Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1892-10-09
END OF A SAD STORY.
TIE Last OF the Victims o. the Western
Reserve Wreck Buried.

BY the bur Al OF four OF the victims
Of the Western Reserve tragedy at
Cleveland dunng the past week, the
awful wreck on Lake Superior of
August 81 has been brought - mind.
Ga tuesday morning the stes er
WAwatam brought tas bodies OF Mrs.
Mach, Charles Minch, Florence Minch
and Albert Myers 10 Cleveland. The
latter vas captain of the ill-staTfed
vessel; tue Others The family CT the
owner, L. u. Minch. That same after
noon there vas simple triple funersl.
and all that Was mortal OF the pleasure
seekers Was buried a. Woodland. The
lnterment If Captain Myers remains
took place the following day.
When the remains of Capt Il. q Mlnch
were taken 10 Cleveland, the Vessel
Owners association TOOK charge OF the
funeral arrangements, determining To
do all honor To the dead owner. Yes
sci owners from all lake ports FASTENED
10 Cleveland that tneir presence At the
burial OF Captain Minch might show
how ne was nonored and esteemed N
life. Rarely has OHIO seen such q
funeral cOrtage. The ceremony and
display WAS the final tribute 10 q sue
cessful, honorable life.
Could two funerals have been more
widely different
hesteamer Wawatam which brought
the four bodies To Cleveland was built
by the same company which construct
ed the Western Reserve-the latter
boat being considered tho finest steel
steamer atoat on the lakes, ye. she
broke IN two ike a paper shell. Could
the irony of fate be more pronounced!
Seldom has such An appalling disas-
ter been attended by such circumstan-
ces. The Western Reserve was consid-
cred to be TO the lakes what the City Of
Paris is To salt water shlppIng-yet
twenty-seven souls were lost.
The millionaire owner had long
thought of trip on the lakes as q
means If escaping from business cares
Tor q few days. He would take his
wife and youngest children with him.
An old sailor himself, naturally he
thought of what M ght happen, and so
of his fleet of fourteen vessels he chose
the one ne considered the staunchest.
His opinion was that of every vessel
owner On the lakes-the Western Re-
serve was the safest boat on the inland
seas.
Asguests he invited his wife's sister,
Mrs. Mary Engleory, and her daughter
Bertha. 1t was CAV family party and
pleasure stalked hand IN hand with
her grim antithesis. Those who an
swered the waving handkerchiefs and
cheers of the happy party as the vessel
passed through come narrow waterway
failed to see the shadow Of the grim
destroyer. Never did prouder chip
or merrier party pass more gaily the
locks of the SAUL canal on to death.
A heavy gale was blowing from the
northwest when the steamer passed out
of Whltetish bay. Fear never entered
the mind of anyone on board; it would
take more than an ordinary blow 10
cripple the new craft and 30 the captain
ordered her to continue her course on
the big lake. Point Iriquois had been
left behind and the little party in the
cabin marked with unesslness that
the steamer was laboring more
heavily each hour. At 8 o'cl OK
at night, sixty miles beyond White
fish Bay the end came. A sharp
sudden crash as the steel malnmasl
went by the board was the first sound
OF warning above the roar of the storm.
An instant later the whipping of bolts
tearing through plates OF steel and the
steamer. supposed to be the staunchest
boat on the lakes. broke in two and
went to the bottom in ten minutes.
There were but two boats on the ves-
sel-what need of boats on steamer
that could weather any gale, what IN
deed? The one iron, the other
wood. The metall C boat capsized
soon after launching. But two of it:
occupants were saved; that made
nInteen people in the yawl. Bailing
and rowing, hoping against hope the
Survivors made for the shore. Little
Charlie MInch was swept overheard
and vet the fight continued. Getting
into the breakers outside the bars OF
Grand Marais, within q few hundred
yards Of the snore aud safety, the
yawl capsized. There were u few
| screams from the women and
shouts from the men-and then the
roar of the storm again. There was
but one survivor, Harry Stewart, who
owed his life to cork jacket and power
of endurance.
For weeks the search for the bodies
has been kept up, and the relatives oil
the victims of the most horrible lake
disaster since the loss of the Aipens
appreciate Shakespeare "Full faith
oms five thy father lies" Slowly the
waters gave no it's dead until all the
bodies save that OF little Bertha Engle
bry have been recovered.