The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-03-28
LUCK OF OLD BOATs.
In Collisions ON the Lakes the VaIu-
able Vessels Fare the Worst.

From the Buffalo Express.
Did you ever notice." said an old ma
riner, that when a collision occurs on
the lakes the better boat. in nine cases
out Of ten, gets the worst of II. and gem
orally goes to the bottom. on the other
hand, the old boat, for in a great many
instances 1t is an old boat, receives little
damage, II any. II she Is damaged her
owners send her to some dry dock to be
patched up.
Il have always found that TO he the
case continued the old man. who for
the past forty years has earned his liyeli-
hood on the lakes. "Al the collisions
that l can remember between n new and
an old boat, the old one, somehow or
other, managed TO stay on top OF the wa
ter Take, for instance, the sinking OF
the Lehigh Valley liner Cayuga, which
occurred on the 10th OF last May. She
collided with the steamer Joseph l..
tiurd and was sunk in Lake Michigan,
near Skiligalee Light. The Cayuga,
which was one OF the best steamers on
the lakes, was bound down with a load
OF grain and merchandise. The Hurd was
an old lumber barge, which had been
condemned once and then rebuilt. She
was not worth much, while the Cayuga
was worth somewhere In the neighbour
''At the time of the collision the fog
was very heavy and lay close to the wa
ter In banks. Fog banks are peculiar
minute you are right In the midst OF Il
and the next you are through IT.. only 10
very puzzling and have tendency 10 get
a fellow ratified for minute. A minute
is not very long, but a man Is likely to
lose his boat as well as his life In that
short space OF time. A captain has no
business to get ratified, and especially
when running IN fog. The best OF them
will lose their heads, and when in that
state are liable TO give orders they ought
not to have given.
THAT was the way the fog acted on the
night that the Cayuga went down. The
right signals had apparently been given,
but, with hardly a minutes warning, the
Hurd took a sheer and struck the Cayu-
ga amidships. The Cayuga went down in
about FIVE minutes and the Hurd made for
the land, which was not very far off,
where she was beached. She was leaking
quite badly. Temporary repairs were
made, and she was then towed to a dry
dock. She came out again later in the
season and ran in the lumber trade on
Lake Michigan.
''The Cayuga, however, Is still at the
bottom, lying in about 10l fet of water,
and her chances for remaining there are
very good.
LET me cite you another instance where
the better boat was sunk by an old one
well, / won't say she was old, for she
had not been In commission very long;
She was an ungainly looking craft and
about the unlucktest boat that had been
built on the lakes in some time. She was
called the Jack. Her first feat that
brought her before public notice was whom
she colided with one Of the locks In the
Welland canal. Navigation was delayed
for several days by the accident
1.-The next prominent feat that she ac-
complished was to sink the big steel steam
er Norman, which was owned by the Me-
nominee Steamship Company. She sunk
her in the middle OF Lake Huron, and in
deep water. In fact. II has been mys-
terry where she did go down for they have
never been able to locate her. She WAS
worth about 100000. The Jack sustained
little damage and was soon in commission
again. Now, there are two boats which
were worth about 100000, and both were
$40, 900. and that would be big price for
them"