The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-11-14
GRAVEYARD OF THE LAKES.
SUPERIOR MOST DANGEROUS
 W4TER IN AMERICA.
That Hide the Lights-Boat Becomes Ice-Mysteries of an Inland Sea.

~nai4aAaSeADle through JUBILEE "A
 lce-Mysteries of an Inland Sea.
 This season of extraordinary peril, when men and ships go down with alarming frequency on the great in- land seas, has now begun. Each year, from November until the close of navigation, occur on an avearge more tragedies on the Great Lakes than dur ing all the rest of the season, says the Milwaukee Sentinel.
 Tt is the season when, for the sake of higher rates, captains and owners hazard lives and property in mad races with the last cargoes from the North. From now on the scores of men who guard the dangerous points between Duluth-Superior and Buffalo are doubly Vigilant. Constant guard is kept by lifesaving crews. Powerful lights burn through every hour of the night, and with the coming of autumn they burn through most of the hours of the day. At any minute the 300 watchdogs be- tween the end d0f Eriee and stormy Lake Superior know that tragedy may be literally blown upon them. It is always during these days of late and dangerous navigation that oc- cur those tragedies which forever after remain deep mysteries. A ship goes out and never appears again. Only during the cold, stormy autumn weeks has this been known to occur, with one ex- ception. Then heavy fogs hide the bea- cons that mark the danger lines. There are blinding snowstorms which shut out the most powerful lights and gales which drive ships with a fury not equalled on the oceans.
 These are the days when the ''little ice devils" get in their work, wher1s de- spite all human efforts, tons upon tons 1 of ice grow to the sides of ships, and 1 like so much lead weigh them down to l the bottom of the sea, In Superior. the bottom of which is filled with deep pits and caverns, a ship drawn down by the ice never returns to the surface, | for down in the black, cold depths of l the pits the ice never melts.
 l Some have said if this were so "Su- erior would in time become filled with ice.' but scientific Investigations have proved otherwise. The ice is heavy enough to carry a ship under water and when once under water the ship carries the ice to the bottom. Other wise the ice would not sink. Bodies which sink in the lake are seldom re covered. Of the 190 persons drowned on the Great Lakes two years ago SC were lost in Superior, and only four ot these were found. Of the 150 lost last year more than 40 were drowned in Superior, and three-fourths of the bod 1 ies disappeared forever. This year the causalties on Superior have been ert- menduous. and within recent weeks several ships have gone to the bottom there and only one person of all those lost has been recovered. With the un. usually high rates paid for the carry ing of ore this year, ship captains and owners are predicting that more yes. sels than ever before will risk the per. ills of late navigation. and consequent. l 1y more lives will be lost.
 Notwithstanding the many tragedies that occur each year on Lake Superior Erie has long been known as tht Graveyard of the Great Lakes From 1 the day the British fleet was met there and defeated by the Americans its rec ord has been rising. Many years age approximations sailors regarded it, a. possessed of devils. and the majority oi seamen would rise from their berthS and completely dress if they were pass, ing Point Pelee in the night. of that point scores of vessels have gone tc their doom and hundreds of lives have been lost. The most beautiful of tht five lakes in calm Weather-Erie-~per haps with the exception of Superior, i: the most violent during storms.
 But the location of the Graveyard o
 the Lakes" has been changing during the last few years, and now it is prob
 able that Lake Superior can justly claim that title. The increased traffic
 between Duluth and more eastern port! is each year taking more and more yes sels across Superior, and 1t must be sai( that Superior is the most dangerou. stretch of water in America, especially from September on,
 A late November trip across Superior is filled with days of anxiety for th4 crew, captain and owners. Wherever the vessel is sighted along the way news is sent to the owners. But thert may come a time when it appears nc more, The story of the tragedy is sim. ple.. It may have been clear when tho ship left port, but soon the air turns bitter cold and the clear sky gives place to banks of snow clouds. Dark
 ness comes in the middle of the after
 noon, and oftentimes with this darkness a. heavy gale. Now the darkness o
 day is worse than the densest black
 ness of night Through the latter gloom the lights from the shore may be seen, but clouds of snow and slee
 hide these, So everything depends up on the captain. If he thinks he is neal the Big Sable light all eyes are strained to catch glimpse of it. But that light
 as powerful as it is, may not be seen { mile away. So. unwarned of danger the vessel runs too close to the danger ous reef ridden shore, and is beater
 to pieces, This is what happened some time ago to the Western Reserve with in 8 shore distance of the most power ful light on the lakes--the Big Sable.
 This is one way in which Superi0 claims her victims. But there is an
 other way, and 8 more terrible one
 The day may be clear, but it is bitte cold Waves and Sparv dash 1Inon +h,