Canadian Steamer Rescued by Woman — Fall 1998
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The Great Lakes… 84% of the continent’s fresh water… a different story in every drop.
The steamer 𝘌𝘶𝘳𝘺𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘦, later renamed 𝘏𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴.
Oswego Palladium, Friday, July 5, 1878 — All Night on the Lake
A Canadian Steamer with Between Three and Four Hundred Passengers Out All Night – Following a Propeller Light Down the Lake – Rescued and Brought into Port by a Woman.
An Excursion
The steamer 𝘏𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 arrived here about 9 A.M. yesterday with an excursion, most of the party remaining to see the celebration. She left at 10 A.M. with another party of between 300 and 400 people, a large number of whom were from Syracuse, bound for Kingston, and was due here on the return at 9 P.M. She did not arrive then, however, nor till 7 A.M. today — and she perhaps never would have arrived at all except for the favorable circumstance of clear and calm weather and the fact that there happened to be a woman there who knew more about navigation than anyone else on board.
Statement of the Trip
The 𝘏𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 left Kingston about 5 P.M. When about 15 miles from Oswego she sighted the light of the N.T. propeller 𝘊𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘰, bound for Kingston, which left here at 8 P.M. Taking it to be the Oswego light she followed it back to the Ducks or thereabouts and at daylight found herself somewhere in the vicinity of Mexico bay, whereupon she put about and reached here at 7 A.M. From all obtainable accounts, there was no one aboard competent to navigate the steamer, and she was finally substantially taken in charge of a woman, who ascertained her situation and was practically in command.
The Woman’s Story
Martha Hart, an Oswego woman, who has sailed the lakes as a cook at various periods for the past 10 or 12 years, happened to be aboard. Following is her statement to a Palladium reporter.
We left Kingston at 5:30 P.M.; between 11 and 12 P.M. they spied the light of an N.T. boat and followed her down the lake until they got below the Galloup islands and about 4 miles from shore; there they let her lay to the mercy of the waves had there been any and if there was any all would have been lost; we stayed here till the morning star made its appearance; the wheelsman pointed her for it; there was no captain, mate, nor sailor to be seen all night; he run her for the morning star, running wild until we saw land at Nine Mile Point, about half past five; the wheelsman run her, no captain nor mate giving any orders; we reached the dock about half past seven; at 2:30 A.M. I told them they were near Sackets Harbor, below the Galloup and told them to point south and pointed out the direction to Oswego; I made use of marine glasses which I had borrowed, the boat’s glasses not being good for anything. I told the passengers if they set the table, to go for it; and they didn’t set any table; we didn’t have a bite to eat and couldn’t buy it; neither could we even get a bunk to sleep in; the passengers were very much excited and alarmed and anxious to get home.
Corroborative
The statement that no one appeared to be competent to navigate the steamer is corroborated by other passengers. This woman further says that there was no chart aboard. Before, or soon after they started to follow off the N.T. boat, she saw the Oswego light and pointed it out, but the wheelsman thought he knew better and refused to steer for it. She also relates that when she became satisfied that they were getting dangerously near land, she went down and told the engineer that they would be ashore and that he then stopped the engine after which they floated around indiscriminately.
An Awful Exposure of Life
The night was perfectly clear; there was no wind, and there can be nothing but the gravest censure for the exposure of the lives of a large number of people. Oswego families who had relatives aboard spent an anxious night, and the Canadian excursionists who awaited the boat wandered about the streets most of the night. The affair has excited both ridicule and indignation here — ridicule at the inefficiency of the commanding officer of the 𝘏𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, and indignation at so dangerous an exposure to human life.
(Follow-up articles on the “𝘏𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴” incident)
Oswego Palladium, July 10, 1878 — The Trip of the 𝘏𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴
Belleville Ontario: — Both of the Oswego papers have long and sensational accounts of the steamer 𝘏𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 being lost on the lake, and censure her officers very strongly. We are in a position to say that her officers are not in the least way blamable. On the night in question an old and experienced pilot was placed in charge, in order to relieve the officers of the boat, who had been overworked, and the blame must rest on his shoulders. Either one of the old officers of the boat, under ordinary circumstances, could have taken their boat safely to Oswego.
If a man who cannot tell the Oswego light in a clear and radiant night from the light of an N.T. propeller is considered an experienced pilot for a Canadian boat, the quicker the traveling public find it out the better. Perhaps the Ontario can state what were the extraordinary circumstances under which, on this occasion, either of the old officers of the boat, or both of them could not take their boat safely to Oswego.
Oswego Palladium, July 12, 1878 — The Stray Steamer
Kingston News: The pilot (of the 𝘏𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴) claims that there was a dense fog on the lake during the night, and this was the cause of his following up so closely the lights of the propeller. It is not true they were within fifteen miles of Oswego. If they had been they could have seen the lights and been all right. Had it not been customary to take a pilot on board to navigate the boat, the officers could have done it easily, as they had both charts and compasses on board. The statements of the Oswego papers are grossly exaggerated, and one of them at least is said to be written in the interest of the opposition boat.
The night of the 𝘏𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 adventure was perfectly clear, and if there was a fog, nobody but this pilot could see it. The evidence here is that the Oswego light was sighted and pointed out to the pilot, but he refused to believe it, and preferred to trust an N.T. light* moving off down the lake. Whether there have been any exaggerations or not, the fact remains, without exaggeration, that a steamer with between 300 and 400 passengers left Kingston for Oswego about 5 P.M., could not find the way in a clear, still summer night, floated around in the lake, without her officers knowing where she was, till daylight, and didn’t get to Oswego till nearly 8 o’clock the next morning. This is the main and unalterable fact, whatever difference there may be between the officers of the boat and the passengers as to the details. That Oswego papers have an interest in any boat excited a smile here. Oswego newspapers are wealthy, but they haven’t any navigation lines that anybody has heard of.
*Refers to a Northern Transportation Co. steamer it was following.
Note:
Here is information on the steamer 𝘏𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 provided by David Swayze, Editor, Saginaw River Marine Historical Society’s Modoc Whistle.
Built as Rochester in 1863 by Augustin Cantin, Montreal, 142 length, 24-foot beam, 232 tons. Rebuilt in 1873 to 138×26, 438 tons. Owned by Gildersleeve of Cobourg, Ont. at that time. Renamed 𝘏𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 in 1876 after a rebuild following an accident. Rebuilt in 1882 and remeasured at 475 tons. Still owned by Gildersleeve, but out of Kingston Rebuilt in 1890 to 142×25, 590 tons, and renamed Eurydice. Assigned Canadian official number 94988. Rebuilt in 1899 and renamed Donnelly. Probably cut down to a freighter or upper decks removed at that time, as dimensions remain the same, but tonnage decreases to 399. Abandoned in 1914.
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