The Chicora has sunk

Benton Harbor, Mich., Jan. 24th A steamer’s hull, thought to be that of the Chicora, was seen floating off Glen Haven, at noon.

A report that wreckage was seen near Double Gap, one mile north of here, is confirmed. A party has gone to the spot to await the floating in the wreckage.

Terre Haute. Ind. Jan 24, the Vandalia officials at the general offices of the company firmly believed the Chicora to be lost. The boat carried fourteen carloads of freight consigned to the Vandalia for eastern ports.

The following telegram was received today from South Haven:

“Port side and forward upper bulwarks five feet wide and twelve feet long, and inside shutters to passenger gangway, all belonging to the Chicora, were found this morning about a mile out on the ice.”

Secretary George Farrington says the officials have become convinced that the boat has foundered.

Muskegon, Mich., Jan 24, The steamer Nyack left today for Milwaukee. She will make a circuitous trip in search of the Chicora. The Tug Crosby will probably also go in search of the Chicora.

Chicago, Jan. 24.--The tug Petosky, which left early yesterday to search for the Chicora, had not been heard from up to 3 o’clock this afternoon. The rescuing party knew nothing of the finding of the wreckage, and consequently it is thought that the tug is probably wide of the place in which the steamer was wrecked.

Little hope of success from the party is expected, and it was determined to send another boat from Chicago this evening or tomorrow. A special from Joseph, Mich., says that the finding of exclusively light wreckage has revived hopes that the hull of the vessel is still afloat, and that at least part of the crew will be rescued. A sailor is said to have seen yesterday a demolished hull near the place where the wreckage was found.

Late this afternoon a message was received from Capt Graham, one of the boats owners saying that the Chicora is lost with all on board.

There is no longer any doubt that the Graham & Morton line steamer Chicora which left Milwaukee Monday morning, is lost with all on board.

All hope was abandoned late last night when at this home in Benton Harbor, President Graham received a telephone announcing that some of the Chicora’s upper works had been found off South Haven, Mich. The wreckage consisted of the bridge and the pilot house bearing the steamer’s name. President Graham at once said that the Chicora had certainly gone down.

Twenty-six lives have been lost. The property was valued at from $150,000 to $160,000 and the cargo at $15,000.

This forenoon the following dispatch was sent out from Chicago: “A large piece of the bulwarks of the missing Graham & Morton propeller Chicora was found floating in the lake today about five miles south of South Haven. One of the Proprietors of the missing boat, on hearing of the discovery, said that it indicated to him that the boat is still afloat. If she had gone down, he thought, the wreckage would have sunk with her, but the piece of the bulwark indicated that the steamer was still afloat, though badly damaged. Other marine however, were of the opinion that the boat had been lost with its twenty six people.

The crew of the Chicora

Names of the men who went down with the boat.

The names of the lost crew are as follows:

Edward Stines, captain, St. Joseph, Mich

Benjamin Stines mate captain’s son St. Joseph

C.D. Simone, first mate Benton Harbor, Mich

Joseph Marks wheelman, Benton Harbor

Thomas Robertson, watchman,

John Hodges, watchman,

Robert McLure, chief engineer, Detroit

A. Wirtz, second engineer, Detroit

Grant A.Downey, oiler Detroit

Nate Lynch, cook St. Joseph

James Malone, pantry man. Chicago

William Morgan head waiter Benton Harbor

Jesse Davis porter, Benton Harbor

James R. Clarke clerk St. Joseph

Joseph Pearl, passenger St. Joseph

EIGHT DECK HANDS names unknown

TWO FIREMEN names unknown

ONE COAL PASSER name unknown.

The crew were mostly residents of Michigan. Capt. Edward Stines, was known in Milwaukee as an able as well as careful navigator. He comes of a long line of sailors, and was about 42 years of age. Twenty-five years ago he entered the service of the Graham & Morton company and it is said that no boat which he commanded ever met with an accident before. He commanded a number of boats in the company’s service, and three years ago, when the Chicora was brought out, he took charge of her. He leaves a widow and a 12 year-old daughter. His son, Benjamin, aged 22 found a watery gave with his father in the terrible gale on Tuesday night. He held the position of second mate, and was booked for the position of first mate next spring.

C. D. Simonds, the first mate, was about 40 years of age and unmarried. His home was in St. Joseph.

James R. Clark was about 45 years of age and leaves a wife and two children at St. Joseph, where he was a prominent Republican politician and at one time United States marshal. He made the fatal trip at the request of the officials of the company, the regular clerk, William Hancock, failing to reach the boat in time, having missed a train. It was at his request that Joseph Pearl, the St. Joe druggist took the fatal trip.

Chief engineer Robert McClure was 60 years of age, and leaves a wife and two grown up daughters, who live in Detroit. He was a brother of the chief engineer of the Virginia.

Jesse Davis, (colored) the baggageman, was 25 years of age and leaves a wife and child at his home, in Benton Harbor.

Engineer Alfred Wirtz made his home with his parents in Detroit. He was about 30 years of age.

The remainder of the crew lived in Michigan and most of them were not married.

Joseph Pearl took with him on the trip to Milwaukee a gun with which he shot a duck that was in the act of alighting on the boat in midlake. The appearance of the duck in such a place, and the fact that it had been shot, awakened a superstitious dread that spread among the crew. The incident preyed upon the captain’s mind and he constantly reverted to it as an evil omen while the Chicora was in this port loading for the return trip.

No Milwaukee freight aboard

Flour shipped by the Sanderson went on another boat.

After discharging her cargo here, the Chicora took on board a heavy consignment of flour, to be transferred to the Vandalia and the Big Four roads. The cargo was valued at $12,000 weighing 632 tons and was uninsured. The report published in the morning paper that the E. Sanderson Milling Company had 1,000 sacks of flour in the cargo is not true, the Sanderson company’s consignment having gone by the preceding boat.

Agent Whistler and Grosvenor Tarbell were last evening discussing the prospects of the Chicora reaching port in safety when informed that their worst fears had been realized. Mr. Tarbell was very much affected by the news, as Capt. Stines was one of his personal friends. He eulogized the crew as a brave lot of men. Mr. Tarbell was of the opinion that the disaster was due to the disabling of the Chicora’s machinery, which caused her to go down before she went into the ice. With her machinery in working order MR. Tarbell, thinks the Chicora would have had no difficulty.

The Chicora was built by the Detroit Drydock Company three years ago, at a cost of $150.000. It was her second winter on the Milwaukee-- St. Joe. run. she was 217 feet long with a 35 foot beam, increased by her guards to 40 feet, a moulded depth of 15 feet, and had a guaranteed speed of 17 miles an hour. She carried $140,000 fire insurance but no marine insurance, and with her cargo the Graham and Morton company will sustain a loss of $175,000. The company has been in existence twenty-five years, and this is the first boat that it has lost. The company is composed of J.H. Graham of Benton Harbor and Andrew Crawford of Chicago.