The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-11-08
SUNK IN A TERRIFIC STORM.
THRILLING STORY OF THE Loss OF
THE IDAHO.


After the Steamer SunI<-The Ship
Struck by the Storm Just After
Leaving the Breakwater at Buff
faIO.
Buffalo, N. Y, Nov. 1.-THE following
are the names of sixteen of the nineteen
men who lost their lives on the steamer
Idaho, which sank during the gale on Sat
urday morning above Long Point, on Lake
Erie:
Alexander Gillies, captain. Buffalo.
| George Gibson, first mate, Buffalo.
William Clancy, chief engineer, Buffalo
John d. Taylor, steward, Buffalo.
Nelson Skinner, first assistant engineer
| Louis Gilmore, watchman.
| Richard Mclean, wheelman.
| Robert Williams, wheeman.
! A. ]. Richards, lookout.
Henry Thompson, lookout.
Conrad Blanker, fireman.
William Gregory, fireman.
I John Pealey assistant steward
Frederick NIiffort oiler
N. Y.
| NJ Bell, deck hand
The names of three of the men drowned
are unknown to the steamship company
| One was fireman and deckhand, and the
| third porter. The names of the two men
| saved are: Louis Laforce, Jr., second
mate, and William Gill, deck hand, liv-
| ing at 1877 Kent street, Rochester.
| Ii Is not known at the office of the West
ern Transit Company, where the greater
portion of the dead men hail from.
| The Idaho went out of commission three
or four years ago, but this summer she
/ thnFnnpb1U cd har
| overhauling she was placed al the disposal
| Of the naval veterans association and by
| that organization used as a flagship dur
| ing the G. A. r. encampment in August
| At the close of the encampment she was
put into commission again as a freighter.
| The captain of the Inflated steamer,
! Alex Gillies, was one of the widest known
| of lake seamen. He was As years old, and
| knew the lake waters like a book His
| brother, Donald Gillies, is captain of the
| steamer Harlem
| When the steamer Mariposa arrived in
| port about midnight last night with the
| news of the disaster to the Idaho and
| having on board the two surviving mem
bers of the crew, Capt. Root had this to
| say regarding the storm on the lake and
| the rescue of the two men: 'It was one
of the worst gales L ever experienced in
| all my years on the lakes. We started
| from Chicago with a load of oats All the
the storm, and I thought once or twice of
| putting in somewhere until it blew over.
| l am glad did not, for / fear that if l
| had these two men who came down with
me would have gone to join their mates
| by this time.
'Tt was about 1890 yesterday afternoon
| when first learned of the wreck of the
Idaho. was on deck when my first mate.
| Myron Chamberlain, came to me and told
| me that he had sighted q spar off to the
north and that he thought a couple of men
were clinging to it. Ho pointed it out to
me, and when 1 got the glasses on 1t,
| could distinguish the men plainly. We
were running under a good head of steam
| at the time and put on more and headed
| for the spar.
| when | got near I was puzzled how
| to help the men off, for / could not lower
boat in such a storm. Finally l circled
about the spar until 1 ran alongside and
my men picked the poor fellows off They
| had to drag the men away from the spar
| by force, for the men had been there so
| long that their arms had become be-
| numbed and were twisted about the mast
| and almost frozen fast to it. When / got
| them on board we put them in hunks and
gave them warm food and soups and had
| them feeling pretty good physically when
| we reached harbor."
| William Gill, the rescued deck hand, a
| swarthy, well-built man, % years of age
| has sailed the lakes since he was a youth
| He is more intelligent than the average
| seafaring man, and his story of the dis
aster, as told early this morning, is u
| thrilling one.
1--WE left here Friday night, bound for
| Chicago, with a cargo of general mer-
| chandise," said he. Everything seemed
| all right until we got outside the break
| water, and then we were struck by the
worst storm that / ever saw. When the
! first big breaker struck us we were tossed
| up in the air, like a top and a second
later a big roller came over the port bow
and rolled down amidships a foot deep. The
| wind shrieked and howled but we did not
| pay much attention to the storm. He had
felt wind before. The captain consulted
| with the mate. and decided that we could
! weather 1t, and he kept on his course.
LAS we headed UP the lake, dead against
the gale, il appeared to be getting worse
every minute. The waves were running
| high and the wind threw the tops from
| the breakers like dust.
1--WE moved slowly against the heavy
wind and sea and when we were well up
| the lake we found that the boat was maxi
| ing water 1t kept coming faster and
| faster and the bilge pumps were put to
| work, but the water gained and every min
| ute the ship kept getting less buoyant, and
| the big comers continued breaking over
| her.
| I'VE were near Long Point at this time,
and the captain started to put in there,
with the intention OF beachng the ship.
| But the water gained SO rapidly that it
was too late. She was already laboring,
and the two men at the wheel could do
nothing with her. Two more men went
to work with them. and finally they
brought her around and headed her to-
/ ward land
Capt Gillies started the pumps, order
/ ed the men to the fire buckets and we
| formed line and began to bail, but 1t was
no use. The water gained on the pumps
and the buckets and soon the water put the
| fires out.
when It was found that the power was
| gone and that the Idaho could not be mov-
| ed we knew we could not live in the
| trough of that fearful sea, and the only
hope left us was to run out the anchor
and bring her head up to the sea and let
\ her ride out the gale.
| Every seaman realized the danger of
| attempting to do that in the face of hur-
ricane, and when Capt. Gillies decided to
| do 1t he ordered the lashing Of the boats
| cut and told the men they were forced to
| take one last chance for their lives.
| ar the word the anchor dronped from