Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1895-05-03
A TERRIBLE VOYAGE.
ALAKE PROPELLER BEcAMEA FLOAT
ING CHAGNGL HOUSE.

p'l4ti0 ga l'l NnA. ~-t ItN btiN ttl l5li-
taio ard Milwaukee. one day i'm mid,um-
mer' $500 she left Buffalo Earbar On hel
regular trip. size was iu command Of G Y-
tain Morrison. The passenger list uclul. a.
40 cabin aud $50 steerHge passengers. H.,
latter all Swedish iumi rants. These wc,e
going in body 90 Milwaukee, where ,ey-
,hal hundred Of their coun,rymeu had pre-
coded them They were being forwarded
by some colonization society and were in
charge of a ~wedc named Jansen. am aec-t
of the society. With 'he exception of Jan.
sen, not one OF these people could -pc. * %
word of English Their collective wealth
amounted 10 $4,000 in cash, which was
all I'm the possession OF Jansen ios safe
keeping
The Al.c1hWy always stopped an Beaver
island, which was held by King SUtanG
with his colony OF Mormon and Tree love
followers. During the proreller's stop on
this trip "A little girl among the stccrage
passengers sickcued and died. her sickness
coming suddenly and death resulting two
hours later. This little oue's mother had
died on the ocean voyage from sweden tua
was buried at sea. The child was buried
on King Straug'- island.
The propeller proceeded on her way, bI;
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 Alleghany arrived at So,lh
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 We're kept Ousy caring for
the unfortunate Swedes. The propeller
landed at Mantou and buried in one large
trench the score and half who were then
lying dead on board the vessel. From Mani
ton there was no place where the steamer
could touch before arriving at Milwaukee,
and she lett that bland literally floating
charnel house. Scarcely an hour passed
that an mgrSnt did not fall victim to
the terrible plague, the origin of which no
one at that time knew. 1t az last became
impossible To attend to the want, Of all the
sufferers, although the entire crew devoted
every minute, night and day, to their serv-
ice. There was 10 installing those who
We're doomed 20 death among the immi-
grants
The victim became hollow eyed and had
a vacant. PARKWAY look that was hard fol
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
aad count TO a certainty those who would
be dead within the next hour The victims
were weighted and cast overheard "a soon
as they were dead. such thing as shrOud
ing or giving funeral service TO corpse was
an impo,sibility. They We're cast into
water just a. 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 10 il, and
was cast into the lake a. the otht~s had
been. The CLERK OF the steamer, 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,
man named Curtis, soon after the cook :
death. was attacked by the disease, and
that Gardiner, without any idea Of the re.
suit, had caused the doomed man 10 drink
glass Of the rum. What the virtue of the
rum was as remedy for the disease no
one ever knew, but the engineer did not
die Gardiner then dOsed the immigrants
with it a they Tell sick, and in several
cases the victims were saved. Gardiner. az
the time he discovered the rum discovered
n"' ne nav iS,'so,. ~ oe''e,e was 'He OH
slii " ''o "v''''S "'''"'e' ~ vas o"i'e'
VI Pre' ~ u9i' "N'''- 'le mum HI"nI s'ofe''
VI me-" P''9o'i0u' 1ou sumo Vi Tue poor
PeUt'e n''' eaten e'i y III ,Hc No4 age
INC Pi"i,eiie' le"'ueC -NlI" auhee III lne
Ne"'"S = mere "er' 'H'H - uedu H"edeS
a a. ne captain sem 'oI physicians
IA'S ueS''eu 'H"I 'he u''e"9e was some
Ai"u Va lev us~d' III au'PS W"eie p'''eu
gers W, re ''o>eii 4uar'eIeu' o"I ~, H. exact
nature 'hey coUld MOI determine. ne news
d Ihe 'erI'''' state o. "IIalrs on oo"Id 'he
AleAhdHH wa, Ao' SO" IN -el'lu- toruac
'h the town. 40 one not even the "Ipcefs
va, above" 70 remain amy where lh thrc.iy,
AN" lhel were urt'eH D'c" 10 the me'"n
choiy SURF ''HaIhsN on p"1iu. NeAt morn
uIE the authorities or"ere' the piopei'er 10
move away rom the uocN ana OH INTO tHe
'"he' ms was zone.
= new eIeheht theu appeared ia JLe I'm.
fortunate situation, ana 10 Tor q time Threat
eHeu serious IroioIe. Ihe H"eues l'in-
III ana ABOUT milwaukee, were mace dc
ludlhted with TIE sad STRAIT, lher Iel.ON
country men were IN Oh board Tie Ale
ghtuA, anu they marched 10 the DOCS lN