The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1897-05-10
AT GREEN ISLAND LEDGE.
The Merryconeag Went on the
Rocks.

|
Part of the Cargo Thrown Overheard
The Passengers Cool and Collected.
Green Island ledge is a bad place for a
steamer to tie up to, but the steamer
Merryconeag went over piece of it Sat-
urday afternoon and then came up the
harbor. To be sure she was towed up
by tug boat and landed on the mud off
the Cape shore minus most of her cargo,
which was thrown overheard to tighten
her. but mariners who heard of the acct
dent last night, declared that the steam
er got out of the scrape better than might
have been expected.
The Merryconeag is handsome and
serviceable steamer, built about eight
years ago for the Harpswell Steamboat
company. She ran on the Harpswell
route until few months ago when she
was sold by the company to Capt. l. Il.
Archibald of Rockland, who used her in
a general freight and passenger business
| between that city and Portland. Capt.
| Archibald, it is understood, has all his
money invested in the boat He took his
misfortune calmly, however, and after
the steamer had been beached, began at
| once preparations to get her off and re-
pair the damage.
| The steamer left Rockland Saturday
morning with a heavy freight and about
dozen passengers including one wom
an, most, if not all of whom, were bound
for points beyond Portland. The freight
consisted largely of dried and canned
fish, CLAIMS, ETC., and was destined for
Boston and New York. All went well
with the Merryconeag until at ten min
utes of four in the afternoon she was
passing between the buoys off the Green
Island lodges. A member of the crew
was at the wheel as Capt. Archibald had
not been well during the day. Just how
the man at the wheel lost his reckoning
is not known, but he got to the wrong
side Of the red buoy, there was shock
and the steamer came to standstill
with hole in her bottom. The mate,
Mr.. West, was lying down at the time,
but was promptly on hand and seconded
the captain in the energetic measures
which were at once taken to extricate
the boat from her dangerous position.
| The steamer rested with her bow and
forward part of her hull off the rock.
She apparently struck about amidships,
the damage being mostly to her stern.
The rudder was torn completely off and
the propeller, it was thought, was brok-
en-. Capt Archibald said last evening
that he thought the stern post was
broken. 1t was thought that the two
transverse bulkheads withstood the strain.
AS she lay on the rocks the steamer
some pretty steep angles.
The lifeboat was swung off, the fires
drawn and the water let out of the boiler
in the effort to tighten the vessel. At
the same time much Of the heavy freight
was thrown overheard. AS one man
who was on board expressed it, he had
never seen cargo discharged so rapidly.
| The Merryconeag remained on the ledge
about an hour and half before as
sistance reached her. The tug Dicky,
Capt. Nat Haskell had gone outside the
islands to dump ashes and saw the steam
er on the ledge. She soon had a line
made fast and the Merryconeag had been
so lightened by the throwing overheard
of the cargo that she was easily pulled
into deep water once more by the tugs
powerful engines. Then the journey to
the harbor commenced. 1t is about three
miles from the ledge to White Head and
mile or SO farther to the Cape shore.
When the smooth water of the inner bay
was reached, the passen gers were trans
ferred to the tug. They had been perfect
| ly calm during the trouble. They were
in no danger and they had the GOODNESS
to find it out and act accordingly. AS
the Merryconeag dragged through the
water she steadily settled at the stern
until her deck was awash. When she
finally struck the mud near the wharf
at Fort Preble in the cove on the city
i side Of the fort, she was almost sinking.
She was run as far as possible inshore.
The Dicky, with the passengers, Capt.
Archibald and members of the crew of
the wrecked steamer came at once to the
city, arriving here shortly after o'clock.
Capt. Archibald later obtained permits
| SlOu lTOil Ou1cl LUZ OLc uIt UObD
to go to the assistance of the stranded
steamer and he also secured the services
of the tug Belknap. Capt. Archibald's
plan was to have the tugs pump out the
steamer at low tide and then he hoped
to be able to stop the leak sufficiently to
float his steamer. Before he left the
city, Capt. Archibald said in reference to
the cause of the accident that the man
at the wheel had made a mistake. "Had
he called my attention to his course, or
had been at the wheel myself added the
captain, C it would not have happened"
| 1t was nine O'Clock when the Belknap
and the fire boat went down to where the
Merryconeag lay. She did not seem to
be in very bad shape and the captains of
the two boats decided not to attempt to
pump the steamer out last night but
wait until this morning.
Green Island ledge on which the steam