Wisconsin (Propeller), ice damage, 19 Mar 1885

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Propeller WISCONSIN, of Grand Haven, built 1881 and of 1,183 tons. On March 19, 1885, vessel was crushed [ice ?] in Lake Michigan. Property loss, $50,000. A partial loss. Cargo sundries.
List of Partial Lake Losses, 1885
Cleveland leader
December 7, 1885

THE WORST FEARED
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GOOD REASON FOR THINKING THAT THE WISCONSIN IS LOST
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NO WORD FROM HER CREW, CAPT. PRINDIVILLE INTERVIEWED
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FATE OF THE WISCONSIN GRAVE FEARS FOR HER SAFETY - SURROUNDED BY ARCTIC ICE
Chicago, March 25. - Capt. Prindiville of the propeller Michigan, which was crushed in the ice and foundered on Lake Michigan last Thursday, the crew having gone on board of a tug in the ice nearby and thence making their way over the ice to Holland last Sunday, arrived here today. He says the steamer was well down in the water when the squeeze came that crushed her. He says the tug Arctic, to which they escaped, and on which several men still remain, is perfectly safe, lying on top of the ice so she cannot be gripped, and that when the thaw comes she will settle easily in the water. Capt. Prindiville says he never before saw so much ice in the lakes. For sixty miles south of the Straits of Mackinac the ice is solid entirely across, of an average thickness of thirty inches. He believes it to be impossible for vessels to get through the Straits to Buffalo before June 1.
Regarding the propeller Wisconsin, which is twin of the lost vessel Michigan, Capt. Prindiville said that Capt. McGregor, her commander, was a skillful and brave seaman, and if any man could rescue her he could. She was more heavily loaded than the Michigan, deeper in the water, and therefore more subject to the grip of the ice. It might be that she has already suffered the same fate as the Michigan. The Wisconsin has not been heard of for some time and vessel men here express grave fears for her safety and that of her crew.
Detroit Post
Thursday, March 26, 1885

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