Chicago Tribune, May 19, 1894
The northeast gale which began with the change of weather Thursday night blew with increasing force all day yesterday. The gale approached the dignity of a hurricane, blowing at intervals at sixty miles an hour. The beach in the neighborhood of Chicago was “lee shore.” From Glencoe to South Chicago it was strewn with wreckage. Eight vessels came to grief and at least ten lives were sacrificed. The lumber fleet suffered most. The financial loss approaches $100,000, to say nothing of the injury to the Illinois Central’s right of way.
The scene off the Lake-Front was unparalleled in Chicago’s history and thousands of people turned out to witness the thrilling incidents of the day. At midnight several craft were in danger of going on the beach. Following are the vessels wrecked in the vicinity of Chicago:
- VESSELS LOST.
Schooner Evening Star, Capt. M. W. Kilton, went ashore at Twenty-sixth street at 4:30 p.m.; crew of five rescued by people on shore; tonnage, 214; length, 126 feet; team, 25 feet; built 1868 at Sheboygan, Wis home port, Sheboygan, Wis.; owned by W. D. Crocker and others; value of vessel, $6,000; no insurance; light.
Schooner C. G. Mixer, Capt. Henry Ahebahs, went ashore at One Hundredth street at 4 p.m.; crew of seven rescued by South Chicago life-saving crew; tonnage, 294; length, 130 feet; beam, 26 feet; built in 1867 at Hudson, N. Y.; home port, Chicago; owner, Henry Ahebahs, Chicago; value, $3,000; cargo, ties, val. ved at $3,000; wessel not insured; cargo insured.
Schooner Myrtle, Capt. Wilson, went down off Thirty-fifth street at 6:30 p. m.; crew of six supposed to be drowned; tonnage, 207; length, 118 feet; beam, 24 feet; built in 1857 at Milan, O.; home port, Chicago.
Schooner Lincoln Dall, Capt. S. Johnson, went ashore at Glencoe at 2:80; Anton Gundersen, Manistee, Mich., deckhand, drowned: crew of four rescued by Evanston life-saving crew; tonnage, 206; length, 115 feet; beam, 25 feet; built in 1869 at Chicago; home port, Chicago; owned by crew and not in-sured; cargo, lumber, valued at $2,500.
Schooner Jack Thompson, Capt. Thomas Will. jams, went ashore at Twenty-sixth street at 3:25 p. m.: John Johnson, cook, drowned: crew of six saved by people on shore; tonnage, 209; length, 120 feet; beam, 25 feet; built 1865 at Conneaut, O.; home port, Chicago; cargo, lumber.
Schooner J. Loomis McLaren, Capt. K. Johnson, went ashore at Twenty-seventh street at 7:30: J. Poland, mate, killed in midlake: crew of six rescued by police; tonnage, 272; horne port, Chicago.
Schooner Mercury, Capt. M. Shumer, went ashore at Twenty sixth street at 5 p. m.: crew of seven rescued at Illinois Central pier; tonnage, 280; length, 121 feet; beam, 27 feet; built 1871 at New Jerusalem, O.; home port, Grand Haven, Mich.; owner, Mrs. Sterling. Ludington. Mich.; cargo. lumber valued at $4,500, not insured; value of vessel, $8,000; uninsured.
Schooner Rainbow, Capt. Pugh, fouled off the harbor at noon and capsized by the Jack Thompson, sank at 3:40 p. m. off Twelfth street: four men rescued from vessel by tug Spencer; the Captain and two men went ashore on a hatchway at Twenty-fifth street at 5 p. m.: tonnage, 256; length 125 feet; beam, 27 feet; built 1855 at Buffalo, N. Y.; home port, Milwaukee; cargo, lumber.
The number of lives known to have been lost is ten. The list is as follows:
- THE KILLED.
Gunderson, Anton, Manistee, Mich., sailor on Lincoln Dall, drowned at Glencoe.
Johnson, John, cook on schooner Jack Thompson, fell from life lines and drowned.
Poland, J., mate schooner J. Loomis McLaren killed in midiake by falling spar.
Sidlo, Thomas, tailor, Nineteenth and Morgan streets, swept from the government break water and drowned.
Wilson,—— Captain schooner Myrtle.
Unknown Man, schooner Myrtle.
Unknown Man, schooner Myrtle.
Unknown Man, schooner Myrtle.
Unknown Man, schooner Myrtle.
Unknown Man, schooner Myrtle.
Vessels Keep to Port.
The southerly winds which have prevailed several days held many Chicago-bound sailing vessels in port farther down the lake. The same wind was favorable to those bound out for cargoes, and a large fleet accumulated in ports at the lower end of the lake. With the change of the wind to the north Thursday night the Captains made haste to set sail for Chicago, and the lake was dotted with their boats. Then the storm broke. The Captains, realizing that their only hope was to make Chicago, merely shortened sail and held their courses. By midnight Thursday the tugs had brought in a large fleet and went out for more. But as.the storm increased in fury the Captains found it difficult to bring their boats into the harbor, and by daybreak the strongest and most powerful tugs in the Chicago fleet were unable to breast the storm and bring their tows into the river.
The north breakwater, however, afforded some protection for the schooners, and the boats anchored in a long line off the city. Then the storm became so violent that the tugs were barely able to live in the sea alone, and the situation became serious for the anchored fleet. The anchors lost their hold on the bottom, and many of the boats settled steadily toward the shore. In a vain effort to better the situation some of the Captains made a little sail and tried to make the harbor. but they were driven through the anchored fleet, crashing into other vessels, carrving away spars, rigging, and smashing large holes in the other boats.
At dark last night the situation for the fleet at anchor, numbering nearly a score, was critical. Marine men declared unless the wind should go down during the night some uf the boats must surely go to pieces or on the beach. The life-saving crow stationed at Jackson Park was of little value to the imperiled seamen, and had it not been for a volunteer crew of fishermen the death list would have been greatly augmented. The crews of the tugs worked heroically in their efforts to save lives and property, and many boats are at their docks that would have been total losses had it not been for the tugmen, who risked their lives many times to save others.
LOCATION OF FLEET AT 4:80 P. M. FROM AUDITORIUM TOWER.
This diagram roughly shows the situation as seen from the Auditorium Tower at 4:30 yesterday afternoon. It shows the lake-front from the river to Twenty-seventh street. No one remembers the time when so many distressed craft were to be seen off Chicago. A. is the wreck of the Evening Star which sailed through the fleet under jib and was beached up against the breakwater. B. is the wreck of the J. Thompson, which lies near by with everything gone except the stump of the foremast. D. is the capsized Rainbow, with three men clinging to its hull. Most of the vessels outside the government breakwater are three-masted schooners at anchor, the three steam vessels being indicated by smoke. The north schooner inside. the breakwater made the shelter in first-class style, unaided, at 4:15. It came from the north under a jib, flew through the center breakwater opening. set a rag of a mainsail, came into the wind. and let go its anchor. The third vessel, a big steam barge, was utterly helpless. It dragged its anchors, missed fouling the second schooner by eighteen inches, and was saved from going to pieces on the breakwater by two tugs. The two vessels to the south of the fleet outside the breakwater are the J. Loomis McLaren and the Mercury. both of which went ashore later at Twenty-seventh street. The Myrtle went down off Thirty-fifth street, which is eight blocks to the south of the wrecks of the Evening Star and J. Thompson.
SIX ARE LOST WITH THE MYRTLE.
Thousands Witness a Schooner’s Crew Go Down Off Thirty-fifth Street.
The little schooner Myrtle, commanded by Capt. Wilson and manned by a crew of five men, whose names are unknown, made a gallant fight, but it went down off Thirty-fifth street with all hands on board. In endeavoring to rescue its crew the life-savers narrowly escaped death. The boat was lying off Van Buren street apparently secure when another schooner slipped anchor, fouled it, and stove a great hole in its side. The Myrtle quickly settled to the water’s edge and for hours afterward all that could be seen of it from the mouth of the river was one of the masts, and occasionally the prow when it was thrown up by the waves. The members of the crew were huddled together on the poop and for weary hours waited for rescue or a watery grave.
Several attempts were made to rescue these unfortunate men. The first effort was that of the tug Protection of the Dunham line, Capt. William Smith, without the lifeboat. Capt. Smith steamed out and found that the Myrtle had drifted to Twelfth street and was sur-. rounded with wreckage and cordage so that it could not be approached without fouling his propeller and wrecking the tug too. He was therefore compelled to return without having done any more than raise the hopes of the imperiled men.
Capt. Smith was then reinforced by the lifeboat, and another effort was made. The plan was for the tug to tow the lifeboat to the windward of the wreck and then let it drift close enough to take the crew off. The start was exciting and the hearts of the people who witnessed it were thrilled at the gallantry of the men who cheerfully welcomed such peril for the sake of helping their fellow-men. It did not take long for the tug and its minute convoy to pass out of sight, and what followed, though partly witnessed through glasses from the cupola of the life-saving station, was not fully known until an hour or two later. when the adventurous crew returned.
“The effort was worse than a failure,” said Capt. Smith to a reporter for The Tribune. “We had no sooner passed through the gap in the breakwaters than the waves capsized the lifeboat and threw its crew out into the water. We then lost all idea of going to the Myrtle, as we had all we could do to save the crew of the lifeboat. They had on cork jackets, so they were in no danger of sinking immediately, but they were heavily loaded down with clothing, including raincoats and boots, and could not float for any great length of time. The wind blew them and the tug around promiscuously, so that we could not get together or even throw a line with any accuracy. It took us an hour to get the six men out of the water into the tug, and we were mighty fortunate to do it at all.
“When we had fished them up they were nearly frozen and unfit for any further exer-tion. Moreover, the lifeboat was completely dismantled, The rudder was broken and tie oars and everything loose had. floated off. So we righted it and towed it in, and on the way back it was upset twice. The effort was a complete failure. We got close enough to see the sir men hanging together on the poop of the Myrtle, and then had to turn our backs on them and leave them to their fate. I am confident nothing can save them, and they must be lost.”
At 4 o’clock Capt. Fountain of the lifeboat announced that he would never give up the crew of the Myrtle without another effort. Most of his crew were entirely used up and exhausted, but he called for a volunteer crew and went all around the station among the fishermen and others asking for men who would risk another attempt with another tug. He did not get his men at once.
George Malette, who was nearly drowned on the other trip, said of course he would be one, and Nels St. Peter also said he was will. ing to try it again. The other volunteers were William Brown, Ted Minor, Edward Gilbert, and one of the reporters for The Tribune present at the scene. When the number was made up the men adjourned to the back room of the station to make their preparations. They were all arrayed in yellow rain-coats and close fitting caps, and had buckled around them large cork jackets. Meanwhile Capt. Fountain questioned each one separately as to his qualifications, and solemnly informed him he would probably never come back alive. Moreover he exacted a vow of allegiance, and said every man who refused to obey his orders would be thrown overboard. Great serious. ness prevailed, valuables were handed to others for safekeeping, and farewell messages dictated.
But this noble project was destined to have an inglorious conclusion. In the room where the men were dressing there was a bountiful supply of whisky, and while some of the volunteers did not touch it, the others poured all down their throats they could hold, and carefully stowed away the rest in their pockets to refresh themselves out on the water. Capt. Fountain in particular imbibed so freely that he soon began to stagger. Meanwhile the preparations went forward. The only other lifeboat at the station was hauled to the dock and some of the men jumped in and made the usual preparations for a sail.
But while this was going on Capt. Fountain could no longer stand on his feet. In passing around the station building, where there were loose planks, he fell headlong and was unable to rise again. His head was cut and bleeding when he was found and taken into the station. As one or two others were showing the effects of liquor also it became evident that it was not safe to let them go out, nor to go out with them. The result was the effort was abandoned.
The unfortunate sailors couid be seen standing huddled together on top of the cabin deck. Then the boat began to drift and driven by the fierce gale took a southern course On it drifted past Twenty-fifth. street where two wrecked schooners were pounding on the beach. The men evidently hoped that the current would also draw them to the shore. Suddenly a big wave struck the boat and it listed. It passed out of the current and rap. idly floated south. When it reached Thirty-first street the Myrtle began to sink slowly.and within twenty minutes had gone down with all men aboard off Thirty-fifth street. Vainly the sailors attempted to save their lives. Three of them clung to the side of the boat while three others climbed to the mast. But their efforts were of no avail.
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