Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1893-04-27
FOURTEEN LIVES LOST.

terrible Calamity, tho Result Of the
Fierce Storm Over the Lake Region at
1lilwaukee-Of Fifteen Men Employed
ut the Water Works Crib. Thousand
Feet from Shore, Only Ono Escaped
when the StormfSwept tho Crib Away
List OF the Lost.
MILWAUKEE. Wis, April 21.-Four.
teen workmen lost their lives in the
fierce storm which dashed Lake Michi-
gan yesterday. They were employed
in the construction of the new water
works intake tunnel, being engaged
in briclking up a shaft, a thousand 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 life-saving crew James
Miller was saved. He is the only one
Of the fifteen workmen who escaped
with his life. He is lying at the Emer-
gency hospital, too weak to tell his aw-
full story.
The work was in charge of Schailer
& Schneiglon, Chicago contractors,
whose loss will be about $4,000.
Work on the tunnel will be delayed for
several months
A terrible sea has been raging since
Wednesday morning. As night APP
preached the swell increased, and to
ward IL o'clock the,seaIbecome SO furious
that the shed built on the crib began to
tremble. Toward IL o'clock the tim
bers supporting the house gave way
and the planks began to wash ashore.
At o'clock yesterday morning the last
rafter of the shed fell from the top of
the crib, leaving the men at the mercy
of the waves
At o'clock Capt. Peterson and the
life-saving crew arrived at the wa
terworks. The sea was running high,
waves fifteen and twenty feet high
were washing over the piers and the
crib. He said it was impossible to
reach the crib with his lifeboat If
tug could be obtained there might be
some hope of landing. The Starke 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 then
running.
When the news came that the crib
could not be reached great excitement
prevailed. Relatives of the missing
men volunteered to attempt the trip if
a boat could be secured. There was no
to reach the crib in q small boat would
have resulted in sure death for its oc-
cupants.
At Q o'clock about 500 people had as
sembled on the shore. The scenes
were the most pathetic witnessed in
this city since the Newall house fire.
Wives and children of the victims pa
troled the shore for the bodies of their
loved ones. No bodies were, however,
washed up.
At $3.50 the beach was crowded with
weeping women. Some were wives,
some were sisters. Children were
mourning for their fathers, wives for
their husband.
At 10 o'clock every hope for the safety
of the men had vanished, when sud-
denly figure was seen creeping out OF
the shaft 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 a powerful
field glass the movements of the men
were plainly discerned. 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 disap-
pearance did not worry the spectators,
who now thought that the men were
all safe. It was thought that the men
on the crib had gone back into the
shaft, where it was supposed their COM
rades were in safe refuge.
The news that the men had been
seen cheered the women, who now had
hopes of the safety of their husbands
The sea became calmer. and Capt.
Peterson of the life-saving station no
titled the officers at the pumping sta
ton that another attempt to reach the
crib would be made.
All IL o'clock the tug Welcome tow
ing q lifeboat steamed out of the har-
Dor and headed to the northward. At
HAS the crib was reached and Inger
Olsen, one of the surfmen, landed. All
eyes were now turned seward. Olsen
worked about for fifteen minutes and
then dove into the water. Everybody
on shore knew what the mans actions
meant. There was no longer amy 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 seepsthat the helpless form
of man was strapped to his back II
was James Miller, the only survivor,
who was half dead from cold and ex-
posture. The tug and the lifeboat re-
turned to the harbor with difficulty,
and Miller was taken to the emergency
hospital.
Following is the list of the dead:
Ames Mcbride, engineer, Chicago
Michael Dwyer. fireman, Milwaukee.
William Pruesener, fireman, Chicago.
Geo. Gregg, locls-tender, Milwaukee.
James Murphy, miner, Milwaukee.
Joseph Pezol, miner, Milwaukee.
Gustav. Likowvitz, miner, Milwau-
kee.
Peter Scenes. miner, Milwaukee
William Marion, miner, Chicago.
Charles johnson, miner, Chicago.
John Healy, miner, Milwaukee.
Frank Brown, miner, Milwaukee,.
John Donovan, miner, Chicago
Edward Cambrian (colored), steward,
Chicago.
The house on the crib was fi;msy
affair. constructed on the plan of the
ordinary house on shore. It was
built for the purpose of providing
sleeping quarters for the men. 1t was
argued by the contractors that in con-
structing the tunnel from the lake end
there would be dayS at a time in the