Maritime History of the Great Lakes

J. W. Hall Scrapbook, 1876-, p. 9

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^EM^W"*^ IBtpaMJS HAtiS 1HI.ANO, LAKE¦HltlK. "WKIIKUJ WiKiKlK & SON, Proprietors. CAPACITY, 225,000 GALLONS. (The firm made that amount of Wine the Fall of 1674.1 tF° Over the Cellars are the spacious and airy Party Rooms of J OSIAH-STAGEY 63xH3 feet. The Calveit Lith Co Detroit.____ ________^ mm RED BLAZES! A $40,000 Fire on Board the Steamer R. N. Rice. Tke Efforts Made to Save Her Prove Suceessful-.The Damage Confined Mainly to the Cabins. 'CsCs'ZSV 7 4<: OH & r ¦' C^ / e y / " At exactly half-past nine o'clock last evening a fire broke out on board the elegant pas-serger etetmer R. N. Rice, of the Detroit and Cleveland line, which was lying at her dock foot of Shelby street. The trouble appeared to originate in the after cablD, and is thought to have been caused by the bursting of a kero-serelamp. The flames speedily made their way to the roof by means of the cross bar opsnirgs, and Bpread forward and aft with great rapidity. About ten minutes elapsed before any alarm was sounded, and then several boxes were pulled at once, so that all the ! ngines except Nos. 6 and 7 and 'he special were called into seryice. The new chemical eDgine No. 1 was the first to arrive, and speedily got her hose into operatic n, although the fire wa* evidently much beyond her capacity. Borne of the other engines made bungling work of it for a few minutes, which seemed ages to the immense crowd of spectators, and several stampedes were caused by bursting hose upon the dock. By the tirade the battle of water against fire was fairly begun in eirnest, the fHmes had tun a'ong the cabin forward to the pilot-house and burst through the win dows and roof. It is bat justice to say that the department worked like heroes, and they saved the better portion of the ship after most of the spectators had given her up for lost. The struggle lasted until about half-past (en o'clock, the firemen being asBieted by Capt. Campbell, of the ferry Fortune, and Capt. Horn, of the ferry Exceleior, who ran their boats close to the burning steamer and played upon her with the hose attached to their steam force pumps, and at eleven o'clock the fire had been entirely extinguished. A trip through the charred, dripping boat revealed a sad spectacle of ruin. The destruction had been confined mainly to the cabins, the after one being wholly destroyed with its wealth of splendid furniture, plate-glass mirrors, costly carpets, curtains, paintings, etc , wnile the forward cabin was also entirely ruined, although the roof and sides remained standing. The agent of the line, Mr. David Carter, states that the cabins cost about $25,000 to build them, exclusive of all the furniture and equipments which they con-tamed, and places the total loss at $40,000 as a rough estimate. The machinery he declares can be saved to a great extent, while the hull emerged uninjured from the iiery_ ordeal.___ Tte Hire arrived hi port about eleven o'clock yesterday morning, and after unloid ing freight at the Michigan Central Railroad dock, reached her own headquarters at about four o'clock in the afternoon, so that all her passengers and nearly all their baggage had been removed from the staterooms. Her freight consieted of % miscellaneous cargo, somewhat smaller than usual, comprising about 48,000 pounds of iron, and a quantity of oil, lead, elasswara, hats, caps, household goods, etc., most of which had been un loaded at the Michigan Central dock for shipment by rail. The fire insurance is distributed as follows: Detroit Fire and Marine Insurance Company.................................... $5,000 Meriden Insurance Company, Connecticut...................................... 2,500 Mechanics and Traders' Insurance Company.....................->............... 2,5o; Northern Insurance Company, New York. 2 500 Faneuil Hall Insurance Comppny, Boston. 2,500 Commercial Insurance Company, New York.................................., 2,500 Glens Falls Insurance Company, New York................................ 2 500 Royal Canadian Insurance Company, Montreal..................................... 2 500 Atlaulic Underwriters, Philadelphia ...... 2,500 Total................................. $25,0* The above sum is the fire Insurance only, and as it covers the entire boat with all its equipments, furniture, machinery, etc., it will be seen that but a small portion of the amount will go to apply upon the loss. The boat is quite a number of years old, but was (luring the past winter reconstructed as good as new, and judging from the price which the Northwest brought at the time of her pur chase the entire valuation of the Rice might be placed at $125,000. She is certainly one of the swiftest steamers upon the lakes, as she is also one of the very largest and most elegant, and her cabins had been fitted up in a style of unequalled magnificence. Steamboat Empire, 1S44, Capt. D. Howk. Obituiiry. Captain James Butler, recently deceased, sailed es sruie twenty-five to thirty years, and was well known among the older navigators. The schooner Levi llawson, owned at the time bv Hiram H. Smith, was last sailed by him. For a number of years he has been incapacitated by paralysis from active labor, but earned a snf-v for his own support at tallying arid weighing grain. Last winter ho met with an accident in one of the elevators, and broke a thigh b' >i*6. ire was taken to the General Hospital and well taken caro of. but it seems lio was not to recover. The last sad tributo ot respect was paid to his remains Saturday, when a few friends at-:vf. the burial. The pall-bearers were Cap-io. B. Hand, Geo. Wilson. Hugh Malion, and Robert Jones.—Buifala Express* VZth. THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN ENGLISH. Captain English's death is alluded to on the editorial page. ___________ CAPTAIN B. F. DAVIDSON. Up to a late hour last night the state of Captain ti. F. Davidson's health was the same as announced yesterday. During the day yesterday he raiiied somewhat, but along toward evening lie relapsed into the former condition, and his friends, of which there were many watching around him, thought his end was near. To the Ebitok: It was sworn by the defense in the barkBoard of Trade trial that a marhnspike and small crowbar—used for making the holes in tho water-closet pipe—were found on the cabin floor, near the water-closet room, in tho aft part qt the cabin It was proved on the part of the plarntill, and not disputed by the defense, that tho vessel sunk head foremost, and the stern stuck up out of water for a few rninutos, at which time the cabm Iloor must have boon almost perpendicular to the lake. Problem—Why did not that marlm-spiee and crowbar slide down lull to the forward end of the cabin floor! It Jooks as though the scuttling of the pipe was done after tho vessel stood on her end in tho lako, and so ^wel_vejmen LAKE FREIGHTS. fl Obsebveb. ".;,¦ ,"7T7Ti-i"irg~;it'e"t"Te average rates on nal during the„month of .May, compared in years named: .------lake- Wheat. Corn. 1877 . 1870.. 1875., 1873.. 18' !.. 1870.. ...........8.2 2.9 2.8 3.6 7.8 .-----CANAL----- Wheat. Corn. i.8 8.7 7.4 12.8 9.7 11.5 5 5.7 6.6 11.8 9.1 10.7 Detroit, Juae 8.—The scow Wm. Weiihon'o talus shingles and cedar posts, Sand tiiiaca to Toledo, at 20c per l.OCO, and 2'^c each on posts. Messrs. Whittaker & Son report ilie scow Wm Parks. Forrestviile to Monroe, lumber, at $1 25 per 1 LO feet, on rati; scow Mary Hattie, lumber, Greenbush to Detroit, at $1 25 per 1,603 test, on rail- schooner Mary Battle, timber, Hiile Ttiver to K!ii"Bton. at 75c per 1,000 cubic feet; schoonc,-Dacota, cedar posis, Prentice Bay to Detroit, at #1 25 per cord, on rail. Capt. J. H. Jones reports chartering the scow Mary Garret, salt, New River to Toledo, at lie per Borr-ALO, .Tone 8.—Cleared—Schrs Wannetee, COM to Detroit, 800 tons. 20c; J F Joy, coal to Chicago, 1,0.5 tons, 50c; Kate Winelow, coal to Chicago 1,800 tons, 60c, free. Props Raleigh, coal to Chicago. 1,400 tons. 60c, free; W L Whismore, coal to Duluth, 901 tons, p t. Charters-Schrs B R Blake and Milwaukee, coal, 60c, free; \V H Hounds, to Chicago, coal, 60c, free. CHTC4UO June 8.—There was a goad demand for vessels to Kingston on the basis of 4 JJc for corn, but for Buffalo the inquiry was light on tho basis of 2c for corn. Storage rojmwjs Beeoreaior ISO, 000 tu corn and 50,800 I'u wheat. The engagements were: To Kingston—Schrs. Ha.ana, Ho hoken. Madeira and Mont Blanc, corn at t% Buffalo—8chr Ellen Spry; props. Ch-ui-ncay ffarl-b-itt J. Gonld and Portage, corn and wheas on through rate. . . ,, . T Bvjin-'Ai.o, June 7.-Charters reported: Schr J. F Joy coal to Chicago, 50c per ton; schr S. V. k' Watson, to arrive, coal to Milwaukee schr Waneeta, coal to Detroit at 2ic per ton; schr Berlin, coal to Torch Lake, p. t. , ' - Toiedo June 8 —The only engagements effected tre the i-cfcre Medlteranean. hame stieka and staver to Buffalo, at $4; Jennie White, wheat to Bailalo, 2c. It. N. Rice.—The work ot repairing the t 1-1. N, Lice, whicil lies at tire old Nor-thorn -na;i<ui ly-mrf, has not yet colnmenced. lay J. J. Shepherd. o£ Cleveland; B. O. Ji'linsou,' Mirlligan City, Intl.: Captain jo.--oph Nicholson. J. <;. Burton, with-Mr. Carters of tliis igage-d in computing the value of tho furniture destroyed. This morning 4- JlcVittte, ol the uet.n-.it Drydock'Company, and Mr. Mortis, foreman of Clark's drt'-doek.- will make a survey - •;: work it will require to place her in hor former condition. James W. Bart hut;'of tho Detroit LocOni'otiVB Works, and Wm. Oowie, of the1 Detroit Dry Dock Company, will hold/a survey on the machinery. The estimates of the above gentlemen will probably be completed by to-hiftrrotv evening.- when tli of rebuilding will begin at one ot the dry doolie. On further examination it is found that the fire could not.have originated in the lamp-roo ¦Hied, as that part of the 'steamer is almost entirely free of damage. It is now b'o-rt,ed in. the steerage where, tto doe}- -hands bunked, The engine, it is be -aped serious injury, although a i. of the rods and braces of the frame, are warped. ¦ ii tho forenoon to ascertain if had boon cracked by tho heat. Tho "d to show any flaws, and it is thought they ui-c comparatively uninjured. The iriimensel heat to which the engine was subjected is illus-' ; rated by the fact that over 200 pounds of molted liruss has been gathered tip which formerly did duty on the ends of tho walking beam and other parts of the machinery. The a -I about seventy-live pounds, and hung beam-, was melted in two. so that the lower part fell on the engine below. That the fire was stave ..I. lag-gained the head- way it did. is invariably spoken of by the ]arge number -who visit the Rice as exceedingly re- ¦ markable. For this tlio ferryboats Fortune and, lixcelsior are entitled to greatpraise, and to and the lire department Cant am Mc'Kay'expresses! 'lis thanks.—Free ^£^iS^^S^^g^^^mtmmmmH^i COLLECTOR KOOT'S HUDDLE NAGE DUES. ABOUT TON CAPTAIN It. F. DAVIDSON. In his earlier years Captain Davidson sailed. His whole life, almost, has been spent in connection with our lake marine. Of late years he has been in husiness ashore. He leaves us in advanced years and perfectly contented to go. H Tnn Gr.oiu or the British Lion.—A few days since the tug Oswego pulled off the prop Caaisteo, which got aerotind at Fighting Island This is what the Essex Times, published in Windsor says of the act: We called attention a short time ago to thio fact that American lues had no right to do any wrecking in Canadian waters. The tug Oswego, derfyinr I Canadian law, pulled off a propeller asroumd on I'igliting Island the other day. For doing? this, and no person knows better than Mr. Grnihimond that he was doing wrorg, the boat is lialble to suztneaud the owners to a heavy hue, hoith of which we hope will be imposed. An example must be made, and we express the hope th-at our officials will avail themselves of the very best opportunity to prove to our American cousins that the game of bluff is dead. If it be necessary to have a revenue cutter to enforce Canaaian law let us have one, cost what it will as money is nothing in comparison with the^ majetty of law in the British dominioas. Captain Muir, of the bark Acorn, an American bottom, cleared from Bay City to Oswego with timber. He unloaded tho timber at Kingston and came on to Oswego, and reported to the officer on the dock, from whom he also took a clearance for an upper lake port. When about to clear Monday a deputy from the Custom House came down and told the Captain that there was some irregularity about his clearance irom above, and that he vrould have to pay $08 tonnage dues. Cantata Muir said ho cleared just as lie did all last summer, and just as every other vessel does, but finally wont up and saw Collector Boot, who told him that the trouble was that Bay City was a "by port," and he ought to have gono to Port Huron and there got his clearance, and that his clearance should have been Issued by some officer other than a deputy. Captain Muir answered that ho was cleared by a deputy at Oswego, and he didn't see why the same rule wouldn't work at Bay City. Mr. Boot rather insisted onpavment, but Captain Muir consulted a lawyer, who advised him to sail when he got ready, and upon another interview with Mr. Koottho Collector decided that ihe thing was in such a mudai9 that he couldn't straighten it out. So Captain Muir sailed Monday night and did't have to pay tonnage dues either.—Oswego Palladium, 30th. Shipments from Saginaw River.—The ship ments from the river for the season to June 1 in the yeais named are as follows.- 1875. 1876. 1«?7. Lumber, feet..... 66,75C,091 93,476,050 69,7:12,918 Lath, pieces...... 4,33-2,200 4,916,200 5,823,300 Shingles.......... 18,087,000 27,213,850 15.634,250 Staves......... .. 416,065 614.822 579,837 3,81 1,000 877,000 The total salt shipments from the river to May 80, as reported by tte Michigan Salt Association. weie 2t9,057 bbls. The total bhipmentB to date last year were 216,000 bbls. Obituary. William Dail father of Captain DavidDall. Mrs -Hoops............ 4,641900 6,53i,O0O I SFS^S^rS »» o ' Timb6r-I Bose HillTorinterment'ln the family lot of Captain I Dail. A Sailor Fatnlly Injured. tot edo Ohio, June 13.—A sailor named Patrick n'?nSf(-milov»d on the bark J. E. Bensen, while Sssistiugn loading the vessel with timber, wasltruckonthe head by a portion of the loading tackle and fatally injured. ¦ra^f^Fe^orf^^g with a cargo from tho and erew are well. lasrc-hat the li New fork oil Xhui V est Indies. The cap •'..0 the Benson is all rnuit. I>ro\viietl from a Tnjr. Special Telegram to The Inter Ooean.l Bay City, Mich., May 31.—William MeBeth. a deck-hand on the tug Lalceton. was drowned oil Sand Point Tuesday afternoon. He was reaching with a Pike-polo for a log.-when he lost his balance and fell overboard ana went down before a boat could reach him. He was formerly lighthouse keeper at Owen Sound. The body was not recovered. " Captain Patterson, an old and esteemed resident of Kingston, died in that city on Monday last. He had been prominent in murine circles m former days, and was well known by the vessel men on the lakes. __ „ ? UN James Draper ot the schooner John I ' Wesley, received a dispatch from Toledo, on Monday last, announcing the death of his mother, Td95TT- i \ < RETURN OF THE BENSON. Her Arrival at Toledo from Salt Water. On Friday noon the schooner C. B. Benson ar-! rived at Toledo, after an absence of three and a half years, which have been spent in the ocean trade. The Benson, it will be remembered, is the first lake schooner that took a cargo of grain from a lake port direct to Liverpool without transhipment. Captain Duff, who has been with her dur-I ing her experience on the briny, looks as hale and hearty as he did the day he sailed down the bay nearly four years ago. He seemed glad to get back to the home port again, and his old friends there were certainly glad to see him once r,JU*i.u.......—'¦.....»¦" ......"" ""'*- THE SHORTAGE ON COAL. For Rcbope,—Toe schr Mary L. Hisrgie. now at Quebec, has been chartered for Cork or order?, dc°lf? fit 83fl. Her owner has also bren offered £636 sterling for the schooner City of Green Bfcy, aleo in Qnebec, for deals to St. Andrews, with coal.'- back at £UQ. ON TO THE GRAVE. The remains of the late Captain Aleck "English; were conveyed to their last resting place yester-6 day. The funeral was largely attended, Thej pall-bearers were Mr. J. Dutch, Mr. Ingalls, of the 1 firm of Raney & Ingalls; Mr. Thomas Miller,] Captain Crosby, of tho firm of Crosby & Prindi-ville; Captain Cal Carr, Captain Joseph B. Hall, Mr. C. J. Magill, and Mr. H. S. Halstead. all warm personal friends of the deceased. The oaptaind of the Pcshtigo and Baldwin, Mr. George C Finney. Mr. O. W. Goit, Captain J. L. Higgie, thc Buckingham brothers, Mr. Doolittle, Mr, Olcot4 and many other well-known gentlemen were in attendance with their families. The funeral of the late Captain B. F. Davidson takes phice to-day, and will also be largely attended by the friends of tho deceased and of the amily. __________ The revenue cutter Andy Johnson has gone into commigrion, and wil start on a cruise alon^ tae west r'hore of Lake Michigan to-day, Monday. Her oflicers are: Captain. David Evans; fiuwt lieutenant, Robert Baretow; second lieutenant, Oscar C. Howlet; third lieutenant, Frank H. Newcoaib; chief engineer, Geo. C. Deremer; assistant engineer, Horace C. Whitworih. Canadian Tonnage.— An approximate statement of the vessels and tonnage owned in Canadian ports is as follows: Steamers, paddle and ¦ ecrew, number, 379, with a tonnage of 41,160; schooners, number, 378, with a tonnage of 67,600; : river barges, number, 484, with a tonnage of 73-; 000. Total number of vessels 1,231; total tonnage, 210,760. __________ . The Case of the Schooner Delaware. On two occasions duping last week the cargoes of coal on board vessels which were unloaded at Law's dock were short—or claimed to be short. One instance was that of the schooner Delaware. Her bill of lading called for 1,050 tons, but it is claimed that on weighing tho cargo out there were only 989 tons. Most of tho trouble in regard to the discrepancy so far has »been from the coat-heavers who unloaded the vessel. The bill of lading calling for 1,0150 tons, the men ask pay for handling that amount, and refuse to be cona-orted unless it is forthcoming. Cheap.—The Cleveland line of steamers have not yet sold the hull of the It. N. Rice, but are willing to do so for a consideration OT $3,500 cash. This hull could in a few weeks be tmned into as fine a lumber barge as floats upon ihe lakes, when she would have a capacity of between 850 and 9C0 M. of lumber. Riimoub Rates.—"Two cents to Buffalo on com I" exclaimed a vessel-owner yesterday on meeting a friend at the lumbei market, where ne&rly all the men interested in marine matters daiiv congregate. " That settles it," said the othe'r, " and is only the final letting of the cat out of the bag on the p. t business.1' Then it was tokl how the Red Wing and the Lucerne had beea chartered at the ruinously low figure of 2c. It is said on authority that Capt. Myers, of the Dcane, disgusted at the 2c busi-ntFS. gave the things away so far as his vessel was concerned, and charged the agents with first chartering the Argonaut at the same rate. Vessel-owners are more than ever convinced of the uselessness of attempting to run tbt ir f-hips just for the fun of the thing, and today at four p. m. will see what they can do about it by a discussion of tht matter st the meeting in tb-1 committee-room of the Board of Trade. Vessel-owners at every port on the lakes are kicking like mules in consequence of the. present Teip and That.—The officers in charge of the s*n r Pear), while she runs on the Cleveland route, v.i'i te as follows: Captain, John Edwards; mate, V'illiam Traverse: clerk, N fe Clark: engineer, C L Barron; second engineer, Charles Gates; steward "W E Bennett; porter, S Riley. The statement that kerosene oil is used upon the Cleveland line of etmrtj is denied by Capt,. Pierce, the Superintendent of the line, " Mineral Sperm " oil onlv is used, and that is the iUiid approved by the United States Steamboat Inspector. and is "considered as safe as whale oil. VoMmrgh & Baker.; The Buffalo Courier has the following generoits .tu-^ion to the troubles of Vosburgh & Baker) "Everybody in Buffalo and very many along the chain of lakes Will learn, with genuine r^:xrv.^ that ill-known firm of Vosburgh & Baker, ship chandlers and grocers, ware compelled to suspend payment on Thursday, on which day they made an assignment to James D. Sawyer, Esq; The amounts of their assets or liabilities they will not be able to determine for a few days. Two La—altogether too much lake property foif them to o&rry. and which are encumbered for all they are now worth, have had much to do with the embarrassment of the firm. Of their large Western collections for freight, which they have aiways regarded as trust moneys they do not owe a dollar; their names are not on any pa-perin thi*-eifey; and most of their indebb is to Eastern parties with whom their concern has donota large business for many years. The house is one of the oldest in the city, dating hack s.s far as 1832. Mr. Vosburgh as clerk and partis been associated with it for twenty-five ¦••ears, and iir. Baker in the $>ame relations for twenty-three years. We hope they will be ¦ i I from their embarrassment." Vessel Transfers, Schooner Mary Collin-, In lllackburn to £.000. plain, James D. Leary to Henry A. •10. ioner Kate Barley, United States Marshal to William B. Kerfoot. $1,000. Schooner Golden West, United States Marshal >. Iverfoot,-+5.700. tanalboat E. H. Heath, Thomas Nichol-fohn Stockdale, $2.G00. Schooner Martha, Thomas Kelson to Christian Bagan, $3W.......... .^— At Chicago.—The bark Summer Cloud will go to Europe wilh her cargo of rieais. The schooners liuns'arlan and Mary L. Higgie may alsj go. Capt ains Dall ar.d Biggie have left for Q.uabec to complete arrangements. - •- -"--:^_ XT ¦ Capt, Alexander English died at Chicago on WeOnt eday. at ihe age of fifty year*. He com-mandtd the echnoner Wyoming in 3850, and made his first pu chase of vessel property in I85fi, taking a half-inte.esr, in the sccoouer Amelia, He subsequently bought the other half-ime'e=t in her, and .afterward purchased tue echooners Pe-htigo, .Millard Fillmore, and H. P. Baldwin, which he posse.-eed at the time of his death. THOSE NEW VESSELS. tomething; Further in Rujsrartl to tlio Marian 13. Page anti tbe diaries Foster. The following are the dimensions of tho new schooner Marian B. Page, which arrived hero with a cargo of coal yesterday: Length of keel, 192 feet; breadth of beam. 31 feet; depth of old, 14 feet; tonnage is 719.07; cost between iooioo'o and $60,000. She is owned by the bi i Mr. Valentine Fries, of Milan. With the }¦• materials, good workmanship, true to her bcauti- j ful molds, and fitted out without regard to ej> I penso, tho Pago is indeed a fine vessel. Her r cabin, which is not yet completed inside, is very |! spacious and is well arranged. The Page is commanded by Captain M. Stalker, one of our oldest and most experienced masters, he having I the lakes for over twenty-two years. was built and sparred in 1874, but has just been out. , _ The other vessel being fitted out by Mr. Fries oi is named after their representative in Charles Fi r tonnage is Q99, and she will be and ready to enter into commission ea y, should fr< imprnve. She was commenced in 1874 and, Jnunched this sprinff.__________ New Bedford, Mass., May 28.—The schooner New Bedford, twenty feet long, with Captain Thomas Crap ana his wife on board, sailed today for London. An immense crowd witnessed the departure of the boat, which is the smallest that has ever attempted the feat.

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