List of Songs ~ Charlie Ipcar Home Page
Composed by: Charlie Ipcar © 5/14/20
(based on a photo from the Library of Congress, 1905,
and an article in the Detroit Free Press, 9/26/1905, p. 9)
Printable version ~ PDF ~ MP3 Sample ~ Original Story
Two survivors John Ruskin and his son with the officers of the steamer "Juniata,"
who rescued them from their capsized skiff during a storm on Lake Superior,
Houghton Harbor, MI, September 28, 1905,
from Detroit Publishing Co., via Library of Congress.
It was midnight on the Lake; the end of watch drew near;
The Captain sent for his first mate but before he could appear,
Cries for help came from astern so he swung "Juniata" 'round,
But in the darkness of the waves no human trace was found;
But in the darkness of the waves no human trace was found.
Sadly, they resumed their course, for Duluth they was bound,
Once more they heard desperate cries, once more they swung around;
Alas, no sign of struggling men in that wildly tossing sea;
For a second time they ceased their search, when cries were heard a-lee; (REF)
They swung her round once more and a zig-zag course they ran;
"Dead ahead there's a capsized skiff!" "Bring her to!" came the command;
A man and a boy were clinging there and were swiftly brought on board;
They'd almost died from the wind and waves but soon they were restored; (REF)
John Ruskie and his son set out from Oskar, Michigan,
Salvaging lumber from the Lake when their skiff capsized in the wind;
They climbed onto her bottom and clung on through the night;
The wind blew them far from shore; would they see the morning light? (REF)
But their prayers were answered in the night when "Juniata" swung around,
Although they searched three times o'er before these two were found;
By early morn they'd made Duluth, or so the papers say,
And to Houghton Harbor they were returned on the following day. (REF)
Now Superior's a great inland sea, as you mariners know well,
The waves can run mountain high, in a blink from a gentle swell;
And no one knows why some survive, while some sink 'neath the waves,
But "three time 'round" done the trick, spared both from a watery grave. (REF)
From Detroit Free Press, 9/27/1905, p. 9
BIG JUNIATA, A LIFESAVER
Rescues Father and Son in Nick of Time
Duluth, September 26. – Just as Capt. Edward Martin, of the Anchor Line steamer "Juniata," was about to turn over command of the ship to the mate and go to his room to turn in at midnight last night, faint cries for help were heard coming from over the lake. The steamer was then ten miles from Houghton, and a brisk wind was forming a heavy sea on the lake.
The boat’s course was immediately turned in the direction of the cries, but in the darkness no trace of a human could be found. Thinking he had been mistaken in the sounds, Capt. Martin ordered the ship on her course again. Once more the cries for help came, and once more the big ship turned back, but the search was again fruitless. Again the “Juniata” started on her way to Duluth. A repetition of the summons for help, now growing fainter, for the third time caused the ship to return to the rescue. Covering the lake in a zig-zag course the "Juniata" finally came almost full upon an overturned rowboat, on the top of which could be seen the figures of a man and a boy. They were almost overcome by exposure when taken on board the steamer, and it was some time before they could be resuscitated. The two shipwrecked mariners were John Ruskie and his son Victor, of Oskar, Michigan. The two had been picking up lumber in the lake when their craft was overturned and carried out by the wind. They will be taken back to Houghton tomorrow.