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Individuals desiring to use this material in their own research may do so. ========================================================================= Formatted by U.S. Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== NAME: Adella Shores OTHER NAME(s): - REASON: foundered in storm DATE: May 1, 1909 LOCATION: Lake Superior, off Whitefish Point TYPE: propeller, steamer HULL TYPE: wooden BUILDER: Wolverine Ship Building Co., Gibralter, MI - 1894 OWNER: Manx Transit Company, Cleveland, OH MASTER: Capt. Samuel Holmes (some accounts say S. Holmes or Seivert Holmes) TONNAGE: 734.38 gross LENGTH: 195.16 ft BEAM: 34.75 ft DEPTH: 11.33 ft CASUALTIES: 14-21* (accounts vary) SURVIVORS: 0 STEAMER SHORES LOST IN SUPERIOR ----------- Wrecked off Whitefish Point - Crew and Passengers Perished Cargo from Anchor Salt Block Ludington - Wreckage Strewn on Lake Tells Tale ----------- When the big barge Adella Shores steamed out of this harbor April 21 with a cargo of 1,380 tons of salt from the Anchor Salt block of this city for the Superior Mfg. Co. of Superior, Wis., it was little thought that she was to meet destruction in a gale of Lake Superior and that not a single survivor of the 21 souls aboard would be left to tell the story. Advises were received here Saturday morning to the effect that the steamer had gone down off Whitefish Point in Lake Superior. News of the probable sad event was brought to Duluth Friday night by sailors of the Northland who had seen wreckage believed to have been of the Shores strewn all over the lake in the vicinity of that point. Other passing steamers confirmed the report and portions of the wreckage were identified as belonging to the Shores. The steamer was the property of the Manx Transportation company of Cleveland, having been sold last year by Mrs. S.O. Neff of Milwaukee. She was of 1,250 tons burden and under command of Captain Samuel Holmes of Milwaukee. The engineer was R. Mott of Benzonia. Her crew of about 15 men were reported to have been picked up at this port but this cannot be verified. The Shores passed Sault Ste. Marie in safety, her captain hav- ing reported there on April 29th after that no word has been received from him. The storm in which the Shores foundered also sent down three other vessels, the Aurania, Russia and Nester. It was the big snow storm of two weeks ago. The wind attained a velocity of 70 miles an hour, a violent snow storm prevailed three days on Lake Superior making navigation extremely perilous. The Adella Shores was well known in Ludington where she traded in salt at the Anchor Salt block for many years. The Ludington Chronicle, May 12, 1909 ----------------------------------------- STEAMER SHORES IS MISSING HOPE IS ALMOST GIVEN UP --------- PROBABLY WENT TO THE BOTTOM --------- Six Days Overdue, And All On Board May Have Perished Advices Received At Duluth Indicate Vessel Foundered Off Whitefish Point, Lake Superior Steamer Gettysburg Reports Running Through Wreckage Glemellah Brought Up Rigging With Anchor Chain ---------- DULUTH, Minn. May 8. - Late last night agents of The S.S. Neff Transportation Company said that in view of the late dispatches from ports along the south side of Lake Superior, tending to confirm the loss of the Adella Shores, with all hands, hope has almost been abandoned. The advices received here were to the effect that the steamer, six days overdue at Duluth, went down off Whitefish Point, in Lake Superior, with all on board. The crew and passengers numbered 21. MARQUETTE, Mich., May 8. - The reports of the loss of the steamer Shores cannot be confirmed. Nothing is known of the disaster at Munising, near which port the ship is said to have foundered. The steamer Gettysburg, which was in Portage lake for shelter, reports passing through drifting wreckage near Sable Point. This wreckage consisted of a pilot house, yawl boat, skylight and a cabin containing a mirror. There is no question that some vessel was lost between Munising and Whitefish Point. WRECKAGE ON ANCHOR SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich., May 8. - All that could be learned here regarding the missing steamer Adell Shores was that she passed her on April 29. On May 2 the Canadian steamer Glennellah arrived here with a report that after anchoring for shelter in Whitefish Bay, she had brought up on her anchor chains a mast and part of the rigging and anchor chains of a very recent wreck, the ropes of the rigging be- ing evidently new. CLEVELAND, O., May 8 - The steamship Shores, reported sunk in Lake Superior, was owned by the Manx Transit Company of Cleveland. It was purchased last winter at a cost of $30,000. Capt. S. Holmes, 36 years old, of Milwaukee, Wis., was in charge of the boat. His crew numbered 18 men. On April 29, Capt. Holmes reported his vessel passing safely through the Soo Canal and since that time no word has been received from him. Buffalo Evening News, May 9, 1909 ----------------------------------------------- STEAMER SHORES LOST DURING RECENT STORM OVER SCORE OF PEOPLE GO TO WATERY GRAVES BOAT PASSED UP APRIL 29 Parts of Boat Found Third of May Was Nothing to Indicate Name of Craft Later Parts of Boat Found Floating Distress Signals Heard Off Wellsburg Day Accident Supposed To Have Happened - May Have Been Caught in the Ice The steamer Adella Shores has been lost off Whitefish Point, with the entire crew of 21, and several passengers, according to reports which reached here late yesterday. Captains on down-bound vessels report sighting no wreck- age and state that the report is news to them. A Duluth dispatch says that the Shores was lost off Whitefish Point with all on board. She is now seven days overdue. The details have not yet been received further than that a large quantity of wreckage has been seen in the lake between Sable Point and Whitefish. The wreck- age is said to consist of a pilot house, a cabin containing a mirror, a yawl boat, a skylight and other debris. An incident which occurred near Whitefish on the afternoon of May 3, not then much noticed, is now being recalled by marine men. When haul- ing up the anchor of the Glenellah that day a considerable amount of wreckage was hauled up. It was stated that the ropes which came up did not appear to have been under water very long. The Shores passed up April 29 during the last big storm and early in the evening of that date distress signals were heard at Wellsburg and points on the shore of Whitefish Bay. All these things combined to give local marine men a strong belief that the Adella Shores was lost during the evening of Thursday, April 29. The Adella Shores was built in 1894 for Sidney O. Neff of Milwaukee. She was recently sold to the present owners, the Manx Transit company of Cleveland. She was a wooden craft, 195 feet long and 35 feet beam. Her gross tonnage was 734. Captain S. Holmes of Milwaukee was in command. CAPTAIN MILLEN MAKES REPORT In the opinion of Captain Millen, of the Daniel J. Morrell, the wreckage pulled up on the anchor of the Glenelah is that of the missing steamer Adella Shores. "I saw her while we were in Whitefish Bay, Thursday afternoon, April 29," said the master of the Morrell this afternoon. "She crept along behind several of us, following in our wake as we got through the ice. We cleared Whitefish Point about 7 o'clock and I judge the Shores was at that time about two miles in the rear." "A fierce northeast gale was blowing and getting constantly stronger. In my opinion the Shores got a few miles out and found things too rough. She was possibly struck by a big cake of ice, which started a leak. Captain Holmes then doubtless put about and headed for under the point. With that gale blowing a bad sea was running over there. He doubtless got in the trough and, with a leak fill- ing her up, she simply went out from under them. The wreckage the Glenellah pulled up was not from a boat that had been under water long." The Northern Light passed down this morning about 8 o'clock. She reported passing through wreckage near Huron Island. This, however, is too far up the shore to belong to the Shores and is believed to be a part of the wreck of the George Nester. OWNERS GIVE UP HOPE Cleveland, May 8. - It is believed here that the fourteen members of the crew of the steamer Adella Shores have perished, and that the boat lies on the bottom of Lake Superior, off Whitefish point. The Shores is owned by the Manx Transit company of Cleveland. She passed the Soo up bound last Thurs- day and since then nothing has been heard from her by the owners except information in newspaper dis- patches reporting the finding of wreckage identified as part of the Shores. The boat was in charge of Capt. Seivert Holmes of Milwaukee. The identity of the crew is unknown here. The Shores was sold by the Neff Transit company of Milwaukee last win- ter to the Manx company of this city. CLEVELAND, O., May 8. - Grand Rapids dispatches from Grand Haven say two members of the crew of the steamer Adella Shores, believed to have been lost off Whitefish Point, were from that city. They are Ernest Bronsema, cook; Lee Shippy, assistant cook. Efforts are being made to learn whether any more men on the missing ship came from Grand Haven. CREW SAW WRECKAGE DULUTH, Minn., May 8- The story of the wreck of the Adella Shores with the probable drowning of her crew of 14 men was brought to Duluth by Cap- tain Geel and Mate Spaulding of the steamer Simon Langell, which arrived in port late today. The Langell met with several quantities of wreck- age and the upper part of a boat that the captain feels sure belonged to the Adella Shores. "It was about 6 o'clock Tuesday morning that I noticed we were passing some wreckage," said the mate. "Suddenly Captain Geel pointed off to star- board. 'Look at that,' he said. I looked and saw the upper works of a vessel about 1,000 feet from us. There was no name seen but the captain who knew her well said it was the Shores. I knew the Shores also and agreed with him. We were about 12 miles north northeast off Grand Island." "Two days after we arrived at Portage Lake," con- tinued the mate, "the steamer Gettysburg came in and reported passing part of a pilot house with the weather canvas about it. No name was visible. An hour later the Gettysburg saw a yawl floating by." "We also learned from the Mills at Portage Lake that she had sighted a cabin in the same vicinity that we had seen the other wreckage." The Evening News, Sault Ste. Marie, May 8, 1909 ------------------------------------------------------ Ernie Bronsema, about age 28, was the son of Jacob Bronsema of Grand Haven, MI. [5] Lee Shippy was born March 11, 1892 in Sullivan, Muskegon County, MI., and was a son of Mrs. Peter Boet, Grand Haven. Brother, Claude, and father reside in Traverse City, MI.[5] ------------------------------------------------------ MARINE It is the belief in marine circles that the bodies of the men lost with the steamer Adella Shores, supposed to have foundered in deep water some twenty miles off Grand Island will never be recovered. Lake Superior rarely gives up its dead. The fact that few bodies ever come to the sur- face is often a matter of comment, but this non-recovery is due to natural causes. Lake Superior is not only the deepest of the Great Lakes but it has the greatest average depth. Depth means pressure. The pressure of wa- ter means about one pound to the square inch, in addition to the atmos- pheric pressure. At 430 feet the ex- ternal pressure upon a drowned body is about 150 pounds to the square inch. Lake Superior's greatest depth is 1,008 feet; it greatest length is 350 miles and its greatest width 160 miles. It is 600 feet above the sea and 21 ft above Lake Huron, with which it is connected with St. Mary's river. None of the bodies of the sailors drowned when the schooner George Nester went to pieces on Huron Island have been recovered. Oswego Daily Times, Oswego, N.Y., May 17, 1909 ======================================================================== Sources: [1] The Ludington Chronicle, May 12, 1909 [2] Buffalo Evening News, May 8, 1909 [3] Bowling Green State University, Historical Collections of the Great Lakes. [4] The Evening News (newspaper), Sault Ste. Marie, May 8, 1909 [5] Grand Haven Daily Tribune, Grand Haven, MI., May 8, 1909 [6] Oswego Daily Times, Oswego, N.Y., May 17, 1909