Magnetic (Barge), U91497, collision, 1 Oct 1907

Detroit, Mich., June 29. -- Blame for the collision between the steamer SONOMA and the barge MAGNETIC in Hay Lake, St. Mary's River in October, 1907, is placed wholly with the SONOMA, in a decision given yesterday by judge Henry H. Swan in the United States District Court. The MAGNETIC, then owned by the Gilchrist Transportation Company, now of the Pittsburg Steamship Company's fleet, had been waiting in Hay Lake for higher water, with her consort, the steamer H.S. SILL.
      As they were endeavoring to get back into the channel for down bound vessels, the SONOMA came down. Owners of the barge charged that she neglected to check and, running at full speed, struck the towline. Her starboard bow then hit the stern of the barge.
      "She had no right to thus hurl herself like a projectile into the midst of the vessels before her, taking the hazard of the consequences and thus imperiling herself and them, with all the property and lives on board," says the court's decision in reference to the SONOMA. "The rule of the road is no warrant for such conduct."
      The SONOMA is owned by the Duluth Steamship Company, the Tomlinson Company managers. The clerk of the court will determine the amount of damages to be awarded the former owners of the MAGNETIC.
      Buffalo Evening News
      Thursday, June 29, 1911