The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1894-01-12
A TERRIBLE VOYAGE.
ALAKe PROPELLER eecAMEA FLOAT.
ING cHARNeL HOUSE.

Ave Persons-Died within n Few Hours
After Being Attacked--A Cool Reception
at Miiwaukee--A Trcachcrous Agent.
The Allegheny was one of the best pro
pellers of her day She piled between Buff
falo and Milwaukee. One day in nidsum-
mer, 1850, she left Buffalo harbor on her
regular trip She was in command of Cap
tain Morrison. The passenger list included
40 cabin and 100 stcerage passengers, the
latter all Swedish immigrants. These were
going in body to Milwaukee. where sew
eral hundred of their countrymen had pre-
coded them They were being forwarded |
by some colonization society and were IN
charge of Swede named Jansen, an agent
OF the society. With the exception of Jan.
sen, not one of these people could speak
word of English. Their collective wealth
amounted to 100000 in cash, which was
all in the possession of Jansen for safe.
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 propeller's stop on
this trip little girl among the steerage
passengers sickened and died her sickness
coming suddenly and death resulting two
hours later This little ones mother had
died on the ocean voyage from Sweden and
was 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 manner that she had
Before the Allegheny arrived at South
Manitou island % of the immigrants had
died of the same mysterious disease, which
was spreading rapidly among them. The
sudden appearance of this deadly plague
caused panic ON board.
The cabin passengers were placed in
quarantine in their quarters, and the crew
of the propeller were kept busy caring for
the unfortunate Swedes. The propeller
landed at Manitou and buried in one large
trench the score and "A half who were then
lying dead on board the vessel From Mani
tou there was no place where the steamer
could touch before arriving at Milwaukee,
and she left that island literally floating
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 serv-
ice. There was no installing those who
We're doomed to death among the immi
grants.
Aht NAbblih bttdLlt HbllOW ONeu ana nau
vacant, faraway look that was hard for
another to meet. When that look appeared
death was but an hour or two away. Death
always came with the most intense agony,
One could look about among the stricken
and count to a certainty those who would
be dead within the next hour The victims
were weighted and cast overheard as soon
as they were dead. Such thing as shroud-
ing or giving funeral service to IA corpse was
an impossibility. They were cast into the
water just as they died.
Up TO the day before the propeller arrived
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 the others had
been. The clerk of the steamer, a young
man named Gardiner, about this time had |
found among the stores a cask of New Eng |
land 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 re-
suit, had caused the doomed man to drink |
glass of the rum. What the virtue of the |
rum was as II remedy for the disease no |
one ever knew, but the engineer did not |
die. Gardiner 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 Oil
gin of the deadly disease. 1t was barrel
OF putrld fish among the immigrant stores
of which poisonous food some of the poor
people had eaten early in the voyage.
The propeller reached milwaukee e in the
evening". There were then ~ dead Swedes
aboard. The captain sent for physicians
They decided that the disease was some
kind of fever usual in ships where passen-
clOGalV h,,t
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
was allowed to remain anywhere in the CITY, |
and they were driven back to the melan- |
choly surroundings on board. Next morn
ing the authorities ordered the propeller to |
move away from the dock and out into the |
lake. This was done.
new element then appeared in the I'M |
fortunate situation, and it for a time threat
ened serious trouble. The Swedes living |
in and about Milwaui ee wee made ac-
quainted with the sad straits their fellow
countrymen were in ON board the ALE |
gbany, and they marched to the dock in a |
body, 500 strong. They sent word to Cap. |
tain Morrison that if he would run his yes |
sci back to the dock they would prevent |
any interference with his landing For a |
time riot seemed inevitable, but a com |
promise was effected by the authorities |
making an agreement with Captain Nor
rison that he might land his passengers on |
scows and have them lowed to an old store |
house that stood on the outskirts of the |
city. Three more deaths had occurred on |
the propeller pending this arrangement |
The immigrants, or the 65 that remained of |
the 100 that left Buffalo, were quarantned |
in the storehouse and the terrible disease
was got in hand without any further
deaths.
The wretchedness of the immigrants was
made still greater by the baseness of the
man Jansen, who had them in charge. Be
fore the survivors of the plague were able
to look after their interests Jansen dsap-
peared, taking with him the 500, 900 be-
longing to the party. He was never heard
of afterward.
The young clerk, Gardiner, of the Allie
ghany, whose prescriptions of New Eng
land rum undoubtedly saved several of the
stricken from death, among them Curtis,
the engineer, is now one of the most con
spicuous and wealthy of the citizens of
Cleveland, Of which city he has been sew
eral times mayor.-Bulfalo Cor New York
Sun.
DISCOVERIES of the Old World.
A princinaI of ono # . a ,rra ~, N, a