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APPENDIX C Frank Dulach/The Waukesha The Waukesha’s sole survivor, Frank Dulach, gave the following account of the shipwreck in a sworn statement before Muskegon’s Justice of the Peace Peter W. Losby and others on November 8, 1896. It was published in the Muskegon Morning News on November 10. His Sworn Statement We left Ludington Friday, Nov. 6, 1896, between 4 and 5 p.m. bound for South Chicago with salt and twenty-five barrels of apples. The wind was northerly. After a while the wind shifted to go around into the west. It was about 10 or 11 o’clock at night when we saw what we thought were the Grand Haven lights. The captain said, “That’s not the Grand Haven light.” We went a little farther up and after the wind died off altogether. We stood to and the captain said: “We’d better stand off on the other tack.” The vessel started leaking about 6 o’clock that afternoon. It was about 12 o’clock in the night when we couldn’t get one more suck from the pump, and started pumping on the forward pump and after pump. All were at work except the captain. He called once, and after a while the mate went into the cabin with the sailor by the name of Fred. He gave them drink altogether. About 2 o’clock Saturday morning we met two seas, one from the southeast and another from the west-southwest. The boat started leaking worse, and we kept both pumps going all we could. About 9 o’clock we told the captain me and my watch partner, he had better put the boat on the beach wherever he could get her, as we could not stand to pump all night and day. He said to us he would go about and tack the ship for the land. We answered back we wanted to see the land first so we could know where we were, and not go like a fool without knowing. The Captain Master The captain said he was the captain of the vessel and knew what he was doing. My partner answered him back that he knew what he was doing with a jug of whisky in him.The mate jumped up and said: “You’re going to pump; that’s all you have to do. We have officers on board to do the rest.” I answered him: “If you are the man to look after everything, I am 161 appendix c going to look after my life.” The mate stood there a moment, then went aft and, turning to the captain, told him he had better go and find out where we were before night. This was about 10 o’clock Saturday morning. We kept off in the northeast. We saw land about 1 p.m. on my watch. It was Little Point Sauble. We started to keep off again, and jibed over, heading straight south along the shore. Then we saw some piers. Some said it was Grand Haven, others Muskegon. The captain was very drunk, didn’t know whether it was Muskegon or a chicken in the air. When we got a little bit closer, between me and my partner we found it was Muskegon. The captain, mate and one other sailor started kicking, saying it was neither Grand Haven nor Muskegon, and he didn’t know where we were. I told the captain he had better put the boat in between the piers and let her go, no matter where she went. He said he was sure there was no water, wouldn’t put her in, and wanted to go to anchor, pump her dry all he could that night, fix her up and go on the way in the morning for South Chicago. I told him rather than let go the anchor he had better go out in the lake under canvas. We were about a mile and a half from the beach. The Harbor Lights About five minutes after we let go the anchor we started to see the harbor lights. I said to my partner: “That sure is Muskegon.” I was cursing and swearing because the captain wouldn’t try to make the harbor rather than stay at anchor. After he let go the anchor we put fastenings in to keep the foresail from thrashing and going to pieces. Then we started to pump her out again. We sounded the pump and...

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