Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1903-01-31
HUB Foe BOUND.
Boston FerYboat's "a CHI Have
Terrifying Two Hours.
Hancoeks GOO Passengers on Verge Of
Panic as She Drifts and Bumps
Hbout-Eairoad and Street Car
Traffic Tied Up for Hours by the
Densest Fog in The Hubs History.

Densest Fog in The Hubs History.
Boston, MaSs.-A gray Eaak OF fog
wlich easily holds ali records lJr dena-
lty and perseverance settled u.Cr BOJ-
toa early last evening and held the
city in smother OF mist that WAS all
but impcnetrabie for Il LunlLer of
hours.
a crowded icrrybuat lost In the har-
tor for two hours, Railroad trains de-
layed aud cancelled, peiestriani-m aai
driving rendered uncertain and Unsafe
and ghts practically un4cAred were
among the features Of the njnll's man
| Hesitation.
| llarl or navigation and tho operation
of railroad trains were more seriously
lnterlered with than by any other
| fog in the memory OF some of the old
est men engaged in sportatiun SER
vice. In addition to the loss" of the
ferryDoat alluded lO-On the East BOs-
ton line--is recorded the fact the Chcl-
sea boats were haa''i OF completely,
while it was found necessary ia some
instances to cancel local trains on the
Boston & Maine system. III the lat
ter case, however, the hour at which
the fog began to make itself most man.
ifest was sufficiently late 10 prevent
serious interference with the heaviest
| travel of the night and fewer per-
sons were incommoded than would
have been the case had it come 4
| couple of hours earlier.
About $50 o'clock trouble made its
though it was an hour later before the
average citiZel discovered ii in other
| sections of the city. For the sue
ceeding four hours the lives of those
having the lives of others in charge
were made miserable by the condi-
tions. At the North and South sta
tions most of the suburhanites had
been disposed OF, but enough re-
mained, with the addition of the peo-
pie coming into the city on through
! and local trains, to !aake substantial
addition to those disturbed by the eX-
listing conditions, and to increase the
burden OF responsibility on the shOul-
ders of those iltrusted with their safe
| transportation.
On the streets OF the city, at s
o'clock, the movements OF cars and
other vehicles were characterized by
an immense amount of necessary eau
ton. The fog was not OF uniform
long duration. but the latter repeated
itself briefly aLoIt 1890 O'Clock. At
o'clock, however, the efforts of man to
light natures darkness were extreme
ly inefficient
Th good old-hlshiCnad N,c-wheel
ferryboat Gen. Hancock departed from
the South ferry at $50 p. m, with GOO
passengers aboard and. after she had
proceeded 100 feet ont into the stream
disappeared from the rest Of the world
for nearly two hours.
In that interval there was much ado.
The boat collded several times with
wharves, and once with steamer at
her dock. and finally struck sideways,
clumsily and vigorously, against a
stone abutmcnt of the new dry dock
at the Charlestown navy yard. There
was no damage done to the boat in
her wanderings in the densest fog in
in the history of the ferry service, and
there were no injuries to the passen-
gers, save to nerves.
Shortly after leaving her pier the
In nt CT nj
big steamer that lay at wharf. No
dan nge was done to either vessel, and
| the Hancock was back in the shroud
| Of mist, alone almost Immediately.
| The collision was Il spark, however, to
| the uncanny feelings among the 600
| passengers of all nationalities. Men
lost their heads and ran up and down
the boat grabbing fiercely for the life
preservers; women screamed, became
| hysterical and several tainted. Capts.
Burke and Searles attempted in vain
to calm the people in their care.
| Meanwhile the Hancock driftd about
| like a derelict and once fetched up
with bump against some projection
on the Boston proper side of the har-
Dor. An instant later to the accom-
paniment of 600 yelling, frightened
voices. the craft was swallowed up
again in the unpenetrable mist Hith
er and thither like a puzzled drunk
| she wandered uncertainty. her skilled
navigators unable to make head or tail
/ of their surroundings. until she even
| tually brought up at the navy yard,
| where there was Il general disembarka-
tion accompanied with considerable
disorder on the part of the passen-
gers. From Charestown the latter.
with evident Discrimination to try the
ferry again during the fog threaded
their way homeward by way Of Chel-
sea.