Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2014, All Rights Reserved USGenNet Data Repository Please read USGenNet Data Repository Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ ========================================================================= Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== EAST SHORE NEWS PENTWATER, OCEANA Co., MICH. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1871 VOLUME I, NUMBER 46. [extracted maritime records] ALONG THE SHORE. - Charlevoix. The propeller ST. LOUIS which went up on Sunday, had on a quantity of railroad iron for the Traverse City railroad. - Sentinel. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- EAST SHORE NEWS PENTWATER, OCEANA Co., MICH. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1871 VOLUME I, NUMBER 47. [extracted maritime records] ALONG THE SHORE. - Ludington. Captain Stannard, of the METROPOLIS, finds a great deal of trouble to enter Pentwater, he says, in consequence of so many vessels lying in the channel, which is so narrow that he cannot pass with his steam- er. What the Pentwater people ought to do, is appoint the tug Captain, Harbor Master, then the Harbor Master would have an interest in keeping the channel clear. He would get several extra tows, which would pay him. Although navigation is nearly ended, next spring will find it again the same. The above complaint we believe to be well founded, and the sugges- tion in regard to the appointment of a Harbor Master is a good one. It was reported in Detroit on the 28th that the schooner WILLIAM SANDERSON had gone down, with all hands, on Lake Ontario. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- EAST SHORE NEWS PENTWATER, OCEANA Co., MICH. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1871 VOLUME I, NUMBER 48. [extracted maritime records] ALONG THE SHORE. - Grand Haven. Much has been said for and against the storm signal service of the United States. Grand Haven is a station where signals have regularly been seen the past season, and they have been of great value to the many wise seamen who have heeded them. The Herald has many times al- luded to the subject, showing the accuracy of the signals. The fol- lowing is a sample: Sunday morning at one o'clock the cautionary signal was hoisted. There was at the time a brisk breeze from the southwest, and the snow was rapidly thawing. There was little or no increase in the velocity of the wind until 8 o'clock P.M., when the great storm of the early winter began, and through the whole of Monday night, the storm raged with great violence, steadily growing colder; at 4 P.M. the thermo- meter stood in Milwaukee at 3° below zero, while at Grand Haven it stood at 8° above. At Toledo the velocity of the wind was 48 miles an hour; at this place it was twenty miles . . . The schooner CORAL left Racine last Sunday morning and met the gale at ten o'clock that night. From that time until four o'clock Monday afternoon she lay hove to under double reefed mainsail, the snow mingled with the spray from the waves driving over her in blinding clouds, making it impossible at times to see a hundred feet away, and covering her deck load of bales of hay, her rigging and sails with ice. Capt. Sherman then got her before the wind and hove her deck load overboard, intending to beach her. As they were about to enter the breakers the mate saw the pier, and in three or four minutes she was safe along side the deck. The captain and mate were slightly frost-bitten. St. Joseph. The follow (sic) marine items we clip from the Herald. The scow DUNHAM left Chicago just before the storm, failed to make port in the blinding snow, and went on shore about four miles south of St. Joseph. All hands safe. The captain scuttled her before leaving, and she lies in a good position to get off next spring, if the ice will leave her alone. The schooner INDUSTRY left St. Joseph for Chicago about 4 P.M. on Sunday. The storm came, and at length ice began to make on the ves- sel, which eventually became unmanageable, and went on shore near the slaughter house, one mile or more south of St. Joseph. All hands saved. The schooner is high and dry and well protected by the ice barrier outside. The schooner ACTIVE left St. Joseph in company with the INDUSTRY, and was driven on shore seven miles to the north of this port. Cap- tain Johnson was knocked overboard by the main sheet and lost. The remainder of the crew escaped with no injury save the freezing of some toes, fingers and ears. A steamer load of iron was to arrive at Muskegon last Saturday direct from Cleveland. The ice in Muskegon Bay had formed so thickly as nearly to close navigation. A tug was employed to break a channel for the propeller. She did not get into Muskegon, but landed her iron (2 1/2 miles) at Grand Haven. The Herald says that The propeller CITY OF MADISON struck on the reef off the little island, about seven miles south of Pine River, Saturday forenoon 2nd inst.; came back here in leaky condition; unloaded 150 tons pig iron and will proceed to Chicago as soon as the weather moderates. She started this morning, but returned on account of a heavy sea outside. Her bilge pump keeps her free while lying still. She has four pumps rigged to work by steam if necessary. The CITY OF MADISON was detained several days of ice in Sault River, got through by help of iron propeller PHILADELPHIA. She has on board 150 tons pig iron and a lot of fish. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- EAST SHORE NEWS PENTWATER, OCEANA Co., MICH. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1871 VOLUME I, NUMBER 49. [extracted maritime records] ALONG THE SHORE. - Manistee. There is only seven and one-half feet of water at the mouth of the river, and the MESSENGER has considerable of difficulty in getting into the Harbor with a load of freight. The shallow water is owing to the prevailing Northwest wind, and he washing up of sand at the mouth of the river, together with the very low water in the lake. - Times. PENTWATER HARBOR. A late number of the Mason Co. Record contains the following: A gentleman who has been employed on the line of the Detroit, Lansing & Lake Michigan Railroad, and who is here now, informs us that the impression has got well established along the route that Pentwater harbor is the best harbor on the East Shore of Lake Michigan. If the article had stopped here we would have been happy to have given the Record credit for once having stated the truth in regard to Pentwater harbor, but the writer is not satisfied to let well enough alone, and at once begins to misrepresent facts in his endeavor to show that the above impression is "wrong." Our harbor was not "frozen up" when the METROPOLIS came down the other day, nor were there any "schooners frozen in the channel." There were six schooners lying there, however, and a little slush at the entrance, and Capt. Stannard did not deem it advisable to attempt to enter. The practicability of winter navigation between Pentwater and ports on the other side, has repeatedly been demonstrated. Mr. Joy has personally visited Pentwater, and has expressed him- self satisfied with the advantage it offers for a winter harbor. The people of this village have always done what they were able to in aid of his roads, and intend to pursue this policy in future. We have his written statement that it is his intention to bring the business of the Sheboygan & Fond du Lac road to this place, and thence by rail east, and on this assurance we rest content. PERILOUS TRIP OF THE FLEA. Her Crew and Passengers Exposed for Twenty-four Hours to the Stinging Blasts of a Northwest Gale. ----------- On Monday, Dec. 18, at about 1 P.M., the schooner FLEA left Milwau- kee with a gentle south-west wind, having on board a crew of four per- sons, and also three passengers, Messrs. C. Jensen and F. Duval of Pentwater, and Mr. Gardner from Little Point Sauble. The wind gradually freshened, but continued from the same direction, until about two o'clock in the morning, when it suddenly changed to the northwest, and blew with increased vigor. The mate who had charge of the vessel at this time, instantly called up the crew to reef the can- vas. This gave but temporary relief, for the gale increased in fury. Double reefs were taken, but in the perfect hurricane that now threat- ened to capsize the frail bark, it was not deemed prudent to carry any sail, and the vessel hove to. The feelings of the crew can be more easily imagined than described, as they impatiently waited for the dawn, while the waves rising mountains high, every instant threatened to engulf them. To add to their dismay, it was discovered that the vessel had fifteen inches of water in her hold, and the utmost en- deavors to use her pumps proved futile. At length daylight slowly appeared, but it only made the condition of these half-frozen mariners look the more hopeless. A blinding snow storm prevented them from forming any correct idea of their whereabouts, their vessel was heavily loaded with ice, and the danger of her being swamped became every moment more imminent. Several ineffectual attempts were made to make sail on her, but at last one or two of the jibs and the mainsail were partially raised, and she slowly made her way toward the beach. Before she came in sight of land, all hands had given themselves up for lost, but when the piers of Stony Creek at last came in view, a faint hope of escape was cherished. The vessel was put about, and about seven o'clock on Tuesday evening succeeded in entering the har- bor at White Lake with difficulty. Messrs. Jensen and Duval arrived at Pentwater on Wednesday night, devoutly thankful for their narrow escape from a watery grave, and re- solved never to trust themselves again on the treacherous waters of Lake Michigan in winter. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- EAST SHORE NEWS PENTWATER, OCEANA Co., MICH. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1871 VOLUME I, NUMBER 50. [extracted maritime records] ALONG THE SHORE. - Manistee. The steamer "NEW ERA," from Grand Haven, loaded with supplies for the Relief Committee, came here on Monday. The captain was ot fami- liar with the harbor, and signaled a tug to go out and receive the freight. Canfield's tugs were all laid up, and the tug MARGARET was up in the Little Lake without steam. As soon as steam could be made the tug MARGARET went to her and took on a load, but before she could return the weather was so stormy as to require the ERA to put to sea, which she did without being able to unload the balance. It is due the Committee to say that they had no notice that any boat was coming and were not prepared to receive her. - Muskegon. We take the following paragraph from the News & Reporter: Wm. Rentske, of the schooner TWO BROTHERS, reports the loss of James Barclay, captain of said schooner by drowning on the night of Tuesday, the 11th inst., while about thirty miles off Milwaukee, during a severe gale which washed overboard the deck-load, taking the captain with it. All effort was made to save him but the night being so dark, and there being only one man left, proved in vain. Capt. Barclay was a native of Scotland, resided at White River, Michigan., and leaves a wife and two children to mourn his loss. Schooner FLEA safely entered our harbor Tuesday, December 26, heavily laden with freight. ===========================================================================