The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-05-19
lake MICHIGAN IN FURY.
Twelve or Fifteen Lives Probably Lost
OF Chicago.

sohooners Battling With the Waves
in a Desperate Effort to Keep Ahoat.
The Life Savers at Work All Along
the Shore.
Chicago, May 1s.-Lake Michigan has
not been lashed and churned for months
as she was to-day by the fierce wind thai
has been sweeping down from the north
for the past thirty-six hours. Late to-
night. it is believed that twelve or fifteen
lives have been lost along the shore off
this city and its suburbs. The only other
mint reporting loss of life is Mil
waukee, where six of the schooner
Cummings crew were drowned this after
moon before they could be rescued by the
Hfe-savings crew. Half dozen schooners
and smaller craft have foundered off this
CITY during the day; a score or more are
dismantled and stove in, making an
almost hopeless fight against the gale and
the huge waves that every few minutes
sweep over them, endangering the lives
of those who are still on board. 1t has
been a day of heroic effort and great
suffering for the life-s saving crews scat
tered along the shore.
BATTLING WITH THE WAVES.
At least thirty vessels are anchored
outside the harbor waiting for the storm
10 subside All are more or less dam
aged and the signals of distress that
have appeared among them from time to
time during the day have kept the life
savers busy. Twenty-Five or thirty men
have been brought in, all exhausted and
suffering intensely from the expos
ura and cold. In several cases help
arrived too late, and corpse was
found among the half-conscious
sailors who, benumbed by the cold and
unable TO protect themselves, were al
most drowned by the furious waves. All
night the storm has not abated and
every hour increases the peril of those on
board the numerous vessels outside the
harbor. pulling at their anchors and in
imminent danger of being brought into
collision with each other or of being
pounded to pieces on the beach.
SCENES OF HORROR.
Scenes Of horror that chilled the blood
of thousands Of spectators were enacted
in the harbor for two miles below the Hi
nois Central depot in the early evening
As the storm increased in violence during
the afternoon, the waves grew mountain
high, dashing over the breakwater,
deluging the tracks and enveloping the
passing trains with torrents of spray.
out in the harbor dozen three-mast
schOOners, heavily laden with lumber
from Michigan, were riding at anchor. A
few minutes after O'Clock, three of the
number hoisted signals of distress and
citizens on shore teleDhoned to the
police and fire departments, as we'll as to
the life saving station at jackson Park,
and few minutes later, the three-master,
Evening Star, of this city, drew
her chains and came for the
shore like a rocket. She struck the
heavy piling in the breakwater, and
her tlmbers crashed in as though they
we're eggshells. As the vessel struck the
SIN sailors aboard jumped for their lives.
Five landed on pile of scrap iron, go
ing down on all fours, but the sixth,
user missed land by a couple of feet
and went down into the waves. The
cheers that had broken from thousands
OF spectators turned into a groan as he
disappeared. The next moment a success
sion Of monster waves had cleaned the
ueck OF thousands of pine planks which
covered the surface of the water and
made any attempt to rescue the unfortu-
nate men impossible.
ANOTHER SCHOONER FOLLOWS.
There was shout from the throng of
eSclted onlOokers and it was seen that
another three-master had parted her
ropes and was coming ashore This was
t1e JACK Thompson, also lumber laden.
one followed the path of the
Star and came helm on the previous
unfortunate The shock precipitated
mto the water the heavy timber on the
Slar3oard side, and upon which the FIVE
MeLi s oerS OF the crew were standing. Four
VI VI Ihem clUng to "a big plank, to which
Vhel heId on like grim death, meanwhile
ETeiIlng at the top of their voices for help.
me NTH man could not be seen for a
moment, but was finally discovered
hanging by one hand to spar
a couple of hundred yards north. BY
IuIs time the life boat had arrived from
jackson Park, but it was evident that
any attempt to launch it would only re-
SuIU sGIU IN It's being crushed to pieces, and
sue crew turned their attention to the
rescue OF the men in the water.
LIFE LINE LANDED.
=, several unsuccessful efforts to cast
.ts INES were made, but finally rocket was
uuroWh across the raft and was caught by
Vhe OF the sailors. The throng held its
tSIeath as the rope was slowly drawn in,
tI tIr IL seemed that every wave would wash
ile unfortunates back into the water /;
Sv Suv "hen the land was reached and the
"ouuinDed men were helped ashore, the
ttLEeeuefs were rewarded by a roar like
'Hy rGFer beration of artillery.
, IA tue meantime the other member of
sTt.te sIe crew had been washed into a pier
ICING twenty second street, where he
managed l,,lid to cling to the piling, aud was
pIiieu up by some of the spectators.
Nto,uorUy after o'clock the two-master
~. phE lumber laden, came ashore within
dr% d% Yards of the Thompson. She was
H. Ittieu SO close to land that the crew had
We We olf1culty in jumping ashore. The
GI'eS swept the decks of all three YES
So. So!s clean, and within an hour the beach
~ M VWo miles was strewn with lumber.
broo bio evening Star and the Thompson are
''eahlng up tonight.
ANOTHER SCHOONER FOLLOWS.
4, shortly after O'Clock another big
srT,lJLe-naster, which had been riding at
sn5 ana 'lor about mile out, parted her chains
~ T-,,,ol g,,ollnnenced to come for the shore at
q beuIy-nlnth street. BY this time fully
ngguured thousand men and children
r'Su ana une lake front for distance of a mile,
w. Uju lens OF thousands more occupied the
dIiauows and roofs of the private resi-
via...s ,,ees and Hat buildings that command a
NV NV OIL the lake. A babel of voices
an5 r'5'si 5I ieu with the shrieking of the wind
cs,-,tle s'1 'ue roar of the waves as the schooner
II nearer and nearer the shore.
selr ,'.Aness was coming on, but it was
ri,.-. Vuat eight men were clinging to the
wss.ug For moment, when the vessel
SEQ So rev hundred yards from shore, it