Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1901-05-30
SHIP AND CREW. GONE.
TWELVE LIVES LOST IN GALE ON
LAKE HURON.
Only Two Men Are Saved from Steamer
baitlmore-One Survivor Is Driven
Insane by Peril and Fri.ht-Mauy
Vessels Meet Disaster.

1he wooden steamer Baltimore foun-
dered IN Lake Huron, near Au Sable,
Mich, Friday and twelve of the crew Of
fourteen were drowned Two men We're
washed about in the lake for several
hours, dashed to a piece of wreckage, and
hnally were picked up by the tug Column
bia and taken to East Tawas. George
McGinnis, deckhand, one of the res
cued, went crazy from his experience
The other survivor, Thomas Murphy Of
Milwaukee, second engineer, was able to
tell the story of the disaster.
1t was some time after the Columbia
had brought the shipwrecked men into
port before Murphy was revived sufi-
GENTLY to tell his story. The Baltimore
foundered about o'clock in the morn
ing, and he was in the water until late
in the afternoon, exposed to the buffeting
Of furious northeast sea.
1--WE were bound from Lorain to Sault
Ste. Marie" he said, ''and had in tow a
large steam drill and scow. When off
Thunder Bay Captain Place saw the
steamer was making bad weather. for the
waves had smashed in the engineers
quarters and the wash rooms and the
water was running into the hold.
Captain Place decided to turn about
and run for Tawas for shelter. Every
thing went all right until we were off Au
Sable, when the steamer struck heavily
on the bottom. The seas. broke over it at
the same time and carried away the deck
house, then the after cabin, and, finally
the smokestack fell.
1T is every man for himself now
shouted Captain Place. The look of de-
spair on Mrs. Places face was something
l shall never forget. 1t was awful. We
took the captains advice, and every man
started to save himself as best he could
Some of the boys took to the rigging, but
McGinnis and | dashed ourselves to a
ringbolt in a piece Of the after cabin, and
we were washed overheard shortly after
ward
The strain was too much for McGin-
mis-, and he went crazy before we had
been in the water long. He tried to
throw me off the wreckage.
The passenger steamer City of Hol-
land passed by us, but we were too far
away for the crew to see us, | believe.
1.-The Columbia finally came along and
picked us up, just as was about to give
up hope. l am afraid all of the rest of
the crew were drowned, including Mrs.
Place"
The tug Columbia lost drill and scow
with six men on board just before it
picked up the men from the Baltimore.
The Columbia went out again Friday af-
ternoon and found the drill making good
weather.
The men were taken off it, and they
were badly frightened, as they had Meth
er boat nor life preservers. The scow
was then towed in to East Tawas. The
scow with timber on it was not recover
ed, and it is thought it went ashore.
Captain Memo of the steamer City of
Holland claims that the gale was one
Of the worst in fifteen years.
The lost steamer was managed from
the Office of P. II. Fleming & Co. in
Sherman street, Chicago.
The schooner A. Bradley, bound for
Chicago, became waterlogged off Milwau-
kee, hoisted signals of distress and was
towed into the harbor for safety.
The sidewheel steamer Empire State,
with 600 excursionists aboard, sprung
leak twelve miles out from Ogdensburg,
n. Y. The water put out the fires and
the vessel just made shore when it sank
in eight feet Of water.
The schooner H. D. Moore, laden with
hardwood, collided with the pier at She
boygan, Wis Masts and rigging were
carried away and the crew was taken off.
The fishing tug Constance was cut in
two and sunk in collision with the steam
er G. W. Moore in the river near Me-
nominee, Mich. The crew escaped
The schooner Montmorency went
ashore on Charity Island, near Bay City,
Mich, and may prove a total loss.
The schooner George Davis was
thrown high and dry on Wenona Beach,
near Bay City.
The steamer City Of New Baltimore
was damaged in a collision with a tug
at Bay City and the tug Traveller lost
part of the raft it was bringing in.
The steamer Pewaukee was stranded
on Bots Blanc Island, near Cheboygan,
Mich, with wheel broken.