New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-05-19


CONSPICUOUS GALLANTRY DISPLAYED
BY L1FE-sAvINC CREws-MANY
MARROW ESCAPES FROM
chicago. May 1S-Lake Michigan has not been
mod and churned for months as it was to-
So, nv the fierce wind that has been sweeping
srrn from the North for the last thirty-six
So,-s Late tonight it is believed that twelve
=. aneen lives have been lost along the shore
=, This city and its suburbs. The only other
.o,nt reporting loss Of life is Milwaukee, where
.v Of the schooner Cummings's crew were
a,ovned this afternoon before they could be
rescued by the lfe-saving crew.
uaIf a dozen schooners and smaller craft have
,oundered off this city during the day; a score
~ more are dismantled and stove in making an
almost homeless fight against the gale and the
,uoa waves that every few minutes sweep over
,hsn, endangerng the lives Of those who are
stu On board II has been a day Of heroic ef-
,-t and great suffering for the life-saving crews
sca,,ered along the shore. At least thirty ves-
sels are anchored outside the harbor waiting for
The storm to subsile. All are more or less dam
sged and the signals of distress that have ap-
rssred among them from time to time during
tho dav have kept the life-savers busy. Twenty
svo or thirty men have been brought in. all ex-
h.usted and suffering intensely from the ex-
nosurA and cold. In several cases help arrived
,oo late. and dead body was found among the
haf-conscious sailors. who, benumbed by the
cold and unable TO protect themselves. were al
most beaten to death by the furious waves. All
night the storm has not abated, and every hour
Nord .ho,
ous 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.
TERRIBLE SCENES on THE WATERFRONT.
Scenes Of horror that chilled the blood Of thou
sands Of spectators We're enacted in the harbor
for two miles below the Illinois Central station
IN the early evening. As the storm increased
IN violence during the afternoon the waves grew
mountain high, dashing over the breakwater de-
lugng the tracks and enveoping the passing
trains with torrents Of spray. Out in the harbor
a dozen three-masted schooners heavily laden
with lumber from Michigan. were riding at
anchor few minutes after o'clock three Of
the number hoisted signals Of distress, and cit-
zens on shore teephoned to the Police and Fire
Departments ss well as TO the life-savng sta
ton at jackson Park few minutes later the
three-masted schooner Evening Star Of this
city. parted her chains and came for the shore
like rocket She struck the heavy pilng Of the
breakwater and her timbers crashed in as
though they were eggshells AS the vessel struck.
the six sailors aboard jumped for their lives.
Five landed a pile OF scrap-iron. going down
on all fours but the sixth. Norwegian named
Osen missed land by couple Of feet and went
down into the waves. The cheers that had
broken from thousands Of spectators turned into
groan rs the man disappeared from view. The
next moment succession Of monster waves
had cleaned the deck Of thousands Of pine planks
which covered the surface Of the water and
made any attempt to rescue the unfortunate men
impossible.
HEROIC WORK or LIFE-sAvERs
Hardly had she struck when there was
shout from the throng Of excited onlookers. and
1t was seen that another tnree-master had parted
her ropes and was coming ashore This was
the Jack Thompson also lumber-laden. She
followed the path OF the Star and came helm
on on 70 the previous unfortunate The shock
precipitated into the water the heavy timber on
the starboard side and upon which the five
members Of the crew were standing. Four Of
them clung 10 a big plank. to which they held
on like grim death meanwhile yelling at the
top OF their voices for help. The fifth man could
not be seen for a moment. but was finally dis
covered hanging by one hand to a spar couple
OF hundred yards north. BY this time the life
boat had arrived from Jackson Park. but it was
evident that any attempt 10 launch II would only
result in It's being crushed to pieces. and the
crew turned their attention to the rescue Of the
men in the water
several unsuccessful attempts ,c cast lines
were made but finally a rocket was tI-1wn
across the raft and caught by enc Of the sail
ors' The throng held its brea-h - the rope was
s"wiy drawn IN. for 1t seemed as though every
wave would wash the unfortunate men hack
mo the water but when the iard was reached
aha the benumbed men We're he'ped ashore, the
Nscuers were rewarded by a roar like the re-
'erreraticn Of artillery. In the meantime the
o'her member Of the crew mad beer washed rto
per abutting on Twenty-sec )pl-st, where he
uslaeed 10 cling to the plling AMI was pull
W oy scme Of the spectators. Soon after 8
0e'ock the two-master Murphy. Iumt er-ladtn
sans ashore within fifty yards Of the Thompson.
'ns was erven up 50 close 10 land :hat The
'e" had little difficulty in jumping ashore. Tie
waves swept The decks Of all three vesses clean,
N'e Ntnin an hour the beach for a couple Of
s's' was strewn with lumocr. me Evening
s~' and the Thompson are breaking up to-
hight
WATCHED BY AN IMMENSE CROWD
sAoruy after 8 o'clock ahother big three-master
-'n mad been riding at anchor about mile
~ parted her chains and began to come for
,~shose at Twenty-ninth-st. BY this time fully
~" people lined the lake front for a distance
a mile and tens Of thousands more occupied
a. windows and roofs Of the private houses and
ouidings that command view OF the lake
'aoei OF voices mingled with the shrieking Of
VINO ana the roar of the the
Ds,rAer came nearer and nearer the shore.
elm, ess was coming on. but II was seen that
norr.n.eh men We're clinging 10 the rigging. For a
yarS. ~ wnen the vessel was few hundred
haT rom shore II seemed az though her anchor
w.nd .vund an abiding place. but moment Ia ter
dorr bigger than all the rest came sweeping
boat"lr from the northwest and upon its crest the
bks was carried on TO the ping She rebounded