Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1908-10-23
BURSTING STEAM
PIPE KILLS FOUR
ON LAKE BARGE
TERRIBLE ACCIDENT ON BOARD
STEAMER MAGGIE MARSHALL
OFF KENOSHA.
MEN ARE SCALDED TO DEATH.
Chief Engineer John Peterson the Only
Known Victim of Awful Marine
Tragedy.
MEN ARE SCALDED TO DEATH.
crew OF YAWL SWIM ASHORE.

KENOSHA, Wis, Oct. 20.-[Special.l
-Four men were literally cooked to
death on board the steam barge Maggie
Marshall of Manistee, Mich, in mid
lake off Kenosha at 10 o'clock last night
when steam pipe in the enginee room
broke and the escaping steam burned
the men to death before they could make
their way out of the engine room. The
list of the dead is not known at this
time. as the three members of the crew
who reached Kenosha just after IL
o'clock this morning after swimming a
mile against north wind could not give
their names.
Chief Engineer Killed.
It is known that one of the dead men
is Chief Engineer John Peterson Of
Manistee, while the others were his as
sistants in the engine rooms. All of the
bodies were cooked to a crisp. The ke-
nosha lifesaving crew in charge of Capt.
Fountain, left for the vessel at noon but
it is not expected that they will return
with the dead until late this afternoon
Steam Pipe Bursts.
The accident was one of the most hor-
rible ever reported on this portion OF
the Great Lakes and the story of the
survivors is a terrible one. The barge
left Chicago light at 5 o'clock last night
in charge of Capt. Andrew A. Olesen of
Manistee, one of the best known captains
on the lake. There was a crew of thir-
teen men on board and as they were on
their last trip of the season they had
been making merry on board. The men
had made no move to retire for the
night, but had planned to spend a night
of gaiety in anticipation of their reach
ing home today.
Just after 10 o'clock when the boat
was in mid-lake thirty miles east of
Kenosha the steam pipe burst, causing
a terrible noise like an explosion. The
main valve of the engine was blown into
the stairway and the men on the upper
part OF the steamer at once closed down
the matches in an effort to prevent all
of the members of the crew being killed.
Bodies Are Recovered.
No sound came from the engine room
in the hold Of the boat. The captain and
the crew knew that their companions
must have met terrible death, but none
dared to venture into the engine room on
account of the escaping steam. The boat
was anchored at once and the bells start
ed going and at the same time flag of
distress was hung up, but no aid came to
the vessel.
At dawn this morning Capt. Oleson
led the men into the engine room and
three of the dead bodies were brought
up. The body of the fireman, the last
victim, was found in the fireman's hold.
The skin was simply cooked from the
bodies. After the dead bodies had been
laid out as decently as possible on the
main hatch the members Of the crew
awaited the coming of aid and at 10
o'clock when no aid came it was decided
to draw cuts to see who should make
an effort to reach the shore through the
terrific sea. The fate fell to n. G.
Thompson, mate; Otto Falk, wheels
man, and Olex Fresstrem, a deck hand.
Men Swim Ashore.
Taking their lives in their hands they
left in the yawl for the beach a mile and
a half away. They had gone less than a
quarter of mile when the boat turned
turtle and they were forced to swim the
rest of the distance to the beach: They
reached the shore exhausted and found
their way to farm house, where they
told part of their terrible story: Later
they came to Kenosha and notified the
lifesaving crew.