Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1893-09-08
ADVENTURES OF A STEAMER
Record of the Curious Happenings in
the History of the Guyondotte

pie iAlSlof! OF the GuNandotte
Inc steamship Guyandotte. which
inquired in the tragedy of the Cicoro-
l1arrlSon case and the mysterious
MIS-. Oliver, or Mrs. Beaton, the adj
VeltllreSS. has figured in Il number of
queer episodes, which the New York
World has collected and published
ehe mas been sunk ut her dock. been
blown up with dynamite and had her
nose thrust i'll among the vitals of
olher crafts, Yet in I'LL these adventures
she has come off sound in limb ana
body.
The most curious and altogether the
most absurd of the Guyandotte's MANY
adventures, WAS that which resulted
III hef sinking ut her own dock here
III New York. This occurred in 1884.
and one Lotland WAS the hero of that
exploit. Lotland'S nautical experience
terminated then and there, and he has
since been farming down in MARYLAND
lie was employed III the engine room
OF the ship, and was told to make some
repairs to the pump valve Instead OF
DONG that he went down to the engine
room and calmly unScrewed the numcr-
Gus nuts which hold in place the sea
valve to the circulating pump This
valve is two and Il half inches in dia-
meter and opens directly into the
water at distance of several feet be
low the water line. 1t was Il tedious
and tiresomc little job to open this
.l1 Iva
thrown III the way of its being opened
Il number of minor ubSticalcs in over
coming which Il man would have plenty
of time to reflect and lind out if he
were quite sure that he really wanted
the valve open, inaSmuch as opening
it, except under the proper conditions,
meant the sinking of the ship.
LOtiand, however, was Il patient and
Il persevering man, and he labored
chcerfully ut his task, and when he
brought it to Il triumphant conclusion
Il = II inch column of water darted into
the engine room with such vicious fury
that Lofland and his surprised assist
ants barely had time to fly for their
lives to the deck. 1t was about 10
o'clock in the morning when Iotland
achieved this exploit, and in spite of
the frantic efforts Of all the people
who could be put at the job the Guy
andotte slowly settled, until at ) o'clock
in the afternoon she was resting com
fortably Oh the mud at the bottom OF
the North river, with her masts and
Smokcstack sticking out of the water
to Indicate where she could be found
if wanted again. LOtland fled to his
old home in Maryland.
The Guyandotte rose from this north
river bath fresh and strong, for there.
was no damage done by Mr.. LofIanFs
attentions further than the ruin Of
rather a valuable cargo.
The Guyandotte was born to figure in
the newspaper, and within year she
tired of humdrum Obscurity. 1t was
during, or rather at the close of the
! 'lOngshOremen's strike in 1885 that she
found her opportunity. She started
from New York fer Norfolk one after
noon at the time when the feeling
growing out of that controversy was
at the bitterest. That same evening
she came limping back to her dock
with her stern Il complete wreck, but,
as is always the ease in the Guy
andotte's misadventures, with her
vitals uniniurcd. She had been blown
up in this instance by a dynamite bomb
concealed in one of the tOiletroOmS IL
short time before the ship sailed and
which exploded IN hour or so after
the Guyandotte had rounded Sandy
Hook and got her nose well pointed
down her southern course.
The lunatic author Of this particular
piece of villainy was never found. All
| that is known Of him is that he came
on board with a black travelling bag,
| which he carried in bis hand. The
| force of the explosion was terrific. Ii
reduced everything within a wide area
around to q condition Of Splnters, al
though fortunately only one person
was injured, and he Only slightly The
fact that only the li@htest woodwork
surrounded the place where the bomb
was left, thus offering no serious
obstacle to the fury of the blast, was
all that saved the Guyandotte from Is
serious wound. The bomb was power
| full enough, had it been placed in the
! engine-roOm or in any confined place,
| to have sent the ship to the bottom.
The Guyandotte had not been heard
| from for some time prior to the dlsap-
pearance from on broad her of old Mr.
Case.