Maritime History of the Great Lakes

Scanner, v. 31, no. 6 (March 1999), p. 8

The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Ship of the Month - cont'd. 8. ton of Buffalo. " The case did reach trial at Cleveland, and the decision went entirely for the CHOCTAW. An appeal was launched, and "The Marine Review" of November 23, 1899, noted: "The case growing out of the collision between the steamers WALDO and CHOCTAW at the Sault, May 20, 1896, has been argued before the United States circuit court of appeals for the sixth circuit and is now pending decision". In its issue of February 25th, 1900, "The Marine Review" reported: "It is announced from Cincinnati that the United States circuit court of appeals, sixth district, has affirmed the decision of Judge Ricks of the district court, Cleveland, in the CHOCTAW-WALDO collision case... After a trial in Cleveland lasting about three weeks, Judge Ricks found the WALDO solely at fault. The damages amount to about $27, 000... " L. C. WALDO was involved in several other incidents after her collision with CHOCTAW. The first of which we can find any record, occurred in 1901 when she again was in collision, this time with the steamer CITY OF BANGOR (U. S. 127131). Scrapbooks from Milwaukee, containing clippings from various news­ papers, evidence the following item (its source, unfortunately, not identi­ fied): "Detroit, Mich., May 8 - The first collision incident to the rush of vessels after the receipt of news of the lifting of the ice blockade took place at 5 o'clock this morning when the swift current swung the sterns of the steamers L. C. WALDO and CITY OF BANGOR together as they hurried out of the cut. The crash was heard for a long distance. Both steamers are reported aground at the lower end of the canal and are liable to block the channel. The wrecker SAGINAW was sent to their assistance. " It is unfortunate that the report did not identify the exact location of the incident, although we imagine that it was in the St. Mary's River. The same scrapbook contains another item concerning this collision, but it is no more enlightening. "Chicago, Ill., May 8 - Capt. C. H. Sinclair tele­ graphs from Detroit that the L. C. WALDO, CITY OF BANGOR and JOHN DUNCAN, which are aground, do not block the channel. The steamers will float as soon as the water rises. " This really arouses our interest. Was the wooden-hulled JOHN DUNCAN (U. S. 76960) involved in the same incident as L. C. WALDO and CI­ TY OF BANGOR, or was she grounded in a separate incident? Can any of our readers assist re this item? The next accident involving L. C. WALDO was a grounding at Point Iroquois, Whitefish Bay, in 1903. The "Buffalo Evening News" of Thursday, May 7, 1903, noted: "The prop. WALDO was reported yesterday by the prop. ANGELINE as be­ ing on Pt. Iroquois with a Steel Trust propellor trying to release her". The same paper commented the following day: "The tug GENERAL succeeded in re­ leasing the prop. L. C. WALDO late Wednesday night (May 6) and the big boat seems none the worse for the experience. She was towed to Sault Ste. Marie. " The "Buffalo Evening News" of Sunday, May 10th, reported: "The stm. WALDO which was aground at Point Iroquois, passed Detroit yesterday. The damage done the boat cannot be made known until she reaches Ashtabula, where she will take on a cargo of ore. " This item is reproduced just as it was printed originally, but we assume that the WALDO was going to UNload her iron ore cargo at Ashtabula, rather than loading there. During the 1906 season, which was the year after her lengthening, L. C. WAL­ DO found the bottom on two occasions. The first of these was recorded by "The Marine Review" in its issue of April 19, 1906: "The steamer L. C. WALDO, which ran aground near Bois Blanc Island (in the Straits of Mackinac -Ed. ), will go into dry dock at South Chicago. " Any other details? The second grounding, late that same season, was reported by the "Buffalo Evening News" in its issue of Tuesday, December 18, 1906. "Charlevoix, Dec. 18 - The steamer, reported ashore on the reef near Garden Island (in northern Lake Michigan, west of the Straits of Mackinac -Ed. ) is the L. C.

Keyword(s) to search
CITY OF BANGOR
Pages/Parts
Powered by / Alimenté par VITA Toolkit
Privacy Policy