Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-09-02
MERCILESS WAVES,
They Engulf a Ship and Her
Human Freight.
TWENTY-sBvEN MEET THEIR DOOM

A Happy Pleasure Party, Including Hus-
bard. wife, Three Children and Lady
Guest, Among the Lost-A Steel Steam-
ship Breaks I'm Half-The Wrecked
People Take to the Eoats Which
swamp in Sight of Land-Only One
Saved-Two schooners with Fourteen
Men Missing.
SAULT STE MARIE, Mich, Sept. 2.-The
steel steam barge Western Reserve
cleared from here Tuesday noon light for
Two Harbors with crew of twenty-five
and jolly party of passengers, consisting
of Captain p. Minch, owner of the boat,
his wife, three children and his wife's
sister. When she passed Iroquois the
wind came up strong from the west, and
she commenced To pound. This continued
getting worse. When on the course be-
tween Whitefish and keewenaw, without
moments warming at 8 O'Clock Tuesday
night, she split in two about midships
and sank in ten minutes. The crew
managed to get both yawls down, and
nineteen persons got into the wooden
boat, including Captain Minch, his wife,
three children and wife's sister.
Only One Man Reached Shore.
The wind then increased to furious
northwest gale, and the yawl was tossed
around by the heavy sea with it's living
cargo until Z o'clock Wednesday morning,
when one mile from shore. ten mile below
Grand Marais, near life saving station
number twelve, she capszed and all hands
made most desperate attempt to reach
the shore, but il was of no avail, as Dry
one man succeeded, he being Harry Stew
art. the wheelman, whose residence is in
a lsrnn IC hnr, n fhnr
Mipch and others of the crew lost their
lives in attempting to save the women
and children.
The Harvest of Death.
Following il list of the lost: Peter
Minch, owner of the boat: Mrs. Peter
Minch; Charles Minch; Florence Miucn;
- Minch; Mrs. Mary Engleberry, Yer
million, o.; Albert Mayer, Vermillion, o.,
captain of boat; William II. Seaman,
Cleveland, chief engineer; Charles Wills,
Saginaw, second engineer; Fred Eggles-
ton, Brooklyn. y. Y. first mate; Charles
Tebeau, SAND Beach, Mich, second matt;
Carl Mayer, Nermiliion. o., wheelman;
Bert Smith, Ashtabula, o., steward; Ray
Applebee, stewards assistant; Schuyler
Steward, Algonac. Mich, and Daniel
Forbes, Alsonac, Mich. watchmen; 5. L.
Horace, Holden Burroughs, and John
Satchen, firemen; Martin Closson, Huron,
o., and Robert Simpson, greasers; Daniel
O'Connell, X. Longfeld, Daniel Stickney,
John Wilson, NJ. Coffee, and Albert
Davenport, deckhands.
Can't Account for the Disaster.
Harry Stewart, the only survivor, reach
ed here last night on the fish tug 4. NJ. B.
A. and gave the following particulars: Il
have seen great deal more severe storms
on Lake Superior and cannot account for
the breaking in two of our boat. Its ma
chinery was alright: also its boiler. There
We're twenty-seven people on the boat all
told, twenty-one of a crew and six passen
gers; when the boat capsized l was thrown
ont forward and started for the shore and
could not see any of the struggle for life
going on around me; the boats machinery
was working when it went down. Mir.
Minch and his family were all aft and
dressed when got there.
legged for a Life Jacket.
"There We're no words said by anyone;
all they were thinking about was saving
their lives. 1t was a most pitiable sight
before we took to the yawls to see Mr.
Minch's daughter begging for a life jack
ct"
A Loss of 100000.
The lost steamer was one of the finest
specimens of marine architecture afioat on
the lakes. She was modern in her equip
ment from stern to stern. She was built
by the Globe Iron works in 1890 and that
winter went to Chicago and loaded grain
there. She was valued ut 500 600