New-York tribune., 1909-12-11
F0RTY-FIVE MISSING
THIRTY-TWO ON BIG
LAKE CAR FERRY.
No Trace of Clarion's Lfeboat
-Sir Lues Lost When
Dredge Sinks.


seamen are missing tonight. All hope
that the car ferry Marquette and Besse-
mer No. . outlived the wintry gale
which has made of Lake Erie a watery
graveyard during the last seventy-two
hours has been practically abandoned
at the head Offices. in Walkersville. Ont,
of the Marquette aud Bessemer Dock
and Navigation Company. owners Of the
ill-fated vessel,
II is believed that Captain r. r. Nc
Leod. of Conneaut, Ohio. and his crew
Of thirty-one men have gone down TO
death with the big steamer.
The tug Alva B.. standing off the
breakwater at Cleveland tonight after
a thirty-six hours search for the captain
and twelve sailors Of the burned steamer
Clarion, reported by megaphone TO the
lighthouse keeper that the men had
surely drowned. No trace of them was
found I'm the search of the lake to-day.
BIG STEAM BARGE ASHORE.
The crew of the Alva b, exhausted to
the point of collapse from cold and
fatigue, brought word that the barge
Josiah B. Munro. which went aground on
Southeast ShoaI. did so in daring at
tempt to save the crew of the burning
Clarion
Captain Frank Hackett Of the light
ship at the shoaL described to the men
on the Alva how the Munro. an un-
wieldy steam barge "A tenth of a mile
long, maneuvred in the roaring gale to
reach the Clarion, and how. veering, she
grounded on the shoaI. His story was
corroborated by Captain Sayre of the
Munro.
The movements of the Munro, in the
heavy gloom that surrounded the burn
ing boat. are taken TO explain the state
ments OF the rescued men that several
vessels passed them without giving aid.
The men who left the Clarion or the
lifeboat are dead" said Captain Ryan of
the Alva r.
The Marquette and Bessemer No. .
left Conneaut. Ohio. at 1925 o'clock on
Tuesday morning for Port Stanley, Ont.
with thirty loaded coal cars, and under
ordinary conditions should have arrived
at her destination at p. m. the same
day. She had not been sighted by other
boats.
An empty green yawl boat and some
wreckage were seen by the steamer W.
B Davock near Long Point. Ont. in the
path which the ferry would have taken.
The yawl boats of the No. 2 are painted
green
The Marquette and Bessemer No. I
left Conneaut at a. m. on Tuesday for
Port Stanley, and il was about sixty
hours before she was heard from. She
has since searched the lake toward Point
Pelee. but has found nothing of her
sister ship Tugs have secured the lake
and report no trace of the No. . The
captain OF the missing boat is Robert
r. Mcleod; the first mate, John Mcleod,
and the second mate, F. Stone. 1t is not
definitely known whether or not there
were passengers on board
The wives and children of the officers
and men of the missing car ferry were
grouped tonight at the wharf at Con-
neaut awaiting the return OF a tug
which left Port Dover this afternoon for
Long Point.
CAR FERRY OVERLOADED?
In case the scattered wreckage re
ported by the steamer W. b. Davock is
that of the ferry, the cause of the dis
aster will be ascribed in Conneaut In
part TO the manner in which she was
loaded. \ heavy weight of bridge iron,
piled on top of ordinary freight cars.
may have shifted in the heavy seas,
placing the craft out Of control
MI
was valued at S350,OOO. and the cargo at
upward of $4,000. She was built at
Cleveland in 1905. The boat is operated
by the Pere Marquette and the Bes-
semer & Lake Erie roads.
By the sinking of Dredge No. s. owned
by the Great Lakes Dredging Company.
near Mutton Island, in Thunder Bay. last
night, six men lost their lives. The
wreck was caused by the ice cutting
holes in the hull of the dredge, which
was being towed into Port Arthur. ont.
Eight of the fourteen hnen on board were
able to Jump on to the scow alongside,
but the others. who endeavored to save
some of their belongings after the dredge
started to sink, were unable to get
aboard the scow. The dredge was i'm tow
of the tug Inez, and sank so quickly
that the tow line had TO be cut with an
axe TO prevent her being hauled down.
The sand boat Reliance, owned by
Nicholson Brothers. of Duluth, sank
near Marshland at st. Clair Flats to-
dav. The crew OF eleven men reached
shore safely in their small boats. II is
thought either the cargo of sand shifted
or the vessels hull was punctured by
heavy ice through which she was fore
ing her way. The Reliance was bound
from Port Huron to Detroit.
THIRTY VESSELS HELD UP.
About thirty vessels are anchored near
the government canal at the mouth Of
the st. Clair River. unable to enter Lake
St. Clair because Of the ice. which is
four inches thick on the lake. The heav-
lily laden ore boats were held because Of
the fear of injury 10 their hulls IL an
attempt was made TO crush their way
through the ice. II is feared some Of
the boats may have 10 stay where they
are all winter.
All but five Of the crew of the freight
er W. c. Richardson. which foundered
during a storm early yesterday outside
the Buffalo breakwater are safe I'm that
city. Mrs. John Bransford. the stew
ards wife. of Lorain, Ohio, was washed
o,,arhoar1 drOu-pa1