Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1896-07-24
TEN DROV NED.
Ore Handlers Meet Death at
Cleveland, 0.
BOAT Was OVERTURNED.
Large Vessel Churned the Water
and the Small Boat Rocked to
Such an Alarming Extent as
to Excite the Occupants,

and the Small Boat Rocked to
Such an Alarming Extent as
to Excite the Occupants,
Several lives were lost in an accident which
occurred about 7.30 o'clock in the evening on
the old river bed, near the ore docks OF the
Cleveland and Plttsburg Railway Company at
Cleveland, Ohio
The ore handlers had just quit work for the
day and were waiting their turns to cross the
branch Of tho river on the fiat bottomed ferry
boat which they had provided for their own
use A number of the men had crossed.
When the ferry reached the dock the last
time. at least 20 men crowded upon it. The
boat, which was about 80 feet long, and not
more than feet wide, would carry safely not
more than one dozen persons. The stream
Is not wide, however, and the hurrying ore
handlers had no thought Of danger. The
boat was pushed from the shore and was be-
Ing propelled across the stream.
When Il was about half way over 1t began
to sink. Then, as the men rushed to the side
thrown into the water. Those who remained
On the shore, alarmed at the capsizing OF the
little craft, at once threw life preseryers and
planks to the unfortunate men, but most OF
them sank like lead.
A few. however, managed to swim ashore,
while one or two were picked up by tug
The first report OF the accident placed the
number Of dead at %. but that proved to have
whose station is near the scene OF the acct
been exaggeration. The life-saying crew,
dent was summoned at once, and the work
Of recovering the bodies from the river was
begun. Within half an hour seven corpses
had been laid side by side upon the dock, but
the life-savers continued the work
Three moro bodies were recovered.
Richard Masten, chief engineer 0f The
steamer Bessemer, which the men had been
unloading was on the ferry when it over
turned He thinks there must have been 81
or more men on the fral craft. The boat was
floating all right, he says, until the steamer
Aragon, big ore carrier, Came down the
river The swell from that vessel caused it
to rock and the men became alarmed. Many
of them rushed to the side and jumped over
before the boat capslzed The wash from the
Aragon carried them under the water, and
several Of them were drowned before help
could reach them.
"The men struggled franticaly," said Mas
ten, "to save themselves, but they seemed
powerless. When l saw that the boat was
going over, decided to stay with 1t. That is
what saved my life. l let the boat turn over
on me, and By putting my head above the
water underneath it. escaped the swell from
the steamer and came out a right.
Two boys, Bernard Patton, aged 10. and
Martin Corrigan, aged 16, were in the boat
and both saved themselves by swimming tc
the shore.
After the 10 bodies had been taken from
the water they were conveyed to the morgue
for Identification None oft the men who were
drowned lived near tho place where the ac-
eident occurred and although great crowd
IF curiosity-seekers had assembled, nobody
who saw the bodies as they were taken from
lbe river was able to identify single one q
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