Loading...
Lakeshore Advance, 2013-05-29, Page 5. w ._......11.0-110.1..1011111.111•111.....1.001•111. Wednesda , Ma 29, 2013 • Lakeshore Advance 5 Community • The Wreck of the "Northern Queen" during the White Hurricane of November,1913, Port Franks This is the second of a series of articles covering the Great Storm which devastated the Great Lakes area in 1 913.'l'he 5t. Joseph and Area historical Society is provid- ing these articles and in Novem- ber, the Ilistoricol Society will be ofjt'ring a dinner theatre event at llessenland to commemorate the Great Storm.The causes of the weather conditions have been described it; various ways. '1tris report uses sone recent work by James Clary of St. (lair MI, using US weather service information. The "Northern Queen" went down off Port Franks as a result of the worst storm In the history of navigation on the Great Lakes. The "Northern Queen" was a 2500 ton steamer, 300 feet long and 41 feet in the beam. 'There is no record of what its cargo was. 'Ihe story of its wreck is one of great courage and strength on the part of the crew and of great kindness and generosity of the local people in the Port Franks area. The details of the events con- cerning this ship's last days come from the Parkhill Gazette and the Port I iuron paper. 'There are sig- nificant differences in the two reports. Anyway, the "Northern Queen" passed port Huron northbound on Sunday morning November 9 and sailed about 40 miles north in terrible weather. 13y the time Captain Crawford turned his ship around to go back south the storm was a "white hurricane." One report suggests that the "Queen" nearly inade it to Port Ilttron but turned north again and found the storm made it impossible to do anything. According to one report the ship was about 8 miles off Port Franks, unable to sail further. Captain Crawford described waves of tre- mendous heights pounding over the ship "stripping some of the upper works and smashing through the ports:' Water poured into the Captain's quarters and throughout the ship putting out most of the boiler fires and leav- ing the ship without steam for power. At some point the shin lost its rudder and drifted. On Monday the ship "dropped into the triangle of the sea" and the crew lowered both anchors. After a time there was "a sudden lurch she shivered and crunched from steal to stein...there was a terri- ble crash and we knew she had lost both anchors." So the crew are now Without any way of steering or controlling the ship as it drifted rapidly before the wind. Sometime on Monday the Northern Queen was a mile off Port Franks. The men had no food, no fires for warmth, and they clustered together on the bow soaked, cold, and miser- able in the still heavy seas. On Tuesday morning they were about 1000 yards off shore. The Captain ordered the one remain- ing life boat over the side and 10 then went over the side into the lifeboat. Great effort was deeded to keep the boat from being splashed against the hull of the ship. According to one report a cable had been attached to the lifeboat so that it could be pulled back to the ship. The cable, how- ever, snapped. 'l'he l0 crew members got to shore with the help of local people who took them into their homes to be fed, dried, and warmed up after days of exposure to wind, show, cold water, and lack of food. Ilere the stories vary. One story has the crew attaching a cable to a large crate of goods an(1 throwing the crate over- board. When it drifted close to shore the local men went in and pulled it to shore. The cable could now be attached to the life boat and pulled back to the ship. Another version of the story has 2 of the crew from the group of 10 taken to shore trying to return the life boat to the ship only to be capsized in the heavy surf. In this version a second life boat was then launched from the ship to take 9 crew members to shore leaving the captain, the first mate, William McDonald, and the second mate. One way or another last three Were taken ashore and the crew of 22 from the "Northern Queen" were saved by their own courage and fortitude and by the aid given to the crew by the local people. 'ihe ship itself inay have drifted further south before it finally went to the bottom. Evidently a number of years ago divers look- ing for a ship northwest off Kettle Point may have been looking for the "Northern Queen': The offi- cial location of its sinking is Ket- tle Point. This is just one anecdote of many related to the great storm of November, 1913. Joe wooden is a local author and historian letters to the editor Team of professional Engineers v. Former Councillor attempting to Justify Io the editor. Further to Gerry Rupke's letter to the editor in this newspaper, I would like to reassure the public that council has made its decisions regarding the Grand Bend Sewage Treatment Facility (S'l'F) with the guidance of a team of Professional Engineers who have extensive experience in wastewater treat- ment. I believe it is wise for council to continue to follow this team's direction rather than a former municipal councillor who is attempting to justify his support of the previously selected STF which was over -sized and excessively costly. Deputy Mayor Elizabeth Davis-Dagg Do the Grand Bend Sewage lagoons need to be replaced? lit the editor: 'ibis letter is the second of my seven letters to the editor respond- ing to the Deputy Mayor's review of my earlier comments, on the Grand Bend Sewage Facility. Let the quote what the Deputy Mayor wrote. "Although Mr. Rupke admits that Launbton Shores will need to upgrade the lagoons due to the fed- eral legislation passed last summer, he states that, in his opinion, Launbton Shores will not need to upgrade until 2040. 'three individu- als with engineering and wastewa- ter expertise informed ale that municipalities need to anticipate upgrading by 2020. As a result, is it not better to upgrade the lagoon now when the' Build Canada' funds are available to pay for two thirds of the cost rather than wait until later and pay for all of the cost using only municipal tax dollars? 'this is the key point. Also, Mr. Rupke cannot stats' for certain that the Grand Berri lagoons will not require upgrading by 2020:' lam concerned anel surprised that the source of information on which this decision is being made iti"three individuals with engineer- ing and Wastewater expertise utast the Deputy Mayor has spoken to. Should this Council not be relying on information from the profes- sional engineering consultants hired by l.amhton Shores and on l.tunbton Shores ' own professional staffs review of the legislation? 1 raised the question of what impact will this new federal regula- tion have o11 tilt' need to update the Grand Bend lagoons because, my reading of the regulations, showed ale that if it ha(i any impact at all, it would not be in force until the year 2040.1 have spent several days call- ing and speaking to employees of the Federal Department of the Envi- ronment that were involved in writ- ing and administration of this new federal regulation. l also spoke to individuals in the Ontario ministry of the environment. Let me summa- rize What i found out. The federal wastewater regulation does not require selvage lagoons to be upgraded at any time. Not in 2020, not in 2030, and not in 2040. At an April 2013 Water Environ- ment Association of Ontario confer- ence, a federal government official presented a technical paper on the new federal wastewater regulations. During the question period follow- ing the presentation, she was asked, "What impact will these regulations have on wastewater lagoons? "I ler answer was, "none': 'These regulations will have no impact on, well operated, wastewater lagoons. 'they will not require that lagoons be upgraded. What will this Council do??? Spend $l8 million to upgrade a lagoon system that doesn't need upgrading? Ask Lambton Shores' profes- sional staff and consultants for their advice on the impact of the federal regulations, and act accordingly? 'these are questions that need to be answered. It is my opinion that the Grand Bend sewage lagoons need to be upgraded to provide significant capacity for future growth, and to address the nitrate contamination issues from zones three and four. 1 lowever, this Council has decided that these issues (to not need to be addressed. 'these comments are provided without prejudice, and are based on my 46 years of environmental engi- neering experience. Gerry Rupke MSc. PEng. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Lakeshore Advance welcomes letters to the editor. Letters must include the writer's fall name, address, daytime phone number and signature (for verification. Anonymous letters will not be pub- lished. We reserve the right to edit all editorial submissions including letters for clarification, style and length. Le'tte'rs must he signed and he in good taste and follow the laws of libel and slander.