Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2017 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/ =========================================================================== Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== Port Huron Times-Herald Monday, March 27, 1922 4 KILLED, 7 HURT, FERRY TORN TO BITS Engineer, Fireman, Buried in Twisted Ruins of Conger - Damage Estimated at $88,200. With a detonation that rocked the business part of the city the boiler of the ferry Omar D. Conger exploded Sunday afternoon at 2:20 p.m. and hurtling through the air for a dis- tance of 300 feet left death and disaster in its wake. Four men dead, several people maimed and injured and property damage estimated at $88,200 is the toll of the tragedy. The shattered hulk of the steamer Conger now lies on the bottom of Black river, and en- tombed in the wreckage is believed to be the bodies of RANSOME A. CAMPBELL, engineer, and CLIFFORD D. ALTHOUSE, fireman, of the ill-fated craft. At Falk's undertaking rooms is the broken and flame seared body of KENNETH K. CRANDALL, deckhand, and at Karrer's morgue is the body of THOMAS BUCKNER, fourth member of the crew to die in the blast. The ferry Omar D. Conger was to have started on its first trip for the day Sunday at 3 p.m. Aboard the boat were CAMPBELL, ALTHOUSE, BUCK- NER and CRANDALL. CAPT. WILLIAM P. MAJOR, who was to take command of the boat at that hour was passing Falk's undertaking room when the boiler let go. The steamer was berthed a few feet west of the ferry landing. According to eye witnesses who were stand- ing on the ferry dock and to passengers on the ferry City of Cheboygan, which was coming up Black river, there was a detonation as though a ton of dynamite had let go. A shower of debris started heavenward, and the 25-ton boiler was lifted from the bed and hurtling through the air fell on the home of Mr. and Mrs. WILLIAM SMITH, Quay street, directly opposite the ferry house. The SMITH home was crushed as though it were but an eggshell, and the wreckage caught fire from the molten mass of twisted tubes, braces and shattered shell. Stuns Men Blocks Away Pedestrians within a radius of several blocks of the disaster were stunned. Many of them fell to their knees from the shock. The air was filled with flying debris. Pieces of timber and metal, life rafts and other equipment fromt he steamer Conger fell on the roofs of buildings or in the open streets, imperiling the lives of many people. Some of the flying missiles found their mark swell- ing the list of injured in the tragedy. Within a few minutes after the explosion hundreds of people swarmed into Quay street to get a first hand glimpse of the damage that had been wrought. Their lives were in danger from live wires which had been torn from the shattered and bent electric light and telegraph poles. M O R E While the mass of humanity was struggling to get near the death scene every available policeman and deputy sheriff had been sum- moned to keep the crowd out of the danger zone. Firemen and fire apparatus from the four hose houses of the city were on the ground, and fire and police lines were immediately established. Home in Flames The home of WILLIAM SMITH, 307 Quay street into which the Conger's boiler had crashed was in flames and the fire was in danger of spreading. Inside the fence to the west of the ferry house, lying on a coal pile, were the bat- tered and charred bodies of two men. They were later identified as THOMAS BUCKNER and KENNETH K. CRANDALL, fireman of the steamer Conger. BUCKNER was dead when medical aid reached him. CRANDALL died shortly after he had been lifted into an ambulance. For many minutes following the explosion everybody near the scene appeared to be stunned by the scope of the disaster. Cool heads, however, soon took hold of the situ- ation, and the systematic work of clearing away the debris and checking up on the death toll was begun. When every report in connec- tion with a missing person had been run down, and all had been accounted for the death list was confined to the four members of the crew of the ill fated steamer. Ship Sinks Immediately The ferry Conger sank almost immediately after the boiler had torn its way through its house of timbers and steel and went hurtling into the air. The bodies of CRANDALL and BUCKNER were carried along with the boiler. The surface of Black river for some dis- tance was strewn with the wreckage of the shattered boat. Moored a few feet west of the Conger was the ferry Hiawatha, and its battered upperworks give a faint idea of the force of the explosion. Coming up Black river at the time of the blast was the ferry City of Cheboygan. The latter boat was a few hundred feet east of the Conger when the boiler went hurtling through the air and the Conger sank to the bottom. Scores Escape Death A few minutes more and the City of Cheboygan would have been moored at the ferry dock, almost touching the stern of the Conger. CAPT. GEORGE WAUGH was standing on the bridge of the City of Cheboygan at the time. He was stunned, but immediately gave the signal to reverse the engine of his boat. When it became positively known that the death list had been confined to the four members of the crew of the ferry Conger volunteers began the work of exploring the wreckage of the shattered hull in an effort to locate the bodies of CAMPBELL and ALT- HOUSE. Firemen worked with volunteers on the hurricane deck of the Conger, which was above the surface of the water. Diver to Explane Wreck It was useless for the volunteers to attempt to lift the heavy and twisted timbers. CAPT. R. P. THOMPSON soon had the lighter Atmosphere moored alongside of the wreck and WILLIAM THOMPSON, diver, was ready to make a descent into the shat- tered hull in search of the bodies of CAMP- BELL and ALTHOUSE. CAPT. THOMPSON and his son, however, decided that it would be futile to try to get into the hold of the sunken boat until the wreckage had been cleared away. Owing to the lateness of the hour it was decided to postpone wreck- ing operations until this morning. Until darkness intervened, thousands of people stood on Military street and crowded the ferry dock to get a first hand glimpse of the shattered hulk. ==========================================================================