The Minneapolis journal., 1902-08-05
STEAMERS
IN COLLISION /
kN NhlN
The City of Venice, Ore
Laden, Goes Down off
. .-.a
Rondeau, Ont.
Three Men Drowned, Three
Badly Hurt = Accident
Due to CareleSSneSS.

Cleveland Aug. 5.-As a result Of col
Nsion on Lake Erie between the steamer
City of Venice, ore laden, and the steamer |
seguin, a steel lumber vessel, off Ron
deau, Canada, last midnight, the former
vessel was sunk and three lives lost while
several other persons were more or less
seriously injured. The drowned are:
Peter Simondson. fireman. Buffalo. N. Y.
Thomas Flanagan, deck hand. Buffalo.
George Weir. watchman. residence unknown
The injured are: John Sullivan. Chi
cago, confusion of back, will probably
die; j. A. McDougal, Cheboygan, Mich,
chief engineer City of Venice, arm In
tured and body badly bruised; Louis
Hubecker, Cheboygan, Mich, head anu
back badly bruised.
The cause of the collision is not known.
There was no fog and the night was fair
ly clear. The lights of the City Of Venice
were burning brightly. To this the crew
and passengers all testified, saying that
they could see the lights of the Venice as
she was sinking The second mate OF
the Seguin, w. A. Lavigne. who was on
: watch. refuses absolutely to give any in
formation as to the way the accident
happened.
The less said about 1t the BETTER was
the only statement he made.
1t was shortly after midnight when the
accident happened. The City Of Venice,
laden with 5000 tons of ore, was bound to
Buffalo, while the Seguin was going north
20 Perry Sound from Ogdensburg. On
second mate and the watchman who was
with him in the pilothouse. The first
mate of the Venice, Sullivan, was on
watch aboard the boat that went. down.
The first that was known that any
thing had happened was terrible crash
II
standstill The Seguin had struck the
Venice fairly amidship and plowed Its
way half through the boat The crew and
passengers aboard both boats heard
tearing of timbers mingled with calls for
help from those already on deck All
those who were sleeping rushed out on
deck and there was frightful panic for
a time. The Venice. which had been
split in two, was sinking rapidly. Cap
tain Broderick ran on deck in his sleeping
robes and Immediately called to the men
to man the lifeboat. The members of the
crew who had not been hurt rushed to
his assistance and in Ave minutes they
had the boat in the water. Several oftthe
men feared that the ship would sink be-
fore they had an opportunity to escape,
threw themselves overheard They were
later picked up by the lifeboats from the
eeguin. The City OF Venice went down
in very deep water in less than fifteen
minutes after the collision occurred.
After standing by for an hour, the Seguin
headed for Cleveland with the survivors,
arriving here early to-day. The City OF
Venice was wooden vessel 301 feet long
and AZ feet beam. She was owned by the
McGraw Transportation company of Bay
City, Mich, and valued at about S175, 900.
She was commanded by Captain Broder-
3ck.
The Seguin is an iron vessel POT feet
long and 33 feet beam. She is owned by
J. B. Miller Of Parry Sound and command
cd by Captain J. B. Sims.
First Mate suIlivan's Story.
First Mate Sullivan Of the City OF
Venice, who is lying in critical condi-
tion at the marine hospital, rallied slight
tho collision.
II was on the night watch,' he said
''It was something after midnight wher
] first saw another boat ahead. 1t was
still some distance away, but I blew thu
whistle to signal the boat. She did no
answer. I thought it strange, but as sh'
was some distance away I made no at
tempt to get out Of the way. All ou
lights were burning and there was no fog
30 I don't see how they could have helpet
seeing our vessel. When the boat wa
considerably closer I whistled again, bu
STALL there was no answer. 1 was thel
frightened and signaled still anothe
least there was no attention paid to ou
signals and the boat was heading directl
down on us.
II then attempted to get out of tn
way and veered the ship diagonally in he
course, hoping to escape with a sligh
rub the collision that I began to realiz
was inevitable. She was even neare
than I supposed, however, and going a
fast rate. Suddenly the bow loomed u
high above us and there was sickenin
crash, and then for a moment I scarcel
realized what had happened. I wa
thrown from my feet by the jar and tn
pilothouse was crushed and piled on to
OF me. I felt a terrible pain in my bac
and chest and then was swept overboar
with the pilothouse. 1t all happened s
quick that I could scarcely realize eac
distinct sensation, however"
Sullivan was picked up after being i
the water a short time. Including tn
crew and passengers, there were abou
twenty-five persons on the City of Venic,