St. Paul daily globe., 1893-04-21
DROWNED IN 4 CRIB.
Fourteen Workmen Lose
Their Lives in the Lake
at Milwaukee.
T hey We're Engaged in Build
ing an Intake to the Wa
ter Works.
The Frail House Which Shell
tered Them Destroyed and
Washed Away.
Only One Han Survived the
Assaults OF the Huge
Waves.

Assaults Of the Huge
Waves.
MILWAUKEE, April 20. Fourteen
werkmen lost their lives today III the
fierce storm which lashed Lake Michi-
gan. They were employed in the con-
struetiOn Of the new waterworks in the
lake tunnel, being engaged in bricking
up a shaft in the cut 5000 feet from the
shore. The hurricane swept away
the frail structure which had been
built upon the top of the cut
to shelter the men, and dashed
them into the Seething lake. Through
the heroic efforts of the llfesaving crew
James Miller was saved. He is the only
one Of the fifteen workmen who escaped
with his life. lie is lying at the Emer-
gency hospital, too weak to tell his
his awful story. The work was in charge
OF Shailter X Schneiglon, Chicago coll
tractors. whose loss Will be about slO,
coo. Work upon the tunnel will be de-
Iayed several months. The list of the
drowned is as follows:
The Drowned.
John Mcbride. engineer Chicago.
Michael Dyer. fireman, Milwaukee.
Willi.m Fruesner. foreman, Chicago.
George Gregg, lock tender. Milwaukee.
James Murphy. miner Milwaukee.
SoSeph Pezol miner, Milwaukee.
Gustav LoukOyitch, miner, Milwaukee.
Peter Svener, miner Milwaukee
William Marion, miner, Chicago.
Charles johnson, miner Chicago.
John Healey. miner. Milwaukee.
Frank Brown, miner, Milwaukee.
John Donovan, miner, Chicago.
Edward Cambriau, colored, steward, Chi
cago.
A terrible sea has been raging since
Yesterday morning. Last night the
swell increased, and toward II o'clock
the sea became so furious that the shed
built on The crib began to tremble. 10
ward y o'clock the timbers supporting
the house gave way and the planks be
gan TO wash ashore. At 1 O'Clock this
morning the last rafter of the shed fell
from the top of the crib, leaving the
men at the mercy of the waves.
At 9 o'clock Capt. Peterson and the
life-Saying crew arrived at the water
works. The sea was running high.
Waves fifteen and twenty feet were
washing over the piers and the crib.
He said it was impossible to reach the
crib with his life boat. Ii a tug could be
obtained there might be some nope of
landing. The StaTke was secured and
The Dangerous Trip Begun.
The tug cleared the harbor, but was
Obliged to turn back, as she could not be
controlled in the raging sea. When the
news that the crib could not be reached
was announced at the water works,
great excitement prevailed. Relatives
of the missing men volunteered to at
tempt the trip ii the boat could be Sc
cured. There was no boat to be had.
however. An attempt to reach the crib
III a small boat would have resulted in
sure death for its occupants.
Al 9 o'clock about 500 people had as
sembled on the shore The scenes were
the most pathetic witnessed in this city
since the NeWhall house fire Wives
shore for the bodies of their loved ones.
No bodies were found, however. Shortly
after o'clock, the wife of Jack Nc
Bride, appeared. She was almost heart
broken and Ditifuliy gaZed out toward the
crib. Shortly afterward another woman,
supporting an aged man, slowly came
down the steps leading to the pumping
works. Both were weeping bitterly.
They were the wife and father of Mike
Dwyer. The aged man could be COM
fOrted. He insisted on staying on the
beach and watching for a sign of his
son. Mrs. Dwyer was taken to the office
in the water workS. Another pitiful
scene was a group of Polish women.
The husbands of twO.Of the women are
among the lost
Seen From the Shore.
At9 O'Clock the beach was crowded
with weeping women. Some were
wives, others sisters. Children were
moaning for their father. At 10 O'clock
every hope for the safety OF the men
had vanished, when suddenly figure
was seen creeping out Of the shalt.
Then came another. In a few moments
six men were on the crib clinging to the
engine. which is still intact. With
the aid of powerful field
glass the movements OF the men
were plainly discGrned. The men
must have suffered fearfully from
the cold, as their actions signified. They
huddled together closely and tried hard
to warm themselves. They remained
On the crib about fifteen minutes, when
one by one they disappeared. The dis
appearance did not WOrTy the spectators,
who now thought that the men were all
safe. 1t was thought that the men on
the crib had gone back into the shaft,
where, it was supposed, their comrades
were in safe refuge. The news that the
men had been seen cheered the women,
who now had hopes for the safety Of
their husbands.
The sea became calmeT. and Capt.
Peterson, of The Iife-saying station. nOti-
fed the officers at the pumping station
that another attempt 10 reach the crib
would be made. Az II O'Clock the tug
Welcome, towing crew III iite-bOat,
steamed out of the harbOr and headed to
the nOrthward. AT l1:43
Tbe Crib Was Reached
and Inger Olsen. one CT the surf men,
landed. All eyes were now turned sea-
ward. Olsen worked about for fifteen
minutes and then dove into the wafer.
Everybody un shore knew what the
mans actions meant. There was no
longer any doubt that the men were
lost, and that some of them had died
while the helpless spectators on shore
were looking on. When Olsen was
drawn back to the boat it was seen that
the helpless form of a man was strapped
10 his pack. II was James Miller, the
only survivor. WHO was half-dead from
cold and exposure. The tug ard The
life boat returned to the h rbor with
difficulty. and Miller was taken to tie
hospital.
jle house on the crib was a ll.msy
ysI5I'SS specific &C