Alva (Propeller), aground, 25 May 1895

Cheboygan, may 27. -- The big steel steamer ALVA, bound from South Chicago for Lake Superior, without cargo, is ashore on the southeast point of North Manitou Island. The stranded boat is out five feet forward, bow on, with the stern in 11 feet of water. Three starboard compartments are full of water, and the boat is in a generally bad shape. The FAVORITE left at noon for the wreck. The ALVA is in command of Captain Joseph Holmes.
      Cleveland, May 27. -- Upon advices that the steamer ALVA was ashore in North Manitou, Mr. A. Bradley, the owner, at once took quick action towards saving the steamer. The point where she stranded is partly rocky, but the boat will be in danger of total loss through heavy weather from only one direction - northeast. Another of the Bradley boats, the schooner ALVA BRADLEY, was lost on the same side of North Manitou Island last season. It is supposed that the ALVA stranded in a fog. Sutton's Bay, the point whence Holmes telegraphed, is on the mainland on Grand Traverse Bay, a long distance from the scene of the wreck.
      Buffalo Enquirer
      May 27, 1895
     
     
     
      ALVA IN BAD SHAPE.
      Cheboygan, May 29. -- The wrecking tug FAVORITE reached here at 2 o'clock this morning from North Manitou Island and reports the steamer ALVA ashore there, to be in bad shape, with broken plates and other serious damage. After securing a large lighter, the tug CRYSLER, six carpenters and ten men to work the hydraulic jacks, the FAVORITE returned to the wreck with all speed at 9:30 this morning.
      Buffalo Enquirer
      May 29, 1895
     
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      Chicago, June 4. -- The South Chicago dry dock is being held for the steamer ALVA, which has been ashore for several days on North Manitou Island. The serious delay in getting the boat afloat is causing a great deal of uneasiness among the underwriters.
      Chicago, June 4. -- Dispatches to M. A. Bradley from Glenhaven, says that the weather since Sunday afternoon has been favorable for the release of the ALVA, ashore on North Manitou, and that tugs can be seen at work this morning.
      Buffalo Enquirer
      June 4, 1895
     
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Glen Haven, Mich., June 6. -- The steamer ALVA was released from North Manitou Island last night by the wrecker FAVORITE. Three compartments were so badly damaged that they cannot be pumped out. Otherwise the steamer seems uninjured, and left for Chicago with her own power this morning.
      Buffalo Enquirer
      June 6, 1895
     
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      About eighty-four lifts were made with the hydraulic jacks before the steamer ALVA was floated off North Manitou island. This process of lifting a stranded boat a few inches and then moving her as far as the lift will permit by pulling with a tug-the operation being repeated over and over again-is tedious and difficult, but in the case of the ALVA the wreckers were successful after about forty-eight hours of favorable weather. The increased weight of about 500 tons of water, which could not be pumped from the damaged compartments of the boat, made the work more difficult than it would have been if the water bottom could have been entirely freed of its contents. The wrecking steamer FAVORITE, which was engaged on this job, has ten hydraulic jacks of about eighty tons lifting capacity each, and it is understood that her equipment in this line is to be increased for future emergencies. The fact that the boat is equipped with a search light, as well as extensive lighting apparatus otherwise, permitted of work by night, and the ready release of the steamer, with much less expense than was expected, was due largely to operations being carried on night and day.
      Marine Review
      June 6, 1895