Manhattan, NY Steamship HORATIO HALL Wreck, Nov 1902

STEAMSHIP DEMOLISHES A PIER

The Horatio Hall, Caught by a Strong Tide, Wrecks a Wooden Dock in Manhattan.

The steamship Horatio Hall of the Maine Steamship Company, on her way from Portland to this city was carried by the tide against the pier at the foot of East Eighty-sixth street, Manhattan, shortly after midnight and the pier, a wooden structure 100 feet long by 50 feet in width, was almost completely demolished.
The big steamship, with thirty passengers on board , all of them asleep in the berths, was making its was slowly through the dangerous channels of Hell Gate when it encountered the ferryboat Bowery Bay of the Astoria Line, crossing from New York to Astoria. The ferryboat having the right of way. Captain JOHNSON of the Horatio Hall signalled[sic] his engineer to stop the engine. A strong tide was running at the time and the current caught the steamship, which was not far from the shore, and carried it against the pier. On one side of the pier the stone scow Matthew McLean was moored. On board the scow were Captain WILLIAM ROBINSON and his wife. They were aroused by the crashing of timbers and rushed on the deck of the scow. The northeast corner of the pier had sunken to the water's edge and the opposite portion was raised from its foundations and part of it rested on the deck of the scow. Captain ROBINSON and his wife clambered up on the pier, which listed as they stepped upon it, and MRS. ROBINSON narrowly escaped falling into the river. She slid some distance along the slanting planks before her husband reached her.
She was slightly bruised, but was not hurt badly enough to need medical attention. The couple reached shore without further mishap.
The only damage done to the steamship, it is said, was the scraping of her paint. She proceeded down the river to her pier at the foot of Pike street, but owing to an unusually high tide was not able to dock for two or three hours.
There was no great alarm among the passengers when the steamship crashed into the pier.

Brooklyn Eagle New York 1902-11-10
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!