New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-11-08
THE FATE OF THE IDAHO.
HOW A STEAMER AND NINETEEN MEN
WENT DOWN IN LAKE ERIE

sTORy OF A MAN WHO WAS SA'H
ppra,o Nov. THE following are the ha,''e'
., six+eon NJ the nineteen men VINO ioS' ~
IT,. -, tho s,eorner Idaho which SANK III Lam
,-rio above Long Point. during the E"ie -" "N
urday morning:
BELL. NJ decAhand
prANxER Conrad. fireman
CLANCY william. chief eng'nser' ~
GIBSON George first mate huha.o
c1IJEs Alexander. captain hu"''
GILMORE Louis wachfnan'
cprGORy William. fireman
HFAIY John. assistant stewart
MILAN Richard wheeIshan'
MIFFORT Frederick ohe''
RICHARD a. j. lookout
svrNNER Nelson. fret assistant engineer
SMITH edward. dsckhand, Rochester
TAYLOR John D., stewafd bu'd'o'
THOMSON. Henry. Lookout
WILLIAMS Robert wheesInah'
THREE OF THE DEAD UNKNOWN.
,-,s names Of three of the men drowned are
unknown 10 the steamship company. one was
O Arennan another a deCkhand and the thiIu
nor,er The names of the two men saved are
ouis La Force jr. the second maze, anu w"
Ham Gil. a deckhand, living at NO. l7' hen'-s'''
Rochester. II is not known at the once Oh '"e
vastern Transit Company where the most OF
the dead men lived.
The Idaho went out Of commission 'hree VI
four wears ago. but this summer she was thor-
ouehlv overhauled. After ner renovation she
WAS placed at the disposal OF the NaNal vet
80, association and by that organization
used as a flagship during the G. A. H. h'hc"'''p-
,oArt IN August. At the close OF the encahlp-
roAnt she was put into commission as
freighter.
.,oxordsr GiI,ies captain Of the steamer, was
ono of the most widely known of the lake sea
r,ar He was forty-one years old. and knew the
lake waters Ike a book Donald Gillies MS
brother. is captain of the steamer Harlem.
AN ACCOUNT OF THE RESCUE
When the big steel steamer Mariposa arrived
&, mort close on to midnight last night with the
news Of the disaster TO the ldaho ana haV'hs
on hoard the two members of the crew, Captain
Root had this TO say regarding the storm on 'he
lake and the rescue Of the Idaho's survivors:
at was ono Of the worst gales ever expert
enced in all my years on the lakes. We started
from Chicago with a load Of oats. All the way
down we had a fight with the storm. and l
thought once or twice of putting IN somewhere
until # blew over I'm glad didn't. for fear
that ~ had these two men who came uo"h
with me would have gone to Join their mates
by this time.
1T was about 1890 yesterday when hrst
Iearned NJ the wreck Of the Idaho. l was on
deck when nv first mate Myron Chamberlain,
came to me and tod me that he had sighted
spar off to the north. and he thought there were
a couple OF men clinging to 1t. lie pointed II
out 70 me- and when got the glasses on II 1
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 puzzled how to help
the men off, for l could not lower boat in such
1l,,I Csrn lad lffr h0 Crtgr 1 Z
! ran alongside. and my men picked the poor
fellows off. They had TO drag them away from
the spar by force, for they had been there so
long that their arms had become almost dead
and were twisted about the mast and nearly
frozen fast 10 II. When we got them on board
VIC put them in hunks and gave them some
warm food and soups and had them feeling
pretty we'll physically when we reached the
harbor."
STORY OF SURVIVOR.
William Gill. the rescued deck hand.
svarthy. well-built man. twenty three years old,
has sailed the lakes since he was a boy. He is
more intelligent than the average seafaring
man, and his story of the disaster told early
this morning. is thrilling
"We left here Friday night bound for Chi
caso with cargo Of general merchandise,
said he Everything seemed all right until we
got outside the breakwater, 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 Ike top, and q second
later 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 10 the storm. We had felt wind be-
fore. The captain consulted with the mate and
decided that we could weather it, and he kept
his course.
"As we headed UP the lake dead against the
gale It appeared to be getting worse every min
ute. The waves were running high and the wind
threw the tops from the breakers like dust We
Ovod cir yt-tDd nd
and when we were well up the lake found
that the boat was making water. 1t kept
ing faster and faster and the blee pumps
put 10 work. but the water gained and every
minute the ship got less buoyant. and the big
combers opt breaking oyer her
I'VE were near Long Point al this time and
the captain started TO put In there. with the in
tenton of beachng the ship. But tho water
gained so rapidly that 1t was too late. She was
already laboring and the two men at the wheel
could do nothing with her. couple more men
went to work with them. and finally they
brought her around. and headed her toward
land
WATER PUTS OUT THE FIRES.
CAPTAIN Gillies started the pumps and or
dered tho men TO the fire buckets, and we formed
line and began TO pail but it was no use. The
water gained on the pumps and the buckets and
soon put the fires out.
When II was found that the power was gone
and that the ship could not he moved W. knew
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
me face Of hurricane and when Captain Gillies
decided TO do It he ordered the lashngs Of the
boats cut and told the men they were forced
to take one last chance for their lives. At the
WORD the anchor dropped from the bow and
the chaln began to pay out. but the sea was
TOO heavy, and, instead OF the anchor catching
win Il hrm grip and bringing the ships head
up TO the storm with a jerk. It went too slow.
and she simply tumbled into the trough Of the
seas. which broke over her in torrents