The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-12-04
LAKE SUPERIOR'S WRECKS.
TREAT DAMAGE TO SHIPPING DOVE
BIZ RECENT STORMS

Unexplained strnndinG Of Big Steamers
Compasses Believed to Have Been Az
frcted by Hidden Banks of Ore-Enor-
nous CarEocs Carried This season.
DuIrTH. Mimi. Dec. 1.-The bones Of three
OF the finest ships ever launched into fresh wa
ter lie along the north shore OF Lake Superior
between Beaver Bay and Isle Royale. Masters
OF a dozen others have tales OF hardships en-
countered on that same coast. Still others
have been abandoned By their crews and left
to destruction. but have rescued themselves
and arrived in port uniniured. Some OF these
we're old wood craft. that might have gone to
pieces in any summer gale. Others have been
pulled onto sandy beaches. lying between
Jagged reefs Of rock. have worked themselves
on and have goae on their way unhurt. though
n quarter OF a boats length would have meant
total ruin. In all the history OF navigation on
Lake Superior there has never been another
storm that did as much damage as last weeks.
In the November and December storms that
sweep over the lakes. accompanied By driving
slice. or snow. the masters Of ships going up to
Duluth or from this city toward the sault try
to get under the lee OF the north shore. It's
wooded banks. often rising sheer from the
water for hundreds Of feet. and for 200 miles y
mass Of rock with scarcely q landing place.
break the force OF the north winds and give
protection to the ships. Lake masters are 40
customed to sail In part by sight and sound,
and not entirely by the compass. like the
ocean naviSators. They creep up toward
where the shore ought to be. sounding their
fog whistles all the time. It'll they get
an echo. With the coast thus picked up they
steer parallel to It. judging their distance by
the intervals between the whistles and the
echoes and by the comparative stiffness Of the
water in which they are. The shores are in
visible. and the compass is relied on chiefly to
give a general direction and guidance. Il Is q
skilful trade. and the risks taken along such a
shore as that Of rocky Lake Superior are great.
but usually the vessel comes sliding into Port
covered from stem to rudder with white ice. q
triie behind time. perhaps. but ready for an
other bout with the elements as soon as her
cargo is taken out and another put in its place.
But the north shore OF the lake, besides being
as rugged as that OF Greenland. is no straight
line. 1t Is a succession of bays and points. the
former deep and narrow. the latter running far
out and ending In series oftslands. Sometimes
the islands are emphasized by rock reefs ex-
tending still further into the open lake and close
enough to the surface to reach any ship unwary
enough TO come over them. To the Captain
standing on his bridge. the sleet driven
by n gale. his exposed face as he listens
TO the whistle and its distant echo, that
echo grows moro distant, till it almost
dies away. and he heads a point or
two closer to the shore TO take it up
again. He knows the bays and reefs. for his
charts are before him.. and his compass shows
him he is safe. Suddenly a darker blackness
than the storm looms before him. and before
the Roadway Of the ship can be checked ma
terially her keel Erinds against the beach or
her bow runs chock into a sheer ledge Of rocks
that rises far above his vision.
How A ships compass could lead her master
astray in such manner has been one IT the
mysteries Of Lake Superior for years. The
boat Ola man now here suffered 1 week ago at
u time when he knew his compasses were
right. His ship was heading for Duluth. and
for safety was two points south OF her course.
which should have taken her to the entry at
Superior. seven miles south from the harbor
entrance AZ Duluth. Without warning the yes
sci grated on 4 beach and stopped. An lnvestt-
CATION showed her to be on the sand bank at
the mouth of Knife River. twenty miles east
from Duluth. She was heading directly Up
the river. almost due north, but the compass
still held two points south OF the course for
Duluth. The boat had. by the charts. turned
almost n right angie. Within lbs feet Of either
side rock reefs ran out into the lake on which
she might have cut herself to pieces. To the
southerly side. where a tritiinG less deviation
would have taken the vessel. lay an island OF
rock that would have driven her bow back 70
her engines and hunched her up into a circle.
As iT was a tug pulled her Of and a
survey showed not a dollar Of dam
age. Many such a casualty has occurred
from time to time, and tho river on which this
boat brought up has been the seem Of two or
three groundings every season for years. Some
of them have resulted luckily. others have been
total losses. The only explanation for these
groundings and d-vtations. according to ship
masters here, is that a great bed OF magnetic
iron sand lies in the bed OF the stream covered
by the washings Of quartz sand from the rocks
OF the lake.
The same explanation may account for the
recent disasters at other points on the north
shore. Indeed. at a gathering Of vessel Cap
tairs in an agents office this week they were
discussing the remarkable alterations Of COM
passes this fall. which every mar had noticed far
more than in any previous year. During the
week one Of the Captains OF the great Wilson
deet. Q man noted as the best and most careful
skipper in this line. who has not cost his COM
pnny 4 cent for repairs in years. found himself
on the north shore and three points on his
course. He got of without much loss.
but the fact was none the less remarkable.
How did he get there. and what causes the de-
Walton? There have been probably q score Of
standings that have not been reported and
have he opily resulted in no loss. but are utterly
unexpIainable. Every Captain in the group
the other day agreed that there had been a de-
Walton this fall which had not been noticed
during the summer nor ever before, and none
could explain it. The compasses seemed to
b. wild.
Every river that flows into Lake Superior
from the north between Duluth and the inter-
national boundary has its source in hills that
are more or less filed with magnetic iron ore.
The sands from these ores are borne on the
swift mountain currents to the lake and settle
there. and their influence Is felt so to 10 miles
out TO sea. it IL asserted. This is the only ex-
PLANTATION the shippers give for the disasters on
Lake Superior. but it has never been proved
correct. What gives a more decided Offset to
the needle in the late fall. at the very time when
it is most depended On. Is one Of the 5eep mys-
teries Of = lake that has many mysteries. But
that such is tho fact every lake Captain will
assert.
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