The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

HE storm which enveloped the Great Lakes region No. 8 to 11 was the most destructive since the lakes have been commercially nav- igated and will doubtless mark a period in the history of the lakes. There have been great storms in the past, notably that of 1905, but none so extended in area, so terrific in force and so long continued without any cessation of wind velocity. The storm really began on Friday night, Nov. 7, striking Lake Superior from the northwest. It was accompanied by a blinding snow storm, which made nav- igation practically impossible without ercat risk. - The maximum velocity of the wind at the west end of Lake Superior on Saturday, Nov. 9, was at the rate of 68 miles an hour, with a heavy sea running. The sea ran pretty high all day Saturday and vessels re- mained in port. Those that were out sought shelter. The First Casualty _ The first casualty reported was that of the old wooden steamer Louisiana, belonging to the Thompson Steamship Co., of Cleveland, which ran ashore on Washington Island, Lake Michigan, at 2 o'clock Saturday morning, and almost immediately thereafter caught fire, becoming a total loss. The crew managed to reach the island in safety in the small boats. On Sunday the storm struck Lake Huron and tore across the Canadian peninsula to Lake Erie with incredible velocity, doing much hayoc, Telephone The Ship That Temmed Uucle and telegraph wires and all avenues of communication for a hundred miles around Cleveland were entirely de- stroyed. For the better part of two days vessel owners did not really know what had happened to their ships, as it was utterly impossible to get a wire through anywhere. The first in- formation into Cleveland came by wireless after the aerials had been re- placed. The early fragmentary information portended that something awful had | happened and gradually as avenues of communication were opened it be- came known that the most appalling disaster in history had been visited upon lake shipping. For a whole week thereafter lake navigation was either suspended or conducted in the most desultory fashion, so dazed was everyone by the heavy blow. The first intimation received of the unusual character of the storm was a wireless report that a vessel was floating upside down about 11 miles northeast of Fort Gratiot light, Lake Huron. This was a most mysterious circumstance, not generally credited, but subsequently developments proved if to be true. For several days the black overturned hull apparently float- ed transfixed in the one spot until it sank altogether out of sight. Then as quiet weather succeeded and the days went by and several staunch modern ships did not reach port, it became certain that the storm had taken a toll, the like of which has never been experienced before. Ten vessels had totally disappeared, six had been thrown upon the beach, be- coming total losses, fifteen had been driven ashore, entailing heavy damage, and many others had to go to the ship yards to have their rivets tight- ened, so badly were they sprung by being pounded in the heavy seas. -- The storm inflicted its heaviest dam- age on Lake Huron, though it appar- ently did not reach that lake until about noon, Sunday, blowing generally from the north and inclining some- what to northeast. Never Know What Happened It will never be known what hap- pened on board eight of the ships that were out in the storm on Lake Huron, because all of them foundered and not a life was saved. The ex- perience of the steamer H. M. Hanna Jr.. which was thrown upon a reef near Port Austin light, must have been typical of the experience of all. The Hanna passed Port Huron about 5 o'clock, Sunday morning, the weather being fair and clear, with a 15-mile breeze off the land and a low barom- eter. She passed Harbor Beach about 11:30 a. m., the wind increasing mean- while. The vessel passed Pointe Aux Barques about 2 p. m., and as the wind increased, she was hauled more | to the northward to hold her head to_ the wind. As the day advanced the snow got thicker and thicker, and the wind and sea so increased that the vessel began dropping off her course. Tremendous seas began to break over