Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2014 All Rights Reserved USGenNet Data Repository Please read USGenNet Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ ========================================================================= USGenNet Data Repository NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization. Non-commercial organizations desiring to use this material must obtain the consent of the transcriber prior to use. Individuals desiring to use this material in their own research may do so. =========================================================================== Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== The Ludington Sunday Morning News Vol. XL, No. 288 September 28, 1930 TERRIFIC STORM SCOURGES DISTRICT -------------------------------- Two Seamen, Lashed to Derrick On Barge Live Through Ordeal MUSKEGON, Mich., Sept. 27. -(AP)- Two seamen, lashed to a derrick on a drifting barge while Lake Michigan's giant storm waves beat over them, came through the ordeal alive, and today Harry Smith of Newark, N.J., one of two survivors rescued from the barge SALVOR, told how they fought off death for 15 hours. Smith and Lyman Nedeau, 18, of Muskegon, were the rescued men. Was Tough Fight. "It was a tough fight," said Smith. "For about three hours after midnight it seemed that the sea was breaking over us all the time. Nedeau and I and Clifford Lane climbed onto the frames as soon as the ship went aground. That was after all the others except Clarence Brunett had left the boat. "We had lashed the boy, Lornie Olmstead and the two women to a life raft and pushed them off. Several others went the same way. Brunett and two other men were hanging onto each other and trying to stay on deck. Brunett wanted to climb up with us, but every time a big wave came along he was washed to the other side of the ship. Then he would crawl back to the cable only to be washed away again. Saw Man Drop into Water. "Darkness came and we could see the lights on shore. It seemed ages. About dark we saw Brunett drop into the water. I guess he must have drowned for he was exhausted by then. We still clung to our place and I told Nedeau to keep moving his hands and feet so as to keep the blood in circulation. I tried to keep the kid warm. All he had on was a life preserver and shirt. Nedeau was a game kid." Smith, from his cot in Mercy hospital here where he and Nedeau were removed, also told how Clifford Lane of Muskegon, the third man on the derrick, finally lapsed into silence and when daylight came it was found he was dead. "Clifford kept talking to us all the time until about two hours after midnight. About the last thing I remember him saying was that he wanted to come down where we were and get warm. He was up there on the top A frame and it was there that his body was wedged in today. All the poor kid had on was a bathing suit, a vest and one sock. The sock was still hanging to his foot this morning. I went up there and felt of his pulse at daylight. He must have been dead since he last spoke at 2 o'clock. Saves Nedeau's Life. Nedeau, worn out, dropped to sleep almost as soon as he was put to bed. Smith, a sailor for 15 years, is credited with saving Nedeau's life. When the Grand Haven coast guards in command of Captain William Prescott, arrived at the barge at 6 a.m. today, the two sailors, Smith and Nedeau, dropped into the lake and were picked up. The coast guard could not get a line to them. "We were glad to jump," Smith said. "We could not have stood it much longer. But the poor kid, I wish he had been near us so that we could have kept him warm," Smith said, referring to Lane. Nedeau's family believed him dead, and he was mourned as such dur- ing the night. They had identified another body taken from the water as that of Nedeau when a description was given over the telephone. Later the body was found to be that of Elmer Lytle of Detour. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- BODY IS WASHED ASHORE; BELIEVED OF SENATOR CREW ----------------------------------------------- Condition Indicates Long Imprisonment in Water; Boat Sank Last Year. ----------------------------------------------- Remains Are Found High on Sands Below Henry Agens Farm. A body, believed to be that of a member of the crew of S.S. Senator, which sank off Sheboygan early last November, was washed up on the shore of Lake Michigan, just south of Ludington, early Saturday morning. Its condition indicated the body had been imprisoned for months in deep water and was torn loose by Friday's violent storm. Body Flung High On Sands. Discovery was made by Donald Young and Charles Criswell and the latter's son, Lester, at 10 o'clock. The remains had been flung high on the sands below the Henry Agens farm, north of Bortel's landing. Deputy Sheriff Edward Anderson was notified and in turn summoned Coroner Ben F. Elms and George E. Dorrell who, accompanied by Donald Crawford, brought the body to the Dorrell mortuary, where it is being held pending possible identification. Owing to the location, it was necessary for Messrs, Anderson, Dorrell, Crawford and Agens to carry the body a mile over rough sand and farm to the waiting hearse. Dr. E. George Gray, called by Coroner Elms, corroborated the opinion that the remains had been in the wate several months. The coroner decided no inquest would be necessary. The body was that of a man evidently between 50 and 60 years of age, large and heavy set, face smooth shaven and head nearly bald. The hands were noticeably small. The features were indistinguishable. The head and jaw were large. There was a gold filling in a lower tooth. Neckband and Tie Left. The only clothing were the neckband of a blue work shirt and part of a black bow tie. Mr. Dorrell wired a description to the Nickleson Universal S. S. Co., of Detroit, owner of the lost steamer SENATOR. It will be recalled that only two bodies from the vessel's crew were ever recovered, both having washed ashore near Pentwater. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Fruit Boat Believed Lost in Fury of Gale on Lake Michigan. Packet Has Been Missing Since She Left St. Joseph Friday Morning. MUSKEGON, Mich., Sept. 27. -(AP)- Coast guard crews on both sides of Lake Michigan today watched in vain for trace of the fruit packet NORTH SHORE, missing since she left St. Joseph, Mich., Friday morning with a cargo of grapes for Milwau- kee. The vessel, a steel hulled motor craft, carried Captain E. J. Anderson, his bride of four weeks and four men. Grape Baskets Found. Although hope had been held out during the day that the NORTH SHORE might have found refuge in some other port, this was virtually aban- doned tonight as grape baskets began floating ashore in great numbers between Holland and South Haven. Commander W. H. Wolff of the coast guard said this was an almost certain sign the boat had gone down. If the NORTH SHORE went down in Friday's 40-mile gale, the toll of the storm has been increased to a loss of 11 lives and three ships. The death list of the barge Salvor that went down at 2:30 o'clock Friday afternoon off the harbor entrance here was reduced to five to- day when two of four men who had clung to a derrick on the vessel were taken off by coast guards. Seven other persons including two women were taken out of the water alive at a point 14 miles north of here. The two men taken from the barge this morning were Lyman Nedeau, of Muskegon, and Harry Smith, of Newark, N.J. They had survived 16 hours of battering by waves and the rolling of the wreckage of their craft. Breaks Loose from Tug. The SALVOR, which grounded after it broke loose from the tug FITZGERALD yesterday, broke up Friday night. Wreckage was piled along the shore for miles today as the coast guards continued their search for bodies. The third vessel caught in the storm was the old schooner OUR SON, last of her type on the lakes. She foundered off Ludington and went down after her crew of seven men had been removed by the freighter WILLIAM NELSON. Eight coast guardsmen of the Ludington station who set out Friday to go to the relief of the schooner, and for whom fears were expressed when they failed to return, arrived this morning at Sheboygan, Wis. Their boat had crossed under its own power. Besides Captain Anderson and his wife, those aboard the NORTH SHORE when she left St. Joseph were Joseph Tekus, of Milwaukee; Royal Ritcher, of Washington Island, and two others whose names were not available. The vessel is 64 feet long and powered with a Diesel engine. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Coastguard Defy Gale 15 Hours In Open Boat Local Life Savers Set Heroic Example An example of rarely inspiring heroism was set by eight members of Ludington coastguard who, in their power surf boat, steered into the gale's teeth at 4 o'clock Friday afternoon, summoned to aid the sink- ing schooner OUR SON. The distressed vessel was 40 miles southwest by west of Ludington, and none of the hundreds of watchers envied the life savers as they set forth upon their perilous voyage. Chief Lashed to Seat. Capt. Nels Palmer, whose health has not been of the best, insisted upon making the trip, and was strapped in his seat at the stern, where he handled the rudder. With him were Coastguardsmen William Deipert, Louis Hellenbolt, Milton Wilson, Louis Holstad, Raymond Chapman, Harold Gatfield, and Leslie Squires. Fifteen minutes after the call came the men were dressed in boots and slickers and the 36-foot boat was in the water. No time was taken for food. Shore watchers braced agains the wind's fury, strained their eyes to follow the course of the craft as it headed out of the channel and passed beyond the protecting arms of the breakwater over which huge waves crashed, into the heavy sea. At times the sturdy boat literally stood on end, stern high in air, the next instant to bore through an inundating wave, which frequently buried the craft from sight for what seemed to spectators like many anxious seconds. It was not long before the boat was no longer vis- ible, headed into the oncoming gloom and perils of the worst gale in local history. Masts had been raised as a precaution against failure of the boat's engine. The only lights carried were he riding lights. Although perfectly seaworthy and nonsinkable, the lifeboat offered little shelter to members of the crew, who must have endured a severe buffeting during the voyage. Owing to the violence of the waves, it was impossible to use the canvas sprayguard. It required not only an iron constitution but an iron nerve to make the trip. Rejoicing was general Saturday when it was learned that the Luding- ton coastguardsmen had safely reached Sheboygan, Wis., at 7 o'clock Saturday morning after a gruelling 15-hour trip in their open boat. It was understood they planned to leave for this city Saturday noon and were expected home at 8:30 last night. Schooner Crew Saved. Not long after the crew left here Friday, word was received that the crew of the schooner OUR SON had been rescued by the freighter WILLIAM NELSON, and the sailing vessel abandoned. Schooner OUR SON, last of its type on the Great Lakes, was owned by a Milwaukee firm and was carrying pulpwood to Muskegon. (Transcriber's Note: The older schooner LYMAN M. DAVIS, built in 1873, was still in service and actively working until April, 1932 when she was removed from service.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- RETURN HOME SAFE AFTER 7-HOUR RUN. Capt. Nels Palmer and seven other members of Ludington coastguard, reaching home at 8 o'clock last night, were given an enthusiastic ovation by hundreds of fellow townsmen who cheered as the sturdy life boat swung smartly up the channel to the station. "We are certainly happy to be back," called the captain with a cheerful smile as the men landed. The voyage home from Sheboygan, Wis., begun at 1 o'clock Saturday afternoon was consummated in seven hours, in great contrast to the 15- hour outward trip made in Friday night's gale. Although they had had no sleep, and little rest, the men appeared in splendid condition, considering what they had undergone. All were visibly pleased at the warm greeting given them in the home port, a deserved tribute which left no doubt as to the high affection and esteem inspired by their unselfish deed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Schooner's Master Describes Sinking SHEBOYGAN, Wis., Sept. 27. -(AP)- (By radio from the WILLIAM NELSON to station WSK and The Associated Press.) - Cutting all sails after rescue hove in sight, the schooner OUR SON, last of a type that once ruled the Great Lakes, disappeared in slug- ging waves of a Lake Michigan storm Friday. Her crew of seven was saved by the freighter WILLIAM NELSON. C. H. Mohr, master of the NELSON, made the rescue at the risk of his own ship. He headed toward Milwaukee to land the crew of the OUR SON before proceeding to Indiana Harbor, Ind., his destination. Captain Last to Leave Ship. Mohr maneuvered his ship through heavy seas to get to the side of the wallowing schooner. He ran the NELSON bow alongside the OUR SON and the schooner crew walked aboard the NELSON unharmed. Captain Fred Nelson, Des Plaines, Ill., was the last to leave the schooner. Pounding waves crashed the NELSON weaving it about in troughs of slashing water as the rescue was made. A life buoy was carried over board from the NELSON. Mohr sent a distress signal, fearing his own ship could not weather the storm. His message to The Associated Press Press follows in part: "We sighted the schooner OUR SON, at 3:30 p.m., northeast of She- boygan. She was flying distress signals. We turned the NELSON about and circled her. When in hailing distance we asked the crew of the schooner to head into the wind so the NELSON could come alongside. We brought the bow of the NELSON against the OUR SON, battling tremendous seas. Watch Boat Disappear. "With the assistance of the crew of the NELSON, the men from the schooner were taken aboard without the aid of life boats, although all life saving gear had been prepared for use. "As the NELSON approached, the crew of the schooner cut away all sails. After the rescue, we watched the OUR SON for more than 45 minutes. Then she disappeared, believed capsized or sunk." The end of the OUR SON wrote a final chapter to romantic sailspread commerce on the Great Lakes. ===========================================================================