FEARFUL LOSS OF LIFE.

Inangahua Times, Volume XI, Issue 1650, 8 January 1886, Page 2

FEARFUL LOSS OF LIFE.

WRECK OF THE STEAMER AL OMA. The steamer Algoma left Owes Sound, ou Lake Superior, with 3$ passeu»ers, principally Canadians, hot there were some frw Americans. Ail went well during the early part of the voyage, and the vessel passed tip S^ Mary's River and to Sault Ste, Mario, where site coaled It waaabeot noo t when she passed the Utter place, and anon after steamed oat into Lake Snperior. The weather was calm, hut | as evening advanced sign* of a storrr) ! were brewing. When spoken to by | passengers Captain Moore shook hi» - head ominously, and all realised that i a stor.n of nunsnal severity was brew. j iujj, bnt all trnsted in the stoat steet ! craft, which was deemed of eqnal ! strength to th« average eeagoing ! vessel. Evening closed in, and the i Al<rom» held her course towtrd Pori ; Arthur, while the storm increased m fury and caused tlie great waves to_ i pound the vessel, which was tosarvf aliont almost like a leather. Tlit j timbers were heard t.i creak, but littleI danger was apprehended on tlw score |of unsoundnt-ss. As night wore on the storm seemed, if possible, tot inereas** in violence. Snow and sleet descended, and the t lemvnts appeared in their angriest mocd. S^me retired i to their berths, » ot ;he majority, who ! were suffering frcm nausea, kept 1 watrh. At the time when day shonld under ordinary chvn instances, break, darkness continued, for the snowstorm ; had irot abated, and tlie air w*s terj nbly dense. The steamer still held) on her way, and as fair progress had been madp, • notwithstanding the severity of the storm, it was thought i that Me Royal, which is locate * short distance out >f Thunder Bay, i and about 45 miles from Port Arthur, • m'nst be near at h:ird. The island i« ! a long bnt comparatively natrow, ! rocky one, and its vhinity is trencher I ©us, owing to the largr nnm'»pr of hou!« degs which exist alx>u . it The channel i by which the bay is enteredruns dosa | tn the island ; and Captain Moore rea- ; Used the necessity of progressing with i the ntmost enre. Fog horns werr Mowi'nsr and signals of distress sonn ded. The speed of 'he boat wan I reduced, bnt sr the storm continued j to rage it was impossible to determine ' absolutely what con-sa the boat was j pursuing, Suddenly a great crash waa ! heard, and the veesel rel »oonded and quivered lik« an aspen leaf, ••Good God!" *iid the captain, •• she's struck! Onr doom has conic}" Ten seconds later all wn* the wildest oonfnsion and alarm. Those who were ou deck roared in' their terror, while the shrieks of the milder sex were fearful to listen to. Crash ! crash I ' and the stont vessel ponnded the rooks. The cracking of the timber and swaying of the vessel warned all that death in a terrible form was noon them. I*he rel<>iitie~s wind seemed t» scream its satisfaction, while the snow and sleet drove a«ain«t the half- Had passenger*. •• Tt is no us* to describe the scene," said one informant •• nothing worv* ever occurred on e»rth." In their madness, when the wa ?es were washing the deck, a number threw themselves into the foaming hllowa. Others, when a srreat wave wrnld pass off the ' drck, which was swaying from side to i Rid»*, were swept into it like corks. A few hung on the ropef or to the masts, hut the majority see ned to abandon themselves to the vild alarm and despair Even the crew seemed] nower'e«s. so stricken were they with the awful suddenness and stnpendons character of the disaster. Veanwhib the boat rapidly went to pieces through hem? dashed against the rocks. The crew, all of whom except the waitresses had clnnsr to the rieging, managed dnring the slight -101 l in the storm to place themselves in a -ifehoat and cut the fastenings, hut in an instant a wave swept them from the ill -fated wmk. Amid the awfnl roars of the dying and the terrible dashing of the waves, the boat was bnrne onward fast ft might be mentioned two of th* pa* sengershadmana;»ed to olace then<«el vec in the boot before it was ent from the wr»»ck. Every effort that bad h*en made to launch th« b*ts daring the early confusion and Iwror had failed. Meantime the lifeboat and iti ocenpanta had a terrible ex cwrience on the open storm tossed lake. All who «wiM bound themse'ves to the Mat. while* tha remainder held on "like grim eWh* to the sides, expecting every raemtQt to meet death either » y drowning of from Mrposnro and rcld, th.n U?*<»r being intense. Once the boat was washed over by the waves, and one of the crew swept away; but tbt frail craft righted itself and was swept on in the comparative darkness. After half an boor's expeHerce of this^eeeription the boat sufWeily etrncV soia^ "rocks. The od-awmtt reared thai a!} was over with them, as th« 4safl capsiied.bnt. to their mrpriae, wb^ tlijwwn o»it the water t»s onfy amm fret d?ep f and to thei- toy toej diacovem^ that they v*r& in lanoT. k&t reofcatoing *b«r* an' lipar 0* W&&<

exposed t° ' tl»c eu-lii«-i«t«s •**««• Storn abated and the sky cleared, It wa then discovered that they were on Isli Royal, and that the vessel had b»H wrecked about a mile from shore, or the great ltould'i-8 that exist near tin channel. It was ft. out 10 o'clock it the morning, an<l tlte liuil ilend ci< « remained tlu-re until lat«* in the afte nnon, when the Atlnbisn came song and picked them up. They were thti takeu to Port Arthur.