The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-10-15
AF1oAr1Ne CHARMED HOUSE.
The Propeller Anegheny's Terrible
Voyage on the Great Lakes in 1850.
u O.

the lakes between here and Milwaukee
who do not remember the propeller AL
legheny, and to whom the story of the
frightful voyage she once made from Buff
falo to Milwaukee-literally voyage of
DEATHS not as familiar to-day as it was
when it was first told, years ago. This
story is being retOld now by many lake
mariner of the olden time, recalled as it is
by the story in the Sun the other day of
the Italian ship Reno and her voyage as
a pest ship between Genoa and Rio de ia
Metro.
The Allegheny was one of the best
propellers of her day She piled between
Buffalo and Milwaukee. One day in mid
summer, 1850, she left Buffalo harbor on
her regular trip. She was in command
of Capt. Morrison. The passenger list
included forty cabin and $50 steerage pas
sengers, the latter all Swedish immi-
grants These were going in a body to
Milwaukee, where several hundred of
their countrymen had preceded them
They were being forwarded by some col
onization society and were in charge of a
Swede named Jansen, an agent of the So
ciety. With the exception of Jansen, not
one OF these people could speak word of
English. Their collective wealth
amounted to S100.00 in cash, which was
keeping.
The Allegheny always stopped at
Beaver Island, which was held by King
Strang with his colony of Mormon and
Free Love followers. During the pro
peller's stop on this trip "a little girl
among the Storage passengers sickened
and died, her sickness coming suddenly,
and death resulting Two hours later
This little ones mother had died on the
Guya1Au
buried at sea. The child was buried on
King Strang's Island.
The propeller proceeded on her way,
but had got not more than an hours sail
| from Little Beaver Island when the
| father of the child died in the same man
| ner that she had. Before the Allegheny
arrived at South Manitou Island twenty
| five of the immigrants had died of the
same mysterious disease, which was
| spreading rapidly among them. The sud
| den appearance of this deadly plague
caused a panic on board. The cabin pas
sengers were placed in quarantine in
| their quarters, and the crew of the pro-
! peller were kept busy caring for the UNI
| fortunate Swedes. The propeller landed
at Manitou, and buried in one large trench
| the score and half who were then lying
| dead on board the vessel. From Manitou
there was no place where the steamer
could touch before arriving 1t Milwaukee,
| and she left that island literally float
ing, charnel house. Scarcely an hour
passed that an immigrant did not fall
| victim to the terrible plague, the origin of
which no one at that time knew. 1t at
| last became impossible to attend to the
wants of all the sufferers, although the
entire crew devoted every minute night
and day, to their service. There was no
installing those who were doomed to
death among the immigrants. The
victim became hOllow-eyed, and had a
| vacant, far-away look that was hard for
| another to meet. When that look APP
peared death was but an hour or two
| away. Death always came with most
intense agony. One could look about
among the stricken and count to a GER
| tainty those who would be dead within
| the next hour. The victims were
weighted and cast overheard as soon as
they were dead. Such a thing as shroud-
| ing or giving funeral service to corpse
was an impossibility. They were cast
into the water just as they died. One
poor Swede had seen his
wife and one child thus cast
overheard, He had four chill
dren left. The story is told how, the day
| afterward, he was seen sitting with his
| four children holding two on his lap,
| while the other two chung weeping to his
| knees. The tears ran down his own
cheeks as he pressed his sObbing, mother
| less little ones to his breast, and that in
| itself was a Misunderstanding sight. But it
| was not of It's utter sadness and desola-
| ton that the eyes of the crew turned
| from it. They saw in the fearful eyes
of the father that awful look of death
| The seal of doom was upon him. He was
sobbing among his little ones for his dead
| wife, with the hand of death at his own
| throat. Two hours later he was cast into
the lake. Next day two of his. four
children followed him. The other two
| were taken in charge by a kind-hearted
| immigrant and his wife, whose only child
| had died of the plague.
Up to the day before the propeller ar
rived at Milwaukee, none of the crew or
officers had been attacked by the disease,
but on that day the cook fell victim to
| it, and was cast into the lake as theothers
| had been. The clerk of the steamer, a
young man named Gardiner, about this
| time had found among the stores cask
of New England rum. The story is that
the engineer, a man named Curtis, soon
after the cooks death, was attacked by
| the disease, and that Gardiner, without
any idea of the result, had caused the
doomed man to drink glass of the rum.
| What the virtue Of the rum was as a
remedy for the disease no one ever knew,
but the engineer did not die. Gar diner
then dOsed the immigrants with it as they
fell sick, and in several cases the victims
were saved. Gardiner, at the time he
discovered the rum, discovered what he
had reason to believe was the origin OF
the deadly disease. 1t was barrel of
putrid fish among the immigrant stores,
of which poisonous food some of the poor
people had eaten early in the voyage.
The propeller reached Milwaukee in
the evening. There were then twelve
dead Swedes aboard. The captain sent
for physicians They decided that the
disease was some kind of fever usual in
ships where passengers were closely quar-
tered, but its exact nature they could not
determine The news of the terrible
state of affairs on board the Allegheny
was not slow in getting abroad in the
town. No one, not even the officers, were
allowed TO remain anywhere in the city,
and were driven back to the melancholy
surroundings on board. Next morning
the authorities ordered the propeller TO
move away from the dock and out into
the lake. This was done.
A new element then appeared in the
unfortunate situation, and it, for a time
threatened serious trouble. The Swedes
living in and about Milwaukee were made
acquainted with the sad straits their fell
low countrymen were in on board the
Allegheny, and they marched TO the dock
in body 500 strong. They sent word to
Capt. Morrison that if he would run his