Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2012, All Rights Reserved U.S. Data Repository Please read U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott for the US Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ ========================================================================= U.S. 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 U.S. Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== ECHOES OF THE GREAT STORM ------------ Ghouls Rob Bodies of Wrecked Seamen-List of the Casualties, Losses and Insurance ------------ Terrible as has been the greatest of the Great Lakes tragedies, with the disap- pearance of scores of vessels and the loss of perhaps two hundred men, it has been left for man to make the horror more horrible. Steamboat officials returned from Port Franks with information that will be placed in the hands of the At- torney General's Department, of a nature that casts a reflection upon this Pro- vince. Not only have they the names of men they found carting wreckage away from the death-strewn shore, but they have under surveillance one man who is alleged to have in his possession $300 taken from a foreigner's belt found on shore, and the names of men who are be- lieved to have even gone so far as to rob the dead. The ghouls found three victims of the storm in or near a lifeboat of the Regina. Two of the men were visible, but one body lay in the bottom of the boat under wa- ter, and this fact saved his body from being desecrated. The Work of the Body-Looters was limited by a creek, for they could not get across this, and it was on the other side of it that the other eight bodies were found. On one of the other bodies was found $113, while all the others had money on them. The victims who were washed up west of the creek had their pockets rifled, the perpetrators of the vile crime not even leaving anything by which the men might be identified. Those who are stealing wreckage are making it more difficult for steamship men and county officers to identify the dead, as lifebouys have been taken off victims and mixed up, and names on boats taken away. It is therefore hard to lo- cate the boats from which the wreckage comes. The wreckage that is being taken away consists of all kinds of merchan- dise as well as parts of the wrecked ves- sels. An order has been issued warning all persons that those retaining wreckage in their possession would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, and the pen- alty is three years imprisonment. Later the steamship men went to Sarnia, where the police were notified, and steps taken to protect the coast. Kindness of Rescuers In contrast to the actions of persons who took advantage of this saddest of trage- dies are the people who so kindly assist- ed in the rescue of the survivors of the Northern Queen, and who took them into their homes suffering from the terrible exposure through which they had gone. Victims of Storm King Crew of steamer James Carruthers......25 Crew of steamer Wexford...............24 Crew of steamer Leafield..............18 Crew of steamer Regina................20 Crew of steamer Argus.................25 Crew of steamer Chas. S. Price........22 Crew of Bridgeport....................30 Crew of tug Wharton....................6 Crew of U.S. Lightship.................6 Crew of steambarge Butters............20 Bodies Washed Ashore Kettle Point..........................12 Port Franks............................7 Officers and sailores rescued........219 Unsolved Mysteries UNKNOWN VESSEL, upset off Port Huron, With loss of entire crew. Identity of steamer still in doubt, but may be the steamer, Regina, the bodies of ten of whose crew were washed up along the Canadian shore, or the steamer Wexford, not reported since she passed the Soo last Saturday. Four bodies with life- preservers bearing her name were wash- ed up at St. Joseph, Ont. UNKNOWN LUMBER CARRIER, seen half sunk and abandoned in Lake Huron. CHARLES S. PRICE, steamer, seven bodies washed up near Goderich, Ont. Vessel believed to have foundered. TWO UNKNOWN VESSELS ashore at Sand Island. JAMES CARRUTHERS, biggest Canadian freighter; wreckage washed ashore near Goderich. BARGE PLYMOUTH, reported lost with seven men at Menominee. STEAMER LEAFIELD, reported Monday on Angus Island in bad condition. Tugs cannot find her, and it is feared she has slid out and sunk. LIGHTSHIP NO. 82, believed lost with crew of six off Point Abino, Lake Erie. STEAMBARGE BUTTERS, believed lost with crew of twenty within 150 miles of Fort William. STEAMER NOTTINGHAM, on Parisian Is- land, near Whitefish Bay. Her bottom torn out. Three of crew lost. STEAMER L. C. WALDO, owned in De- troit: broken in two on Gull Rock. Crew of 24 saved. BARGE HALSTED, wrecked off Green Bay, Wis. Crew of eight saved. STEAMER HOWARD M. HANNA, JR., breaking up at Point Aux Barques. Crew of 33 rescued after great hardships. STEAMER TURRET CHIEF, broken up six miles east of Copper Harbor. Crew of 17 rescued. Other Ships in Distress STEAMER NORTHERN QUEEN, ashore ashore near Port Franks; may be saved. Crew safe. STEAMER ACADIAN, on reef in Thunder Bay, but may be saved. Crew safe. STEAMER J. M. JENKS, at first reported to be the vessel sunk above Port Huron, aground in Georgian Bay, according to a message from the Captain. STEAMER HARTWELL, ashore above the Soo. Full of water. STEAMER HUTCHINSON, on beach above the Soo. Bottom badly torn. STEAMER HURONIC, which was ashore near the Soo, released. STEAMER G. J. GRAMMER, ashore on beach near Lorain, Ohio. Reported Lost but Safe STEAMER J. E. DAVIDSON, reported sunk off Groscap Point, passed down Detroit River on Wednesday. PRODUCE FREIGHTER HAZEL, reported lost with eleven men; tied in at Port Huron. Cost and Insurance Value of cargoes............$1,000,000 Value of ships...............2,500,000 Eighty per cent of insurance distribut- ed between English and American Under- writers. Heaviest Canadian Loser The Western Assurance Company Toronto......................$15,000 The Wexford................$107,000 $100,000 The Turret Chief............130,000 125,000 The L. C. Waldo.............230,000 200,000 The Chas. S. Price..........350,000 350,000 The Northern Queen..........175,000 150,000 The James Carruthers........400,000 275,000 The Edwin F. Holmes.........350,000 300,000 The G. J. Grammer...........300,000 300,000 The A. E. McKinstry.........150,000 150,000 The Acadian.................170,000 170,000 The H. B. Hawgood...........325,000 300,000 The Regina..................160,000 160,000 The Howard M. Hanna.........350,000 300,000 The schooner Sephie...........8,000 6,000 The Matthew Andrews.........375,000 325,000 The U.S. Lightships No. 82..100,000 80,000 The tug Martin...............15,000 8,000 The Nottingham..............250,000 200,000 The John A. McGean..........225,000 225,000 The Leafield................250,000 175,000 The Argus...................350,000 325,000 Steambarge Butters..........100,000 ....... ENGINEERS THRILLING TALE The gallant fight of 22 staunch seamen to save their lives and after that the Northern Queen, is told in a graphic man- ner by second engineer Charles Ryan. "I was working in the engine hold as usual on Sunday afternoon when the storm came up," Ryan said. "The North- ern Queen was caught in the trough of sea and to save her from plunging to the bottom, Captain Crawford turned her nose up the lake. Within an hour the waves, lashed to tremendous heights, pounded over us, stripping some of the up- per works and smashing in through the ports. "Water poured into my quarters and we were compelled to make for other parts of the ship. All hatches were down, but the flood came through and killed most of our fires. A couple of the boilers were still in shape, but we had not steam enough for power. We made the most of it till 6 o'clock that night. "Snow then came down and our mast raked the clouds that swept over us. Men strapped on their life belts, but stayed below as much as possible to avoid being washed overboard. Lost the Rudder "The boat rolled and the coal crashed down out of the bunkers on top of us. Captain Crawford knew that to attempt to make Port Huron would send us to the bottom, but, we were anxious to get to any place of safety. We agreed that the best plan was to strike back into the teeth of the gale. "No one slept that night, and along in the morning we lost our rudder, and knew that we were up against it. Before 4 o'clock the Queen veered around and dropped into the trough of the sea. We dropped both anchors, but they dragged. Then she caught and held fast. The heavy sea ran over us and threat- ened to pound her to pieces, but she stayed with it. Then with a sud- den lurch she shivered and crunched from stem to stem, slacked back an in- stant, and with the next leaped her cable's length. There was a terrible crash and we knew she had lost both anchors. Yawls Smashed "In the meantime the yawls with one exception were smashed and torn from their davits. The snow fell in clouds, through which it was impossible to see more than a few feet, and in the roar of the gale the siren could not be heard any distance. "Later the sky cleared but the wind kept up and dashed us about. We could not get out of the trough, and were drift- ing rapidly before the wind. When day- break came we found ourselves a mile off Port Frank. A couple of hours later the ship's keel went on a shoal and it felt like the finish. A big sea was still run- ning, and time and again she eased off, raised by the waves only to go harder than before. Marooned "Finally she set fast and after that we got only the side lash as she rolled in the heavy seas. Monday night we found our- selves without fire and practically without food and soaked through and shivering we groped our way about the vessel. We hunted about and got a little coal and tried to make fires to keep warm, but it was a tough job. "All night waves buffeted us and Tues- day at daybreak it still looked bad. We were then 1,000 yards from the beach. Late in the afternoon the gale eased off a little and the captain ordered our only remaining yawl over the starboard side forward. Cable Broke "She dropped into the sea and 10 men plunged into her. A line had been made fast that she might be hauled back to take the rest of us ashore. The cable snap- ped and we were left marooned. "A number of people from the village and a couple of fishermen were attracted out and the prepared to help them in. They plunged into the water and sent up a cheer we could hear when the men were landed. "Later in the afternoon we tied a wire cable to a big crate of goods and cast it overboard. The crate found its way in, and, after a couple of hours was within twenty-five yards of the beach. A couple of the men landed and got the crate be- fore she was carried out by the undertow. They were both knocked out but they got our line. "The yawl was made fast, and two fisher- men came with her to the boat. The next load off left only five men on board the Northern Queen. They found matters eas- ier at night. I came off with the second trip. The captain and a couple of men stayed to the finish." =========================================================================== SOURCE: The Rideau Record November 18, 1913