Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 April 1893 — FOURTEEN MEN PERISH. [ARTICLE]

FOURTEEN MEN PERISH.

LOST OFF MILWAUKEE IN THE FEARFUL STORM. Working Upon the Waterworks Crib, Their Companions Unable to Reach, Them lr.om Shore, They Take Reluge> In to Die. uTT. !■ * Tale of a Fearfnl Sight. In the fearful gale whxh swept over Lake Michigan Wednesday night fourteen men who .were at work on the cribon the outer end of the intake tunnel at Milwaukee, S,OCQ feet from the shore,, met their death. One of them escaped, in a manner almost miraculous and live© to tell thq, tale of terror and suffering. The dead are: Jack Mcßride, engineer. Michael Dwyer, fireman. George Gregg, miner. Charles Johnson, miner, Chicago. Bus Lerkowitz. miner. William Preussner, miner, Ghicago, John Piseau, miner. Jack McConnell, miner. Eben Allen (colored) cook. Jim Murphy, miner. Tom Healey, miner. Jim (last name unknown), miner. Joe McCarty, miner. File Spenner, miner. The dreadful 6torm raging throughout the night had lashed the lake into a. seething mass of foam. Immense waveswere rolled toward the shore by a furious east wind and carried away the house built on top of the crib at the mouth of the tunnel about three-quar-ters of a mile from the pumping works at the foot of North street. The house on the crib contained two stationary engines and the tools used by the men. It was built of heavy timbers fastened with iron bands, yet it was swept into the roaring waters like an eggshell and washed ashoie. For &• mile or two the shore of ihe lake was 6trewn with timbers, boards, tools and artie’es of clothing worn by the men in the ill-fated crib. Atdaybreak the men at the pumping station noticed that the house on the crib had disappeared, and the tug Welcome took a lifeboat with a. crew of five in tow and headed for the tunnel. The progress of Ihe Welcome waswatched by thousands of people. When Capt. Petersen succeeded in reachingthe crib he was met by.u horrible sight. One man, James Miller, was still aliveand clinging to a post. About him. were the bodies .of two or three of hiscomrades. Miller was safely brought ashore, and told a story of peril and suffering which* has rarely been equaled on the lakes. Fifteen men were on the crib. The lake had been very rough, the men on land had not been able to get out to them, the provisions gave out, and the doomed men ate tneir last meal thinking that certainly before nightfall theboat would be able to reach them. In the evening the storm increased' and the merf became alarmed. They had confidence in the strength of their house, however, and contined theirwork. It was not until about 8 o’clock that the men fully appreciated their position. Work Was stopped aud the men, one and all, determined to seek safety in ihe air shaft. The big east-iron cqver was raised and the fifteen ruen descended into the tub, clinging as best, they could to the ladder. There out in the lake in the midst of the furious gale they listened to theslorm outside and h: ard the waves beat, against their refuge and literally tear their shelter apart. But they knew they were safe. The water could not get into vhe shaft, and under the circumstances they could live there for many hours. The steady click of the automatic, pump forcing air and life into their subteranean prison cheered thsm to further efforts to save their lives.

ISo the hours sped on. All through, that fearful nighi. ihe men hung to tho ladder and heard the waces which every second were smashing and pounding and tearing at the little house on top. Pieoe by piece and part by part the cribhouse was washed away, and at six o’clock the air pump, the mainstay of the Imprisoned men, was washed away. They did not hear it go, but its loss was plainly made known to them by theslow but steady rise ofthe water in the tube and the increasing foulness off ihe atmosphere. Slowly but surely the water climbed up on the men* and they knew that the time had come for action. A consultation was held and for over two hours the men hesitated. "Some were in favor of waiting in the shaft until the last moment, others thought a break for the top of the crib at .once their best chance. It was at best a choice of two evils and almost certain death in either case. It was decided to leave. Only fivesucceeded in reaching the outside. The nine men who were not strong enough to get out were drowned by the water coming into ihe shaft, and four out of the five wh6 got out were mangled or drowned by the tremendous floods which were lashed over the crib. The first known of the disaster was Thursday morning when those living on the shore missed the familiar building out in the lake. The shanty was gone and the beach was strewn with its broken remnants. The beach was filled with weeping women whose cries for io3t husbands and fathers arose even, above the sullen roar of the waves. The shore was lined with a largecrowd gazing helplessly across thewater. Finally some forms were seen on the deck of the crib. With, the aid of telesoopes it was made out that there were six men there who werewav.ng their arms to the people on shore. Every huge wave swept over them and it seemed as if they would bo washed away at any ihstanf. For hours the crowd watched the men, and not urnil 11:15 had the weather moderated! sufficiently to allow the lifeboat to go out.

As none of the bodies have been, washed ashore the supposition is that they are in the airshaft where the men> were drowned. Miller, the man rescued, went from Chicago not long ago. Hisfamily now lives in Milwaukee. Thursday evening at 0 o’clock therevenue cutter Andy Johnson, with the-life-saving crew and boat aboard, madetwo attempts to reach the crib, but theeea was so heavy that nothing could be • accomplished. Of the blame of this fearful loss of life little can be said. There is a feeling that the Chicago contractors wereat iault in leaving Buch a number of men in an unprotected position. Others lay the blame at the door of the life-saving crew, whom they accuse of dilatory and half-heated attempts to save the men. Capt. Peterson of the life-saving station was noticed of the disaster shortly after 5 o’clock, and had prompt action been taken then it is possible that the six men alive then could have been saved. A pier was within about J,OOO feet of the crib, and' a howitzer could easily have thrown a life-line to the men. As it was, Petersen did not arrive at the scene until 7 o’clock, and then drove there in a carriage with a member of the crew. He walke lup and down thebeach for a time and decided then that nothing conld be done and that he could not get his boat out. This, however,, was housed some five miles away from the scene of the disaster. It is not improbable that popular sentiment will< demand an investigation of hisoonduct.