First Lumber Boat Arrives

The first lumber laden vessel to reach the local ports this season arrived here on Saturday afternoon from Marionette, Wis. The vessel was the steamer Edward Buckley and the stock is consigned to W. E. Kelsey & Son. The boat has on about 600,000 feet of hemlock. The schooner Unadilla, which arrived at Buffalo yesterday afternoon, came down the river today with a cargo of hemlock for the same firm. The first lumber vessel to arrive here last year came on May 9.

There are many vessels, laden with lumber, bound down the lakes while the remainder of the local fleet is at upper lake ports loading stock. It is expected that about 6,000,000 feet of lumber will be docked here this week.

The schooner Iron City, owned by White Gratwick & Mitchell Company of North Tonawanda, was rammed by the steel freighter Thomas F. Cole while passing up the St. Clair river on Saturday and went to the bottom. Captain Ernest Cole and his crew escaped in life boats.

The Iron City was light and was in tow with the steamer Alaska, bound for Duluth, after a cargo of lumber for North Tonawanda. Word received by the owners was to the effect that the barge is a total loss. She was not insured. The schooner was valued at $20,000 and was built in 1874. She was one of the oldest lumber carriers on the lakes.

The sailors of the Iron City arrived here this morning from Port Huron, Mich. Captain Cole and his wheelsman were detained in that city on account of a hearing which is being held before the Federal Inspectors today. The seamen said two of the sailors were asleep on the vessel when the collision occurred and it was with difficulty that they were rescued.

The first lumber vessels to reach Duluth this season arrived in that port on Friday. They were the steamer C. H. Bradley and barges page, Delaware and Brightie. The ice conditions were very unfavorable last week at the head of the lakes and many boats were kept out of port by blockades.

The steamer J. I. Prentice and barge Halstead passed down the straits of Mackinaw yesterday with lumber for the Haines Lumber Company of North Tonawanda. The steamer Norwalk passed down the Detroit river yesterday bound for Tonawanda with lumber for the Wilson Box & Lumber Company.