A 'Stormy Day' in Oswego

During the height of the storm on Oct. 22, 1887, someone made this sketch of the schooner "Delaware" attempting to make port.

Stormy days on Lake Ontario provided 'entertainment' in the 19th century

by Richard Palmer

In 1887 there were no such things as computers, video games, television or even radios.  Newspapers were the news and entertainment providers. 

An extra added "attraction" was strolling down to the waterfront which was a beehive of activity, to see what was going on. Late in the fall, when the navigation season was  drawing to a close, it was an interesting scene with ships coming and going in rapid succession.

It didn't seem to matter if Lake Ontario was storm ravaged. Skippers and sailors took chances which from today's distant perspective, would seem foolhardy.  By late October, the lake wasn't exactly a place to go out for an afternoon cruise. The palmy summer days had ended, giving way to cold gale-force winds.  The Oswego Daily Palladium of Saturday, Oct. 22, 1887 reported:

"The gale that is blowing down the lake today began last night and is the most severe of the season. The higher velocity of wind was about 40 miles an hour. Up to noon no reports of disasters had been received here, but it is likely that later the usual number will be reported. The lake was in an awful muss this morning and the huge waves were rapidly chasing each other over the new pier. 

It looked as if the lake was trying to throw itself into the new harbor. The sight was a picturesque one and many people visited the shore during the day. The new shore arm to the breakwater was buried under a mass of white foam and at times spray was dashed fully 50 feet in the air. several coal barges were moored on the inside of the breakwater and heavy showers of spray were constantly dashed upon their decks. The crews wisely remained below and watched the wild scene from the cabin windows.

"About 9 a.m. the schooner Delaware was sighted up the lake headed for this port. Many people gathered to see her enter the harbor and noting but the most skill handling brought her safely in. At times it seemed as though the waves would overwhelm her. As it was the fore-gaff was broken, the staysail boom was unshipped and the staysail badly torn. The Delaware, Captain Bartley,  kept Whitby about 3 o'clock yesterday with 10,072 bushels of barley consigned to Gaylord, Downey & Co. She had a fine run over until off Genesee, when she encountered the gale. The mate said that about 12 o'clock just after passing Genesee they met with a severe gale as he was ever in.

 Several vessel owners will be looking anxiously up the lake tonight. The schooners Oliver Mitchell, White Star, M.J. Cummings, John Magee and Hoboken left Port Dalhousie at 11 o'clock this morning. The Hoboken goes to Big Sodus with barley and the rest of the fleet are bound for Oswego."

The northwest gale subsided Saturday night and the wind shifted to the south. But on Sunday night the wind "came rushing back with a mighty roar and at a force that made the buildings tremble," wrote a Palladium reporter on Oct. 24, 1887.  "About 1 o'clock this morning it whisked suddenly to the Northwest and came down the lake again with a fury that was irresistible. The lake was lashed into foam and as the huge waves pounded against the breakwater, the spray was blown clear across the new harbor. The wind continued to increase until shortly after 5 o'clock, when the signal office registered 42 miles an hour - the highest velocity recorded since February last.

"Repeated experiments have shown that the wind's velocity is very much higher on the lakeshore than at the Signal Station, and this morning it is said to have blown fully 70 miles an hour. It made things rattle all over town. A few trees and fences were blown down and dry goods boxes that could get loose waltzed up the streets and tumbled about the sidewalks. Vessels in the harbor strained  and pulled at their moorings and those who found themselves in exposed positions made haste to find shelter.

"So fierce was was the wind this morning that a man could scarcely stand on the lake bank. Many people there, however, in sheltered nooks, to watch the wild scene. The breakwater was completely under water at times and the spray was blown across the harbor in sheets. Vessels were known to be outside and many anxious eyes were turned seaward. Several yachts were anchored off the club house and there was danger that the big seas would sweep them away from their buoys. About 8 o'clock the tug Navagh, Captain Scott, took them to a safer place.

"About 10:30 o'clock this morning the schooner Annie Minnes came down the lake before the wind, and her approach was watched with intense interest. Her foresail and mainsail were settled away to about one-their spread and were winged out, her staysail and jib being set and doing good work when she "yawed" widely before the immense waves which followed and overtook her. Whenever she settled into he rough of the sea, the hull went quite out of sigh from the high bank above the Yacht Club house, as well it might, since the valley of the waves was often twenty-five feet below the crests. She rounded the Beacon finely, the lee formed by the spur-crib being a great help in breaking the sea just at the critical place.

   About this time the waves were measured and about one-quarter of a mile off the entrance were found to range from 12 to 14 feet above the smooth-water level within the harbor. The valley between the waves was from 10 to 11 feet below too, which made the wave fronts about 25 feet. This height of 14 feet was, that of solid waves, not including the crests, and is five feet less than the waves which breached the other breakwater in December 1884. Nearer the breakwater this morning the waves jumped up in peaks higher than this, in some cases 18 to 20 get above the level. With such a sea running, a snug harbor is a welcome refuge to any craft."