The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-11-08
BOTH VESSELS WENT DOWN.
TWO FREIGHT STEAMERS COLLIDE IN
roo ON LAKE, HURoN.

The Boat In Which Twenty.tour Sailors
Took RefuGo was Capsis-d and Every
MAJ was Drowned-Auother Boz. Take,
Twenty-tbree shipwrecked Men safely "a
Lpnd-Eie7en OF the Bodies, Wearing Lifs
Presorvers. Found Floating in the Lake
PoRr HoPE. Mich. Nov. THE steamer
Albany Of tho Western Transit Company and
the steamer Philadelphia OF the Anchor line
colllded on Lake Huron of Point aux Baraues
at 2 o'clock this m orninR In dense fog. The
Albany was taken in tow by the Philadelphia,
but sank in q half hour. her crew going on
board the Anchor line steamer. 1t was not
long before tho Philadelphia went down also
in 200 feet Of water.
The crews took to two lifeboats Ono had
twenty-three persons on board. and reached
the shore in safety The other boat contained
twenty-four men. 1t was capsized. and all on
board were lost The dead are:
Q. n Muilhsad. James Moiloy. Thomas Pearce. job
Price, 9. NJ. Mutre. William sturrah. Frank kirtchen,
Albert Holm all from the Albany.
q n. Leegett, Jerry Moran. J. Hunt. A. Hanna W.
Gibbs. Linguist. G. Rowen, +. Renshaw C. Williams
a Coffee. John Point. C. Labeilo George Reidmaster
George Wise. A. Connors and one unknown man OF the
Philadelphia.
The aggregate money loss is over $500. 600
The Albany was bound from Chicago to Buff
falo. and tho Philadelphia from Erie to Du-
luth. Both we're running slowly on account OF
the dense fog that was hanging over the
water. Fog signals were blown regularly by
both steamers as thev felt their way through
tho fog banks. Further than this. both cap
tsins declined to- night to make any statement
1t is expected that the inquest now being
held at East Tswas where some OF the bodies
we're taken. will bring out the circumstances
hmm ediately preceding the crash. When the
boats came together the sharp iron prov Of
the Philadelphia struck the Albany forward Of
the second gangway or about one-third the
way back from the bow. The Philadelphia cut
In nearly five feet. and then hung there. The
lake was nearly quiet. only slight swell from
the recent gale running.
Capt. Angus Mcdonald realized that his ship
had received q mortal blow. and requested
Capt. A. E HUFF to have the Phadeph take
the Albany in tow. with the hope Of Bleaching
tho steamer or at least reaching shallow
water. where the wreck might be raised. This
was DONE and the Philadelphia started for the
shore. which was ten miles distant
Water poured 30 fast through the break In
tho Albany's steel plates that after some ten
minutes Capt. Mcdonald ordered his mon to
ABANDON tne snip. anu tney wore Ill tbkeu
safely on board the Philadelphia. Up to that
time Capt. Mcdonald supposed that the Phla-
delphia was not seriously damaged. as she
had struck his steamer head on. His crew
was transferred without loss Of life. and the
PHILADELPHIA continued to drag the sinking
Albany shoreward.
Hall an hour after the collision the Albany
reeed and then went to the bottom bow first.
BY this time the PHILADELPHIA was seen to be
In the greatest peril and the two lifeboats
were launched. The crews were evenly divid-
Cd between them. the two Captains going In
one with most OF the officers, while most OF the
common seamen went in the other.
Tho two boats pulled away from the sinking
steamer q few minutes before she followed the
Albany to the bottom. The effort was made to
keep the boats in company. but the fog was so
dense that they were soon parted. The two
Captains and the officers reached shore at
o'clock this morning. They were confident
that the other boat was safe. as they had no
trouble themselves, AS the hours went by
and the second boat did not appear. the Cap
tains called on the Point aux Baroues life
saving crew to 60 in search OF it The fog
had by this time lifted.
After pushing out into the lake for several
miles the life savers found tho missing boat
bottom up. Near by they found eleven bodies.
all wearing life preservers marked steamer
Philadelphia The bodies were put in the
steamer City Of Concord. bound for Tawas.
No survivors could be found. and 1t is sup
posed that the rem aiming thirteen In the over
turned boat did not wear life preservers and
sank imm edately after it capsized
Capt. Huff and the mate Of the Albany left
here at once for Tawas in order to Identify the
dead and send their bodies home. Nearly all
Of the lost were shipped from Buffalo.
MI - @-I a
Tawas this afternoon with eleven bodies from
WAS summoned and began an inquest to-
night. One OF the bodies had a watch tag
marked &C. III. Leggett. Buffalo" attached to
o. silver watch which had stopped at 4:45
o'clock. The stopped watch indicated that
tho lifeboat could not have carried its passen-
gers much more than an hour before It was
0apsized.
The Albany passed the Straits Of Mackinaw
ct 1918 A. NJ. Monday. and from tho time It
took her to reach Point aux Barques. It 10 said
that she was running at much less than her
usual speed through the fog. Tho Philadel-
phis passed Port Huron into Lake Huron at
$3.50 o'clock on Monday evening. She had
reached Point aux BarQues In q seven hours
run. and. as she was a slow boat. she must
have been running at nearly full speed during
most Of that distance.
The rules OF navigation are very stringent In
regard to boats running at full speed through
fogs. but this Is a question that the United
States steamboat inspectors will examine
more closely than the local Coroner will do
The Albany was built In Detroit 10 1884. was
worth 100000. and is partially insured. The
Philadelphia was built by David Bell at Buff
falo In 1867. and was valued at $50. 900. The
Albany had on board 300 barrels Of flour. H.
hra haI ofc IN Oll hu ali NJ m