Wreck of the Chicora
Milwaukee Sentinel - January 23, 1895
Milwaukee Sentinel - January 23, 1895
Somewhere out on Lake Michigan the fine steamer Chicora may be pounding helplessly about among the big ice floes, if she has weathered the 48-mile gale, and if she has withstood the jamming of the ice heaps. There are grave fears, however, that the vessel has sunk.
The steamer embarked from Milwaukee early Monday morning, carrying a heavy cargo of flour. She should have made the run to St. Joseph, Mich., in six hours and a half, however, nothing has been seen or heard of the vessel since. The Chicora, of the Graham & Morton Line, had 26 persons aboard, including 25 crew members and one passenger, all from St. Joseph. She is considered one of the staunchest vessels on the lake. When the vessel did not arrive on time at Benton Harbor, her owners were not alarmed, thinking that her master, Capt. Edward Stines, had turned back to Milwaukee, or had run into some other port for shelter. However, inquiries were made in all the ports along the eastern shore, and up to a late hour last night nothing could be learned of the Chicora. A red light was seen off Benton Harbor pier, but it soon faded away. Great Fields of Ice Running in the Lake At this season there is much drift ice in the lake, and the northwest blizzard on Monday drove it toward the harbor at St. Joseph, which is now inaccessible. Some marine men believe that Capt. Stines ran the Chicora into the slush ice when the storm overtook him, to wait for the weather to abate. They say the boat would be safe there, if she did not get too far into the ice. If the Chicora is stuck, she will have to lay until the weather moderates and the ice thaws. She carried provisions for just a few days, but with the cargo of flour on board there will be no danger from starvation, even if the vessel is compelled to remain out for several weeks. Others are doubtful that the Chicora could live through such a gale. The eastern shore has been scanned with field glasses, but nothing has been seen of the missing vessel. Capt. Stines has been sailing the lakes for 25 years, and has never had an accident. He is one of the ablest men in the service, and his judgment is considered excellent. Second Mate Benjamin Stines is his son. The crew is said to be made up of experienced seamen. The Chicora was built three years ago by the Detroit Dry Dock Company, and is valued at $150,000. Her owners have never carried insurance, as the vessel was believed able to withstand all kinds of weather. Good Vessel and a Plucky Master Grosvenor Tarbell of Milwaukee, who has made many trips on the Chicora, left St. Joseph by rail at 9 o’clock last night. Though the steamer was at that hour only a few hours overdue, he said there was much excitement around the town, and the gravest fears for the safety of the Chicora’s crew, and the offices of the Graham & Morton Company at Benton Harbor were besieged with anxious relatives of the sailors. “The Chicora is as staunch a craft as ever sailed the lakes,” said Mr. Tarbell. “Capt. Stines is as plucky and efficient a vesselman as ever walked a bridge. I have seen him stick the Chicora’s nose right into the teeth of a gale and hold her there, with as much ability as any man. If the vessel is to come out of the storm in good shape, Capt. Stines is the man to pull her through. He has often told me that he has no fears of ever getting the worst of a gale, but he is a little anxious when the boat is heavily loaded, as she was on this trip out. If she gets a bad jamming out there in the ice fields, it might develop that the fears for the Chicora’s safety are well-founded. When I left St. Joseph yesterday evening, the ice fields that had been laying close to the shore had been blown out quite a ways. The ice was heavy and would have proved troublesome to any steamer.” “My opinion is that the Chicora is safely sheltered in the ice," said Agent Gregory Hurson of the Goodrich Transportation Company. "If in the ice, she is perfectly safe, because it is as calm there as if she lay in the river. She is a staunch boat, and with her powerful machinery she ought to pull out all right. Her condition might be considered dangerous by some people, but such is usually not the case. Some years ago the steamers DePere and Menominee were caught in an awful storm in an ice field out beyond Milwaukee harbor. Everybody thought the vessels were being pounded to pieces, when in fact they lay there perfectly quiet. If the Chicora is more than five miles out, she cannot be sighted from shore. In the winter a mist arises from the water, and this would obstruct any view of the steamer.” Other marine men asserted that if the Chicora managed to reach the ice fields without a break in her machinery, she would be safe. On the other hand, if she met with an accident to her machinery, and was tossed about in open water or against the ice, she might have sunk. Mr. J.H. Graham, president of the Graham & Morton Line, sat up nearly all night in the tower of his residence, the highest point of observation on the St. Joseph bluff, keeping watch for the Chicora’s lights. He saw none, but he said he has no doubt that the steamer is riding the lake, and will reach some port as soon as conditions are favorable. At Chicago an observer was stationed on the Auditorium tower today, with instructions to look for the Chicora or any other craft that might still be afloat outside the harbor. He saw through his glass something over toward the Michigan shore, which he thought might be the Chicora, but he was unable to make out her name. Notice that a storm was imminent was sent out from the Chicago weather office at 8:30 o’clock Monday morning, but it was too late to prevent the Chicora from sailing. The velocity of the wind was only eight miles an hour at Milwaukee when she sailed. Capt. Stiles undoubtedly had a barometer, and at the time the reading at Milwaukee was an inch below normal. Milwaukee was at about the center of the storm circle, but Capt. Stiles must have left not knowing these facts, or that a terrific reaction was bound to come. If nothing is heard from the Chicora in the morning, the tug T.T. Morford will be sent from Chicago, and the steamer Petoskey of the Graham & Morton Line will leave St. Joseph, to look for the missing steamer. Wreckage Found off South Haven Milwaukee Sentinel - January 24, 1895 The fate of the steamer Chicora was learned today, when wreckage from the steamer was found off South Haven, Mich. “We have just found some of the Chicora’s upper works in the ice off this port,” wrote E.A. Napier, in a telegram to Mr. J.H. Graham, president of the line that owned the steamer. “There is no doubt she has sunk.” The wreckage consisted of the bridge and pilot-house, bearing the vessel’s name. Hopes of ever again seeing the Chicora have now been abandoned. Furthermore, even if the crew was able to keep a small boat afloat in the gale, or be adrift in an ice-field, the exposure to the icy air and water would have killed them in less than twenty-four hours. About noon today Capt. Donahue, keeper of the lighthouse at South Haven, spied through the thick weather what appeared to be wreckage, some north, some south and some abreast the harbor, about two miles outside, and within a half mile of the open water. A volunteer search party, led by Capt. Mathews of the U.S. live-saving station, after a perilous trip over moving ice hummocks, came upon a large mass of fresh wreckage wedged in the ice, the bulk of it under the ice and water. Portions of it brought back were pronounced by steamboat men as unquestionably pieces of the missing Chicora. The water is now very rough, and a strong gale is blowing from the west. Darkness will prevent any further search. Hope Is Now Gone Vesselmen last night differed in their opinions as to how the steamer was lost. Some were of the opinion that she sank in open water when overtaken by the blizzard, while others believed she was crushed in the ice. The fact that she was heavily loaded, they say, would make it hard for her to ride a fierce gale. “It was just as I began to fear later this afternoon, when no tidings were received,” said agent E.S. Whistler of the Graham & Morton Line. “My opinion is that the Chicora ran into the ice, and the ice packed around and crushed her. During a wind such as blew on Monday, the ice could have pierced the wooden hull like a bullet.” On hearing the news, Mr. Tarbell wept like a child. “It is cruel that a crew like that of the Chicora should die. They were a brave and jolly lot of fellows, and a more popular crew never sailed the lakes. The Chicora was one of the finest boats on the lakes. My opinion is that the machinery must have broken down before she got into the ice, or she would never have been lost. The Chicora could have gone through any kind of water with good working machinery. She has gone through ice before, and was never known to experience any trouble. I think she was tossed about before she struck the ice.” There is much doubt whether all the bodies of the Chicora’s crew will ever be recovered. My God, What Have You Done? The crew of the Chicora was loath to leave Milwaukee on Monday morning, because of an incident that occurred as the boat arrived here on Sunday. Joseph Pearl, the only passenger on board, had with him a small rifle and a box of cartridges. When six miles off Milwaukee, a wild duck was seen flying toward the Chicora. The sailors on board marveled at the incident, because they never before knew a duck to fly toward a vessel. Pearl had his rifle handy, and when the duck was about to light on the vessel, he fired and killed the fowl. As he was telling the story to Capt. Stines, the master of the boat turned pale. Pearl asked why, and Capt. Stines said, “My God, Pearl, what have you done? I feel like kneeling down and praying.” Capt. Stines told Mr. Pearl that a duck was never known to fly toward a steamer, and the fact that this one had done so, and that Pearl had killed it, was a bad omen. Pearl tried to laugh off the matter, but the master and crew became downcast from that time on, and they were in a moody state when the boat left this port. Later on Sunday Pearl met a party of Milwaukee friends and went to the Davidson Theater to witness “A Temperance Town.” Capt. Stines, his son and several other officers of the crew were invited to join the party, but they declined, saying they did not feel like taking in a show. After the performance the party returned to the steamer to visit the captain. Pearl and his friends were jovial, but Capt. Stines was downcast and asked them not to be so loud, because they would wake the colored porter in the next room. Before the party left the boat that night, Stines told a local stockholder that he wished he had resigned his commission last fall, and not gone out on the Chicora. Sunday evening the Chicora took on a heavy load of flour, consigned east for export, valued at $12,000. It was not insured. The weight of the load was 632 tons. By 5:15 o’clock Monday morning the steamer was loaded. She hoisted her anchor, and left the harbor in a drizzling rain. The lighthouse keeper was the last person who saw the boat. The lake was calm at the time, but toward 10 o’clock a blizzard arose, which must have struck the steamer in mid-lake. The Chicora was built as the heavy freight ship of the Graham & Morton Line, and much of the space was reserved for merchandise. The quarters provided for passengers, however, were luxuriously furnished. The dining room was finished in mahogany, with tables, chairs and sideboard in oak. The main cabin was arched and 100 feet long. She was lighted throughout with electricity. She could accommodate 1,200 passengers. In the summer season the steamer ran between Benton Harbor and Chicago. In the winter her trips were between Milwaukee and St. Joseph. |