Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1907-05-24
STEAMER naomi
BURNS IN M|DLAKE
ONE PASSENGER AND FOUR COAL
PAssERs PERISH IN THE
FLAMES.
REST OF PASSENGERS
HAVE NARROW ESCAPES
Capt. Trail Remains on Board the
Vessel Until All Are Safe in the
Small Boats-The Loss Will Be
$225,o

Grand Rapids, Mich, May 81
Four coal passers persisted and one
passenger, ]. M. Rhoades of Detroit
was burned fatally when the Crosby
line steamer Naomi, formerly the
Wisconsin, was destroyed by fire
early Tuesday in the middle of Lake
Michigan. Rhoades died in a hos
pital here. Fifty passengers and all
the crew except the four coal passers
freighter Kerr, the steamer Stratford
and the Naomi's sister ship. the Kan
sas, which was en- route from Milwau-
kee to Grand Haven.
Loss Will Be $225, 1000.
The loss on the Naomi, which was
in command of Capt. Thomas Trail, is
estimated at $225,000. After passen-
gers and crew were rescued barge
which had been attracted to the
scene by the fire put line on the
burning hulk and towed it into port.
1t was brought into Grand Haven at
noon.
The fire started near the kitchen,
between decks, and spread so rapidly
that the whole ship was seething
furnace before the crew could get the
fire apparatus working.
Passengers Only HaIf-clad.
Fire swept the whole length of the
ship and the upper works burned like
finder. 1t is considered miraculous
that the passengers all escaped.
Many were taken off in their night
clothes, while scarcely any one was
more than partially clad.
The fire was not discovered by any
OF the Naomi's crew, but was seen
first by the lookout on the steamer
Kansas, which was proceeding in the
opposite direction from Milwaukee to
Grand Haven. The Kansas made di.
rectly for the Naomi and meanwhile
the passengers of the Inflated boat
were being awakened.
Captains Clothing Burned.
Capt. Trail was the last man to
leave the steamer alive and his
clothing was almost burned off him.
The four coal passers who persisted
we're below in their hunks and are be-
lieved to have been penned there by
the flames. They are thought to have
shipped from Milwaukee.
1t is said by the passengers that the
screams of the men trapped in the
hold were heard, but that it was i'm
possible to reach them.
Charred Bodies Found.
Grand Haven, Mich, May 22.-The
burned bodies of the four missing coal
passers were found in the forecastle
of the Naomi when the hulk was
boarded here. They were not able to
make their way to the ballast tank.
Partial List Of Passengers.
Among the rescued passengers are
the following from points outside OF
Michigan: James Avery, Tulire, S.
D.; Miss Lulu Hanley, Waupaca,
Wis; William Guy, Port Washington,
Wis; William Sherwood, Fargo, N.
D.; A. E. Buckford, Green Bay, Wis;
r. F. Payne, Beaver Dam, Wis; Hen
ry NJ. Brown, 436 Broadway, Milwau-
kee; James Darling. 661 Twenty-ninth
street, Milwaukee; Perry Hunter,
Bremen, Ind; Gus Benin, 1853 Brady
street, Milwaukee; Mr.. and Mrs.
Pringle, Milwaukee; Joseph Heine, II
East Twelfth street, New York; Mr..
and Mrs. P. V. Sanborn, 622 Market
street, Kenosha, Wis; c. F. Schaddy,
Milwaukee,; Samuel Waterman, 1872
Water street, New York; A. Haviland
Bundy, Wis; g. W. Kellard, Fond du
Lac, Wis; Mrs. ]. H. Vance and
daughter, 304 Main street, Racine
Wis; John Rogers, Minneapolis; c.
G. Lachines, Milwaukee.
Rhoades Dies.
j. M. Rhoades of Detroit, the only
one of the passengers who was seri.
ously injured, was hurried to hos.
pital at Grand Rapids as soon as the
rescued people arrived here. He
died there few hours later. Mr.
Rhoades was a lumber expert for the
Detroit branch of the Diamond Match
company.
Cargo and Boat Insured.