The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-11-24
BY GEoRGEL. KILMER.
Copyright, 1895, by S. S. Mcclure.
limited)

Late on Thanksgiving eve, 1889, IN
the height of terrible blizzard OF
snow and sleet, the propeller Calumet.
from Buffalo for Milwaukee, with
eighteen souls on board, came to grief
on stormy Michigan. Some days be-
FORE while steamip~ up Detroit river
from Lake Erie to st. Clair, she had
burst her seams by running upon a
Sunken anchor in the shadows. The
leak proved so threatening that Skip
per Green put in at Detroit. patched
up the injury and took aboard a
wrecking pump in the hope of keeping
his vessel afloat until she reached her
destination. All went well until the
Calument left the Straits of Mackinac
and entered Lake Michigan. Then the
storm broke in all its fury and the
thermometer dropped suddenly to 70
degrees below the freezing point a
tremendous sea. was stirred up by the
gale and The steamer, laborlng IN d
cross sea, pitched and rolled so Nlo-
- lently that her timbers were strained
and the wounded seams opened afresn.
With all the pumps working at thelc
full capacity the ship continued TO III
and soon got beyond control OF her
masters. However, she made the VI
cinity of Milwaukee soon after dark
ness came on on Thanksgiving eve,
going quite easily before the gale as
she shaped her course for the harbor.
But the weather was so thick that even
close uD the keen-eyed Waterman
could not make out the harbor lights.
In the emergency Captain Green de-
cided TO head for Chicago. The ships
course was. therefore, changed again.
bringing her once more into violent
cross sea To add to the evils OF the
situation the wrecking pump, upon
which all depended, gave out at the
very moment when it was most needed.
The water gained rapidly on the Or
binary ships pumps so that 1t became
only a question of tnle-and very
short time at that, when the Calumet
would go down in the deep waters Of
the lake There was an alternative,
frigntful to think Of but yet pre-
able to laundering beyond all reach
Of aid. That was to take chances and
beach the helpless ship. Putting on
steam. the captain headed for land
and the vessel grounded easily 900
YARDS from the bluffs opposite Fort
Sheridan Ill 1t was then 1G:30 o'clock
ct night. One danger still threatened
that was that the lifting and pound
ing of the terrible seas would break
the vessel to pieces. bit by bit before
daylight and succor should come. Al
though heavy in the hold and her full
cargo. still she moved. In order to
steady her the captain opened all the
valves in the bottom so that she filed
completely and rested like a huge
rock in the sand What a prospect
those eighteen men had before them
for that long and terrible night. The
waves beat upon every part of the
ship. the thermometer was still fall
ing and the decks and rails and cabin
roofs were covered with ice from the
freezing spray. There were boats on
board-those frail skiffs carried upon
lake steamers-but to have risked
lives in them in that terrible sea
would have been madness.
The lifeIsaving station nearest the
scene of The wreck is at Evanston, Ill,
twelve miles from Fort Sheridan. 1t is
station Of the United States coast
life guard, under a regular keeper ex-
perienced in the perilouS duty but the
crew consists of volunteers from
among the students of the Northwest
ern academy.
At the time of the wreck Keeper
Lawrence o. Lawson was in charge CT
the station and the following six vol
Gnteer surfmen were subject to his
call: George Crosby, William E. Ew-
ing, Jacob Looming, W. L. Wilson, F.
NJ. Kendig and Thomas NJ. Webb. Soon
after midnight Keeper Lawson re-
ceived a. telegram from Highland park.
saving: There is a large steamer
ashore off Fort Sheridan. Gomez
Lawson hurried to the railway station
and asked what time the next train
would go north. Not before 7:30 a.
m was the reply. There was one
chance left, a very faint one consider
ing the terror of the night. Thinking
that there might be an extra freight
train on the road, Lawson wired the
dispatcher at Chicago and learned
~ !
pass Evanston about . O'clock. Stat
ing the urgency of the case he OBJ
tanned an order to flag it and place
his life-saving apparatus and crew on
board. The train proved to be made
up of loaded box cars and there wera
no empty ones at hand to carry the
life-boat- The next resource was liv-
cry teams to haul the boat twelve
miles by sleighs. Fortunately, a liv-
eryman was found who was not less
considerate for horse flesh than for
human lives. He provided stout teams
for the boat and Lawson with the six
surfmen who were to bear the hard
ships Of the enterprise, boarded the
train. A hot journal caused a delay
of an hour and it was 4 o'clock when
the party reached the fort. A guide
party who had first sighted the
steamer by her lights conducted the
1ife-savers toward the bluff opposite
and binding storm the guide lost his
way and an hour was passed beating
up and down the bluff for a pathway
to the waters edge The bluff at that
point is 20 feet high, very PERCEPTIONS
and cut up by ravines filled with trees
and underbrush. Several ravines were
explored before one was found suit
able for operations This was pre-
pared by the aid of several soldiers
from the fort. who had been aroused
by the steamers whistles of distress.
Some fifty men set to work with axes.
hewing away the trees to make a slide
for the boat. The stiff, hard CLAW
was also paired down to give the frail
boat a safe passage way, for the craft
so stanch and serviceable on the water
are in danger of being stove by COM
ing in contact with rough obstacles
when under motion. A huge fire was
kndled to tighten up the scene; it also
served as a beacon to the imperfIed
sailors. who knew by that their cause
was known. Everything was ready
when the boat arrived, drawn by
steaming, foaming horses at z o'clock.
1t was then light enough to make out
the terrible plight of the men on the
ill-fated Calumet. They were soon
huddled in and about the pilot house.
the only place of refuge. for the
steamer was submerged to the main
deck. Moreover, she was literally a
ship of ice, having been deluged for