Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1906-1908, 1907-11-29
CARS LOOSE in A STORM
TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE ON BOARD
PERE MARQUETTE NO. 1s.
Freight Cars Overturned and Railroad
Ties and Ore Piled Up in Tan
gLed Mass.

MILWAUKEE,, Wis, Nov. %
With her upper works badly damaged,
ore cars overturned and the cargo bat
tered to mass Of tangled wreckage, the
carfcrry perc Marquette No. 16 now lies
in the Northwestern Fuel conpany's
slip at Greenfield avenue after valiant
fight with the storm on Lake Michigan
Wednesday night
The carfcrry was being driven toward
the NLitCGsh bay beach when two ar
chors were thrown rut and the engines
reversed. After riding at anchor for
eighteen hours, the captain made tenn
porary repairs and ran into the Milwau-
kcc harbor The Pere Marquette arrived
off Whitcfsh bay on the run from Pcsh-
tIgo 70 South Chicago with a cargo Of
eight cars Of railway ties and twenty
cars Of iron ore.
] he heavy sea breaking over the vessel
upset the cars loaded with ties and it
was due to this fact that the other cars
were not damned through the sides Of
the vessel. Tn" ties jammcd between
them and held them although several
were overturned. The crew was unable
TO do anything during the storm, and
two hrcmen, james Lee and james Kin
ncy. were caught in the hold when 30
tons Of ore fell
The carfcrry was in charge of Capt
Fred johnson, and the crew consisted Of
fWcmE-seven men. The damage is esti-
mated at $4,000, but it is not probable
That tie repairs can he made before the
close Of the season.
The horror Of the awful night on the
is" during the fearful storm when the
load u freight cars carried on the deck
Of The vessel broke loose was readily
appreciated after look ut the tangled
mp wreckage on the boat this morning
Freight cars loaded with iron ore iron
junk and railroad ties, were piled in an
inIiscrlmnato heap. Steam escaping
from the leaking pipes, which had been
bent and twisted ont Of shape by the
fearful rolling Of the heavy freight, added
to the scene Of desoIatiOn which met the
eye How the sides Of the ferry ever
withstood the terrific pounding Of the
cars between decks is almost inconcciV-
able.
The smoke stacks were slipped off the
tangcs on the upper deck and when the
crippled boat came into port this morn
ing under hex own steam, smoke was
escaping from everywhere but the stacks.
The electric lighting system was de
ranged early in the night and as a result
several fires started on board the boat
i'll almost inaccessible places, threa tening
to add the horror of fire at sea i'll addi-
ton to the terrible internal pounding the
BOAT was beng subjected TO.
The fires were extinguished, however,
before any great damage was done
twisted stanchions, pipes, and other
metal work, together with hundreds of
railroad ties and iron junk mixed into
one conglomerate mass, made an attempt
10 penetrate the interior Of the vessel al
most an impossiblity. The presence of
any members of the crew on the car
decks during the storm, would have
meant instant IGai H.
In addition to the officers, Fred John
son, captain, Charles Webb, first mate;
William Boyd, second mate; Bert Rice,
chief engineer, and Edward Schaefcr and
Joseph Francart, his assistants; and John
Carter, deck boss, there were twenty
nine members in the crew. All were OK
tremely thankful this morning to be able
to step upon terra firma once more
"Ay tank Ay'l nayair 20 ouat on dat
boat no more, said one fair haired son
Of Norway when he stepped off at the
dock this morning.
The carfcrry will remain in port here
Tor several days at least, until it is de
termined whether the necessary repairs
Will be made here or at Chicago.