Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1885-12-16

The second engineer of the Oconto,
Frank j. Teiper, gave the Detroit
Free Press the following account of
the disaster to the Oconto:
1--WE left Oscoda Friday afternoon with stiff
northeast wind blowing, and intending to make
freshe cif up considerably and snow began to
fall Soon a regular northeastern was upon u.s.
snow and all. and Captain McGregor changed
his course, making for Tawas The storm kept
growing, both as 10 wind and snow, and finally
the captain felt IL would be unsafe to make
Tawas. Accordingly we put about and went
out into the bay again. Soon after this. or
about $3.50 Friday evening, heavy seas began to
strike us and we found we we're In for II sure.
Our starboard bulwarks were stove In, all the
upper ratings, two OF the life boats, and all the
light freight on the hurricane deck were wash
ed away the horses were being thrown about,
the cabin furniture went dancing In every di-
rection, in fact we were In living gale o. wind
with binding snow storm The snow didn't
tally across the decks and you couldn't see any
thing. 1t was simply terrible
1.-THE sea would wash over our decks at every
swell and Chief Engineer Joshua Dimes and my
self were In the engine room. The sea was so
great that while our shut on and turn on OF
the engine as each sea caught or left the wheel
VIC could keep the boat going, we couldn't give
"As we Rounded about and worked around
light was sighted It afterward proved to be
Charity Island light, and at once everybody
took II for the Tawas light You see, the fact OF
the matter was, we were lost. The snow storm
had lost us and II is not strange either, for II
never let up In density or force n single instant
from about o'clock In the evening until nearly
2 o'clock Saturday morning What made us
feel sure that II was the Tawas flash light was a
very apparent shutting of and development al
ternately Of the light.
when we made q landing ut Charity Island
the lighthouse keeper explained that the night
before--when we saw the light-he had re-
NAMED on duty until o'clock in the morning
sweeping the snow of from the lantern glass as
fast as II accumulated. That's what caused the
flashing.
cit was about II O'Clock Friday night a. near
rs could guess, when we saw the light, and
the experience was something trying. / can tell
you. You see we had only one lfe-boat left.
and that was the metallic one and the smallest
one, and even with that no crew could have
lived two minutes In that sea with an open
boat. As yet the boat had behaved admirably.
She seemed stanch, and the machinery, In spite
of terrible strains put upon II by the lifting OF
the wheel out OF the water answered every call
upon IL. True, the boat made some water, but
none Of the oakum had come out; there were
no leaks, tho water all coming In through the
matches. At one time we had five inches OF
water over the bottom Of the fre-hoc. Mr..
Van Slyke, steward Loary Tom Croker and
myself about then ended the work Of stopping
up all the checks aud battening the matches
with blankets and hay, so that we soon stopped
taking on water, although with every sen the
water swept clean over us. You cah get an
idea OF the storm when tell you that the doom
to Is 2 pretty high boat up for'ard and once-I
didn't look second time because didn't want