossible TO determine aDSol-
| ,,tely what course the boat was pursuing ,
Sy,,lioTiv a s-reat crash WAS heard. and th'
vessol reboupded and quivered like an aspei
leaf. GOOD God T. said the captain slle lu-,
! strncl I Our doom has come y Ten secohu
later ali was the widest confusion and aiarnl
Those who were on deck Ioared their a.'lli a.lli
while the shIieks OF the milder sex were a .gILl
bic to listen to- Crash crash anu iii;,,, .i n
vessel uounded the rocks. Ihe crachllns u
tbe timbers and the swaying OF the Yesse
,Torned All that death in q terrible torm wa
,,,,oT tben The relentless wind seemed Z
scream its satisfaction, while the sno" an
sleet drove against the half clad passeh geIs.
sIts no use to describe the seehe, san
ona informant: HnOthing worse ever occur .
on earth In their madness, when the MaVt
we're washing the deck, number threw tneIl
seIves into the foaming pillows. Others, Whel
. er,aat wave ',yOuld pass off the deck, WHO
was swaying from side to SIDE, were snot
into the sea like corks. A few huns . On
,o,,ee or 10 the masts, but the majority seenle
tOPaLondon Themselves in the wild alarm an
desrair Even the crew seemed pOWeiless, !
stricken we're they with the awfulu sddennes
and stuDendous character OF the disaster.
Meanwbile the boat rapidly went 10 pee g,
tbrourh being dashed against the rocks, -
crew. all of whom except the "sti.Sss'
had clung to the rigging, managed
sli0bt lull in the storm TO place themselves
1 Ifeboat and cut the fastenings, but IN an y
s+anf wave sWept them from the III att
Tvrecl, Amid the awful roars OF the dy yli
"a tbe terrible dashing Of the waves the DO
was borne onward fast II mlght
mentioned that two OF the pAssenfels fs. =, :,
managed to place themselves W, MI ~ oIo N'-'
fore ii was cut away from the WrecA'
Every effort that had been made to launc
the boats during the early confusion and no
rnr had failed Meanwhile the lfeDoat az
its occupants had a terrible experience on u
open storm tossed lake.
An who could bound themselves to the poa
while the remainder held on "hke grl
= death" to the sides, expecting every momel
} to meet death either by drowning or from e
posure and cold, the latter being lntehs
! Once the boat was washed over DE tne Wsv sN
q and one Of the crew swept away but the ira
craft righted itself and was swept on IN
d comparative darkness. -.,, !
: After half an hours experience OF TINS q q
j. scription the boat suddenly struck some roci
v The occupants feared that all was over WI
them. as the craft capsized, but to their 81
a prise when thrown out the water was only
q few feet deep and 10 their joy they discover
Il that they were on land.
After remaining there an hour or more
posed to the elements, the storm aoated y
u the skv cleared. It was then discovered II
=, thew were on Isle Royal and that the yes
4 had been wrecked about mile from shore,
st Inc great boulders that exist near the cham
1t II was about ten o'clock in the morning., a
the half-dead crew remained there until
n in Tie afternoon, when the Athabasca ca
v along and picked them up. They We
is then taken to Port Arthur.