The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-12-18
whaleback Barge and Crew Lost In
Lake Superior.
ALL HOPE IS ABANDONED
FRUITLEss SEARCH MADE FOR
MISSING MEN.
Was In Tow of a Steamer When the
Line Parted In Furious North
east Gale-Indications That the
Barge Had Sprung Leak and
Foundered.

Chicago. Dec. ia dispatch from
Sault Ste Marie, Mich, to the Lake
Marine News bureau says: Whale
back barge lis. which has been missing
on Lake Superior since "Wednesday last
was today given up for lost with her
crew of nine men. The only names
known of the lost are:
Captain Arthur A. Boyce.
Mate Michael Stynop.
Cook William Buckner.
1.-The steamer Colgate Hoyt. which
had the lost barge in tow, gave up
the search today and passed down
through the locks bound for Lake Erie
The tug Vigilant, which was also
searching for the 115, likewise gave II
up While il is likely that the whale
back company will send out its steam
ers from Duluth in a further search,
the crew of the Hoyt have no doubt
but the barge went down in the great
storm of Wednesday.
After starting out from the head
of Lake Superior said the captain "
the Colgate Hoyt, I'VE ran into a fu-
rious sold northeast gale. For forty
hours we bucked into the seas and nm
ally we succeeded in getting within ten
miles of Pick Island, where we got into
comparatively smooth water, the wind
blowing off shore l then changed our
course to the southwark, running parai-
lei with the shore in order to keep I'M
der its protection.
Tow Line Parted
81 had been on this course for about
an hour when, at five minutes to 6
o'clock Wednesday morning l went in
to breakfast. At that time l saw the
lights on the barge all right. Five
minutes later | was told the tow line
had parted and lis was drifting out
into the lake 1 Immediately put the
Hoyt about and for four hours l zig
Jagged back and forth over the course,
but not thing could / see OF the
barge. l kept up the search until dark
when 1 ran down TO White Fish point
There 1 met Captain Smith, agent
of the whaleback feet at the 500, who
was on the tug Vigilant. The two of
us then Joined in the search. We kept
at it until the weather proved too much
for US, when we came back, fearing we
might be caught out on Lake Superior
in a heavy snowstorm. We had only
forty tons of coal and were in danger
of running out of fuel.
Probably Sprung a Leak
During the gale Tuesday, when the
Hoyt was toying the barge into the
great northeast storm, the crew could
see the men on the barge pumping
water THAT Was COlOiCu Win II OA OAN-
This would have indicated that some
thing was wrong. but no distress sig
nal was displayed. How soon after
breaking away from the Hoyt the 1l5
went down cannot be guessed. The life
beat and everything on deck on the
barge was either washed away or fro
zen $40 tight to the deck that it could
not be moved"
The lost vessel was built in 1891 by
the American Steel Barge company and
was 256 feet long and thirty-six feet
BEAM She carried about 5000 tons OF
iron ore and was valued at about $780,
0OO This is the first of the whaleback
fleet to founder and the second TO be
lost.
With the rest of the whaleback fleet
the lost barge passed TO the Rockefel-
Ter interests in the general shake up of
vessel property in October. There was
no insurance on either vessel or cargo.