Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1906-1908, 1906-06-08
STEAMER ERIN
IS RUN DOWN.
Steamship Cowle Cuts Her in Two il St.
Clair River and Three Persons
Are Drowned

PORT HURON, Mich, May 81
Especial. THE Canadian steamer Erin
was cut in two and sent to the bottom
of st. Clair river, opposite st. Clair. by
the steel steamer Cowle, early today.
Until late hour this afternoon it was
believed that five people lost their lives
as the result OF the collision. Then a
dispatch from Cartwright, Ontario, was
received, which stated that Chief Engl-
neer Patrick Quinn of Port Dalhousle,
Ontario Fireman Bang" Hill, st. Cath
crimes, Ontario, and the first mate OF the
Erin had come ashore there. Ihey
caught wreckage and foated about for
almost twelve hours. They will recover,
it is believed.
Three Others Believed Dead.
Those believe to be dead as result
of the collision are as follows:
REED, MRS. MARY, Spanish River, Ont.
WATCHMAN, shipped from Detroit, home
Amherstburg, Ont.
HUBERT, MRS, cook, of Cleveland.
Six Saved from the Erin.
Six of the Erins crew and the 49,
,ycar-oid son of Mrs Reed, who was on
the steamer, were saved carrier. capt.
Sullivan and the boy We're picked up by
the yawI of the Danforth, while fisher
men saved Mate George Patterson OF
Port Dalhousie, Ont; James Dagden
and Grove Shook of Windsor, Ont, and
Thomas Lyon and George Fanshaw of
Gloversville \. Y. The rescued men
were taken to the plant OF the Great
Lakes Engineering company at ST. Clalr:
The Erin was carrying SUI tons OF
coal from st. GATHERINGS to Algoma
Mills. Officers of the schooner Dantorth
charge that the COwle did not stop ana
assist in the rescue of the Erins crew.
No Time to Save Sleepers.
The two boats met off the st. Clair
shipyard in a fog a little after ) o'clock.
The Cowle struck the Erin aft OF the
forward rigging and so quickly did the
Canadian go down that there was no
time to save the sleeping members OF
the crew.
The Cowle passed here at 2 o'clock,
and her time to St Clair indicates she
was not running under check. She be-
longs to the United States Transporter
ton company of Cleveland, otherwise
known as the Typewriter fleet.
Erin's Last Trip Disastrous.
This last trip of the Erin, which was
one of the old-timers of the lakes, has
been a particularly fatal one. She en-
countered the storm on Lake Erie and
finally reached Cleveland after a perilous
voyage, during which her second en-
gineer was washed overheard and lost.
She was owned by Thomas Conlon of
Thorold, Ontario.
Captain Hurled Into River.
Capt. Sullivan of the Erin was in the
pilot house when the collision occurred
and the impact of the steel freighter as
she hit his boat threw him into the
river. He fioated down to Marine City
on some wreckage before being rescued.
Capt. Sullivan says that the officers of
the Cowle evidently were confused as to
the number of boats approaching and
that this caused the collision. The body
of Mrs. Reed came to the surface soon
after the accident, and has been picked
up.
Denies Cowles Hurried Away.
The Cowles stopped when she arrived
at Detroit to permit Capt, Montague to
report and confer by telephone with his
owners. He denied that the Cowles did
not stop after the accident.
The COwles appeared to be full of
water forward and was working her
steam pumps.
Collision Due to Mix-up.
MARINE CITY, Mich, May 81
Especial. 1.-The cause Of the loss of the
Canadian steamer Erin with five of her
crew this morning was mix-up due
running the river in the fog.
The John 3. CoWle, bound down, and
the Erin, bound up, had exchanged prop
er signals and would have passed all
right, but just at this juncture another
upbound steamer blew pass signals to
the Cowle: In trying to avoid the new
conner, it is said, the Cowle was forced
over into the course of the Erin.
The body of one of the women victims
of the collision has been picked I'D a