SHIPPING
[1853]
The Brig Racine went ashore at Two Rivers, during the blow on Sunday. We see that she has been got off-and probably without serious injury. Manitowoc County Herald, Saturday, July 2, 1853 P.2 ********** The Propeller Buffalo, Capt. Conkey, cleared from Two Rivers on Thursday, with an immense raft of timber in tow for Chicago. We understand the timber is intended for some railroad Depot. Manitowoc County Herald, Saturday, July 30, 1853 P.2
[1875]
Two Rivers The schooners Albatross, John Schuette, and City of Woodstock were loaded with lumber at this place, last week, from Cooper and Jones' mills. The lumber was for the Chicago market. Manitowoc Co. Chronicle (Two Rivers), May 11, 1875
The tug Julia Drisko, which has been engaged in the fishing business at this place for some time past; has been laid up for the present owing to the scarcity of fish. Manitowoc Co. Chronicle (Two Rivers), May 11, 1875
Two Rivers The schooner City of Woodstock got on the beach at this place during the heavy gale of last Friday, but the tug Kitty Smoke came up from Manitowoc and succeeded in getting her off before she received any serious damage. Manitowoc Co. Chronicle (Two Rivers), May 11, 1875
The schooner D.G. Wright, which used to visit this place last season, was wrecked on the east shore, last week, and the entire crew are reported lost. Manitowoc Co. Chronicle (Two Rivers), May 18, 1875
Two Rivers The schooner Purington took on a load of lumber at Cooper & Jones pier last Friday. Manitowoc Co. Chronicle (Two Rivers), June 1, 1875
Two Rivers One of Cooper & Jones' lumber scows capsized the other day, while lying at their dock in the village. Considerable lumber was thrown into the river in consequence, but was all recovered without much trouble. Manitowoc Co. Chronicle (Two Rivers), June 1, 1875
Two Rivers The schooner John Schuette was chartered at Milwaukee for Goderich, last Friday. She received 2 1/2 cents per bushel for wheat, in gold. Manitowoc Co. Chronicle (Two Rivers), June 8, 1875
Two Rivers The beautiful new schooner John V. Jones recently built for Cooper & Jones, the Messrs. Rand & Berger, of Manitowoc, came to this place yesterday to take on her first cargo of lumber. Manitowoc may be a moderately good point at which to build vessels, but Two Rivers is certainly the better place of the two for furbishing them freights. Manitowoc Co. Chronicle (Two Rivers), June 15, 1875
Two Rivers The new schooner of Cooper & Jones' took on its second cargo at this place last Wednesday. Manitowoc Co. Chronicle (Two Rivers), June 29 1875
[1881]
Two Rivers news: Simeno and LeClaire are doing good work at driving piles along the river, prrparatory (sic) to docking, with their new steam pile driver. A rumor was current here a few weeks ago that the Goodrich boats were about to make trips here again, but from present indications, we shall be obliged to live on hope a while longer. Manitowoc Lake Shore Times, Tuesday, October 4, 1881 P.1
Two Rivers news: The schooner Evening Star, Captain Doak, went ashore off Two Creeks in the storm of Saturday night. The vessel is loaded with wood and bark, and will probably be gotten of in a few days. The captain passed through here on his way to Manitowoc, where he went to secure a tug to assist in getting the vessel again under way. Manitowoc Lake Shore Times, Tuesday, October 25, 1881 P. 4
The following is taken from the report of Major Roberts, of the U.S. Engineers: MANITOWOC HARBOR, WISCONSIN "The present project for the improvement of this harbor was adopted in 1866, and modified in 1880, the object being to afford a channel of navigable width, and not less than 12 feet in depth at the shoalest part. During the present season 100 linear feet have been added to each of the piers, and super-structure built over the same. The piers have nearly reached 18-foot curve. The harbor is much used as a refuge, and its old-time shipbuilding has of late years been recommenced. Manitowoc Lake Shore Times, Tuesday, November 1, 1881 P. 4
Two Creeks news: The schooner Evening Star, that ran ashore about three miles south of this place laden with hardwood lumber and hemlock bark, was pulled off by the tug Gregory, of Manitowoc, last Monday, at about four o'clock in the afternoon, but not until she had unloaded about 250 cords of bark which is at present being piled up on the beach. Manitowoc Lake Shore Times, Tuesday, November 1, 1881 P. 4
Two Rivers news: The scows Blue Bell and Hercules, both took cargoes of bark from the Michigan shore to the tannery of the Wis. Leather Co., during the week. Manitowoc Lake Shore Times, Tuesday, November 15, 1881 P. 1
Two Rivers news: The little steam yacht, bought by Trudell & Bartlemey of Chas. Beers, of Manitowoc, took a load of freight to Ahnapee on Tuesday last. The purchasers of the yacht form an enterprising livery and mail carrying firm, and they seem bound to carry on their business in defiance of bad roads, even by incurring considerable risk by venturing on the lake at this season of the year in so frail a craft. Manitowoc Lake Shore Times, Tuesday, November 22, 1881 P. 4
Two Rivers news: Capt. Pilon of the government lifesaving station in compliance with orders from head quarters disbanded his crew for the season on Friday last. The services of the crew have fortunately not been required to any great extent of late as is usual at this time of the year, but few disasters having occured along this part of the shore. All are men however who would shrink from no peril which their duty might impose as had been demonstrated in a multitude of instances in the past where, at the risk of their own lives by venturing in the frail mackinaw, they have rescued many a doomed mariner from a watery grave. Manitowoc Lake Shore Times, Tuesday, December 20, 1881 P. 4
Two Rivers news: Harbor work at Port Washington having been suspended for the season, A. Hudson, engineer, and J. Lathrop, Superintendent of the government dredge at that place, arrived here on Friday evening. Mr. Hudson will spend spend (sic) the winter with his family in this city, and Mr. Lathrop will do likewise in Ahnapee. Manitowoc Lake Shore Times, Tuesday, December 27, 1881 P. 4
[1886]
We have information that if the city will do a sufficient amount of dredging to enable large vessels to pass safely up to the railway docks, a large business of shipments of coal and lumber can be done the coming summer. Manitowoc Lake Shore Times, Tuesday, April 27, 1886 P.4 ______________ The City Council last night ordered the committee on dredges and harbor to make a survey of the river bed, and report the estimated cost of dredging a channel with a depth of 14 feet as far up as the dry dock. We believe it will be a great advantage to the city to have this work done. Manitowoc Lake Shore Times, Tuesday, April 27, 1886 P.4
[1894]
Manitowoc Following are the arrivals and departures at this port for February: Propellers, 27; Tonnage, 20,591. Departures, same. Manitowoc Pilot, Mar. 8, 1894
Manitowoc Not much work has been done in the shipyard at this place through the winter. The greater part of the work being done on boats this year is on boilers and machinery. The Charlevoix' boiler has been put in the steamer Lawrence. Richards Iron Works is putting in a new engine in the Lotus and one in the Elmer. The tug E.M.B.A. will receive a new deck and house. The City of Green Bay will receive new deck frames and alterations in the cabin. Captain Coates, her master, arrived in the city this week. Manitowoc Pilot, Mar. 8, 1894
Manitowoc Work on the Goodrich boats has already commenced and they are being put in shape for the coming season's work. Men are at work on other boats. The Naiad is undergoing extensive repairs. The Amboy has had new steel arches put in. The Burt Barnes has had a new foremast put in. The scow Success is having considerable work done on her. The L.H.Coates is likewise receiving some repairs. Manitowoc Pilot, Mar. 8, 1894
TWO RIVERS LIFE-SAVING CREW COVER THEMSELVES WITH GLORY The Brave Rescue of Thirteen Men From the Steamer Wetmore in Yesterday's Terrific Gale About ten o'clock yesterday morning, Capt. Dionne of the Two Rivers Life Saving Station was notified by a telephone message from the Goodrich people that the steamer, W.L. Wetmore was in distress on the reef off Centerville and an offer was made to send their tug the Arctic here to tow the life boat to the place where the Wetmore lay to take off the unfortunate crew. Capt. Dionne replied that he hardly thought that the Actic could make the harbor at this place as the sea was so wild, but that he would try to get his surf boat and beach apparatus to Centerville by land conveyance. He asked of the railroad agent here to send in a request for an engine and flat car which request was promptly granted and a few minutes after noon the crew accompanied by about twenty-five Two Rivers people started for the scene of danger. The train arrived at Centerville in about half an hour after leaving here and in a short time the crew had their surf boat launched from the beach, which was about a mile from the Centerville depot. The Wetmore lay about a mile from the shore and about three miles north of where the crew launched their surf boat. It took brave hearts and stout arms to battle with the mad waves that contested their progress towards the unfortunate vessel, but, little by little, the distance was reduced until the vessel had reached and then a difficulty arose in getting the crew of the steamer into the surf boat, but by taking advantage of the short intervals of calm between the rushing of the great waves, one man at a time was got into the surf boat. When seven men were safely in the boat they were taken ashore and the Life Saving Crew returned for the six who remained. At 4 o'clock the thirteen men who constituted the crew of the Wetmore were all safely landed and the crowd on the shore who had witnessed their rescue gave long a lusty cheers for the brave Two Rivers Life-Saving Crew who had so nobly accomplished it. The gratitude of the rescued sailors was unbounded and the captain wished to make Capt. Dionne some substantial return for the noble deed but Capt. Dionne refused to accept anything for doing what he deemed his plain duty. The Sheboygan Life Saving Crew started to the rescue of the exposed sailors and were first to reach the stranded steamer but as they went out in their large self-bailing life boat instead of their surf boat, they were swept past the steamer by the wind and the waves and could not hold their ground with their anchor. Capt. Niquette of the Sheboygan Station was about to return to Sheboygan by rail to secure his surf boat when the Two Rivers crew arrived and he and his crew watched with the others present their splendid work, which was heartily commended by any one present. Manitowoc County Chronicle - Tues., Nov. 13, 1894 ****** Laurels yesterday on the work of the Two Rivers crew in saving the crew of the barge Wetmore from the wreck of their vessel near Manitowoc. The situation of the vessel was a very dangerous one and it was also a work of extreme danger to rescue the crew from their perilous position that it was accomplished without the loss of life is much to the credit of the life-savers of Two Rivers, a crew which ranks high in service and who is never called on in vain for service in an emergency -- Milwaukee Journal The Sheboygan paper says: "There is another crew that played an important role in the wreck of the Wetmore. This crew was notified of the wreck and immediately, despite the terrific sea running, set sail for the scene. They got there too and did good work. The crew was that of Sheboygan. "The Two Rivers crew was entitled to the greatest of praise for the work that they did at the wreck but their conduct afterwards is both a disgrace to themselves and the service. They completely ignored the local crew and even carried their actions to insult. They seemed to have forgotten that Niquette and his men had battled with the storm waves of Lake Michigan for nineteen miles and had struggled for two hours within 300 feet of the Wetmore trying to reach here, while they were conducted to the scene by railroad and team, arriving there perfectly fresh. None welcomed their arrival more gladly than the brave Sheboygan boys who were well nigh exhausted, but who, in spite of their fatigue, waded to their necks in the ice cold water and launched the boat of the Two Rivers crew for a trip, that as a crew, they had not undertaken for years. When the crew returned from the wreck with its first load, the lads from Sheboygan welcomed it with outstretched arms, while the cutting waves of Michigan Lake curled around their necks and stung their hardy cheeks. Again the boat was launched and again our boys aided it. Again it returned and our boys were there as before. "The work done, the Two Rivers crew with their dry feet and slightly wet clothing, got into their wagon and drove to Centerville, leaving the crew who had toiled all day, rowed nineteen miles, waded in water to their necks and aided them in their rescue to walk to Centerville without so much as a "Thank you". All Centerville rang that night with cheers for the Two Rivers boys while the brave laddies who had faced the real danger, worked the hardest, in a place where duty did not call them, where ignomanously ignored. And to add to the insult a dispatch was sent to Two Rivers from Centerville asking if the Sheboygan crew had arrived at Two Rivers yet?" This seems to us to be entirely uncalled for and as a large bundle of unmitigated falsehoods as could well be crowded into the same newspaper space. In the first place, when Capt. Dionne received notice of the misfortune of the Wetmore, he also received notice that the tug Arctic would await him at the harbor piers to take him and his life boat to the wreck. The waves were so high that the tug Arctic could not enter our harbor, nor could 50 men pull the life boat through the breakers, it was simply a matter of judgement on Capt. Dionne's part and he says he repliced, "I will take my surf boat and go by rail and team" which he did. Capt. Niquette, a former citizen of our city and Caption of the Sheboygan crew, also knew of the wreck and started for it. Instead of having to head into the seas, he started out with the wind at his back and reached it, according to his own statement in less than two hours. The distance sailed by the Sheboygan crew was 19 miles according to the Sheboygander. We doubt not of Capt. Niquette could have held his anchorage he would have succeeded in removing at least a portion of the crew from the Wetmore, but the stone bottom not allowing the anchorage of his boat he had to drift ashore. It is probably true that Capt. Niquette and his crew shipped some seas and were pretty wet but when the Two Rivers crew arrived at Centerville and launched their boat there was not a Sheboygan Life saver within 3 miles of them. The Two Rivers crew went out with their surf boat and battled the elements. Their frail craft was rocked and tossed by the waves but by undaunted courage and by the cool management of Capt. Dionne, they reached the wreck and landed seven of the unfortunate sailors file miles below the place where they started in. On their arrival there was not a member of the Sheboygan Life-Saving crew present except Capt. Niquette - the rest were up amongst the farmers, looking for something to eat. The boat was launched a second time by Two Rivers fishermen that were present. There was not a "curing wave surrounding the neck", or any Sheboyganer during the first or second launch of the Two Rivers boat. Our brave boys with their hand torn and bleeding when offered to be relieved by others on the beach refused to give up their seats in the boat and made the desperate effort to return again. Tis true Capt. Niquette offered to haul the boat up the beach five miles and launch it again but judgement came to the front and he said "it is getting dark and beginning to snow but my men can make the wreck again". This probably was as perilous a trip as was ever made for a pull of 2 miles against the mad waves of Lake Michigan, the surf boat tossed and rolled as a match in the mad waters - at times, the boat was partly filled with water. Again, at time, the crew were thrown from their seats, but still they hung on and battled with the elements and in the space of about an hour and a half they returned with the remainder of the crew, which were welcomed on the shore not along by the Sheboygan crew but by 25 friends and fishermen from Two Rivers that had gone down in the train with them. The most scurrilious part this article is the falsity of it which says that "Capt. Dionne and his crew insulted and abused the Sheboygan crew", and where Capt. Dionne and his crew are accused of riding 8 miles and letting the Sheboygan crew walk. In the first place, the Two Rivers crew walked every step[ of the way back to the railroad station. The parties that rode were private individuals who went down from Two Rivers to see the rescue. In the second place, there was not a Sheboygan rescuer ever went near the water except when the boat was pulled in the last time. As to the untruthfulness referred to in the article from the "Sheboygander", we will refer to Mr. Hell, boiler manufacturer of Manitowoc or Mr. Gillen, harbor inspector of Two Rivers who were disinterested witnesses to the rescue.. The dispatch referred to was never sent to Two Rivers. Again as the crew not "getting their feet wet and their closes were merely damp", it seems to us that any reasonable person realizing that the crew had taken a surf boat and pulled five miles facing the waves that were sometimes mountains high, when the Sheboygan crew that had sailed before the wind, should be so terribly drenched, would laugh at the statement. Now we think the matter has gone pretty near far enough. If Capt. Niquette or any of this crew were sore-headed or coxcombed enough to dictate to any such article as that which was published in the "Sheboygnder", we thinks the life-saving service had better go to work and investigate it at once. If our Two Rivers men abused the Sheboygan men, the department should punish them for it, but we think we have ample testimony to show that there was not a man belonging to the Two Rivers life-saving crew who said one word against the Sheboygan crew. There is no doubt in our minds but that there might have been some over zealous boys or young fellows along that felt over joyous at the success of our crew, that might have made remarks which grated on the ears of the Sheboygan crew, but we see no reason why the brave-hearted, cool-headed, strong-minded, heroic set of men, should be abused in any such way, whether they be from Sheboygan or Two Rivers. Manitowoc County Chronicle - Tues., Nov. 20, 1894 ****** The tug, Cooper, went out to the stranded steamer Wetmore last Saturday and secured about 25 tons of coal which constituted the cargo of the Wetmore and which was being dumped into the lake with a view of lightening and releasing her. Manitowoc County Chronicle - Tues., Nov. 20, 1894
Another Rescue Yesterday morning the scow, Speed, of Sheboygan, in trying to make our harbor for shelter from the fierce southeast gale that was blowing, missed the entrance and was driven ashore a short distance from the north pier and not more than three blocks distance from the Life-Saving Station. As soon as the scow which was loaded with shingles and maple blocks, struck the bar that is about 500 feet from shore, the sea began to break over her, carrying away her deckload and cabin and obligating her crew of three men to seek safety in the rigging. The crew at the Life-Saving Station went promptly to their rescue with their surf boat which was launched into the wild waves and after a short struggle the stranded crew was reached and the endangered men safely taken off. The rescue was one that reflects great credit on the Life-Saving crew as the sea that came surging in was about as wild as is ever seen off the point. The scow will probably prove as total loss thought the cargo has been mostly saved. The scow is owned by Capt. Aug. Stein and Albert and Frank Loesing of Sheboygan and is valued at about $500. Manitowoc County Chronicle - Tues., Nov. 27, 1894
[1903]
Edward Wall, an employe of the Manitowoc Dry Dock Co., met with a serious accident while at work with a steel drill on the hull of the steamer Kennebec. He slipped and fell and the drill struck his face cutting several deep gashes. The injuries were attended to by a physician and are not expected to result very seriously although they are painful. Manitowoc Daily Herald, Monday, June 15, 1903 p.1
[1916]
Manitowoc Ann Arbor No. 5 cut up all sorts of didos yesterday afternoon before she finally made her way through Eighth street bridge. The big boat was preceeding up river stern first and the slush ice made steering difficult and over twenty minutes were consumed in getting through the draw. The bridge was opened and shut twice in the mean time. Manitowoc Daily Herald, Feb. 24, 1916
DRY DOCK CO. AND AFFILIATED INTERESTS TO PERMIT EMPLOYES FULL TIME WHEN WITH H. AT CAMP. The Manitowoc Dry Dock company, Manitowoc Boiler Works and Manitowoc Engineering Works have announced that their employes who are members of the National guard will be allowed full pay for the time spent at the camp with Co. H. Mr. West of the Shipbuilding and Dry dock company stated that they regretted that the Aluminum Goods Mfg. Co. "beat them to it" in making a similar announcement, but the absence of some of the officials had delayed this offical announcement longer than would normally have been the case after the matter had been laid before the companies. It is expected that other manufacturing plants will join the move. Manitowoc Daily Herald, Saturday, June 3, 1916 P.5