New-York tribune., 1902-06-09
MANY OCEAN BARGES LOST
prrI-I.TIoN OF DEEP SEA TOWING
MUCH NEEDED.
uoRNor-T SAILING VESSELS ALTERED TO
CARRY COAL-CoNSTANT DANGER
FOR THE CREWS.

The action of the Chamber of Commerce
few days ago in passing resolutions urshis 'es
,.,arive measures for the regulation OF the
towing of ocean going barges was timely In
-;av, ~ the history of the storms of last winter
,-,, chores of New-Jersey and Long Island were
- -rs, once strewn with the wreckage OF
s.e, eea coai bargss and with the bodies OF their
.-eI,s Lest because the tows broke UP and the
,,,ce could not assist the barges or get 'hein
Together again 1t is safe to say tha' 'le ioss
NJ life last winter from the wrecklng OF YES
sels on the coasts mentioned was greater from
these barges than from any other class OF craft
,,anx of the barges are converted sailing
s,,iY,s from twenty-five to fifty years oid- lhese
,-essels their usefulness as ships haNllls Pdo'u'
have been changed TO barges for the COM "ii0e
Of coal from Newport News ana NorloiA -
-oi,te along the coast. particularly in NeW-t-ng-
go and nowerfuI oceangoing tugs,
constructed for The express purpose haul then
con, rort 10 port Many of the barges wrecked
- -[in-er were these antiquated ships
a, February :; came the news from the life
ling stations on Long Island that the BODY
or =. mar. had come ashore at Smiths Point ana
81, -be shore for twenty miles was streWn WIN
.,o +ir,rere of 2 barge In the course OF the
-, -l7rae or four days more wreckage was cast
: -7,. +,aachas and other bodies were picked
So f,,- the life savers. i tug. the klchi1ono
- seen hv those on the shore 10 pass up ana
aou-, the coast. apparently searching for
- ION In the course of time the frag-
,-,arre of the story of the disaster were brought
-ore+bar. The tug Richmond left this port on
e,-.,as,. afternoon. February =. at $50 O'Clock.
v-f.b the barges Antelope. 1.306 tons. Captain
,rtr1s,. Relle OF Oregon i115 tons Captain
4Ier5snr and Mystic Belle. al tons. Captain
e..-+ They were bound for Newport with
coal That night the gale that sprung up caused
The bavser between the tug and the first barge
~ The string to part. Following the usual Gus
.oro the hawsers between the barges were cut
- save them from crashing into each other
to of them eventually broke up, and with the
to5ies Of several members of the crew were
cas+ ,Jn Oh the sands Of Long Island
II viii never be known whether they broke
~, before touching bottom or stranded hrst-
Their hulls were unable TO Withstand the pul
feting Of the waves and went TO pieces. lhaI OIL
the Belle Of oregon breaking in half
The Antelope was formerly the clipper ship
- the same name and was built at Belfast,
~,a in 1873. The Belle of Oregon went off the
rays Al Bath. Me- in 1876. and was probably
. shin before she was degraded into coal
barge. The launching Of the Mystic belie LOOK
Mace at Medford, Mass. in 1861
9yha same rug the Richmond, lost another
bsroe The I5chtenfels Brothers. early on the
Of N2ShingIOnS
left the barge lying at anchor near the eoge pI
she shin channel about a mile north Of the South
vest Spit while she came up the bay Win an
other tow. The Lichtenfels Brothers had ground
- n a r7ixrIp of the two and when pulled off
her CAPTAIN reported that his craft was making
water The tug came to the Upper Bay When
u -et;1rned- 10 the Lower Bay there was nothing
- ba seen Of the Lichtenfels Brothers except
a small portion of her hull 1t was reported tnat
the crew of four while asleep in their berths'
-rba Iicbtenfels Brothers was built in 1859
~ TboDnaston Ne. and had flown four hags
in the course of her history. First she noateo
the seas as the American ship Montebelo. Ihen
she became the British ship of the same name.
The German flag next waved over her as the
bark Matthias Still bark, but p lth the name
of Ceres she later bore the Russian nag Az
last she came back 10 the land OF her blrth ana
took ND the work of coal barge
on rhe same morning that the Lichtenfe!s
Brothers sank, the barge Mary Whitridge found
cred off Asf,uf-y Park. She, with the barge N q
" No : in tow Of the tug N & w, NO =, were
on rheir wsv from Norfolk to New-Bedford and
Vineyard Haven with coal The Whltrlose was
al the end of the tow. It was raining, ana
si-rv-five knot gale was blowing from the horti-
east Suddenly the Whitridge, without a mo-
roant's warming sank So rapidly did she go
down that the crew of the other barge had onIy
time 10 cut the line between the two to prevent
their craft from following the Whitridge- Inc
seams Of the barge. according to the captain
Of the tug. had probably opened All hanas
were lost.
where the barge sank there were no signs OF
life or of the vessel. The situation was made
mere difficult by the fact that the other barge
had lost seIf-control by damage to her steering
gear The Whitridge was formerly the famous
record breaking Baltimore clipper OF that name
built in 1850.
II is said that the old craft are better adapted
TO the uses Of the companies transporting coal
in this type Of vessels than new ones would
he. because Of the possibility of their getting
adrift and coming to grief The loss is less