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Post subject: Shipwreck hunter seeks a home for Lady Elgin artifacts
 Posted: Sep 25, 2006 - 06:42 PM
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Puffer
Joined: Dec 31, 1969
Posts: 73
Status: Offline
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Shipwreck hunter seeks a home for Lady Elgin artifacts
By Michael Tarm, Associated Press | September 24, 2006
Boston Globe
CHICAGO -- The rusty, 3-foot-long steam whistle Harry Zych cradles in his arms screamed in alarm as the stately USM Lady Elgin foundered and sank just north of Chicago 146 years ago -- one of the 19th century's worst maritime disasters.
A schooner had just sliced into the paddle-wheeled luxury steamer, breaching the hull and spilling the more than 500 passengers and crew into Lake Michigan. All but about 100 died.
While its demise on Sept. 8, 1860 once captured the attention of Americans in the 19th century in much the way the sinking of the Titanic would in the 20th, the Queen of the Lakes -- as the Lady Elgin also was called -- is now largely forgotten.
Not, however, by Zych. The 58-year-old Vietnam veteran poured more than $200,000 and 20 years into locating the vessel, fought the state of Illinois over the artifacts, and now finds himself in another battle: to win over museums that aren't interested in a ship unless it is named Titanic.
Zych located the Lady Elgin's long-lost wreckage in 1989 5 miles off Highland Park, in Chicago's northern suburbs. In 1999 , he won a 10-year legal battle with the state over ownership of the wreck.
The sleek, white Lady Elgin was one of the best known ships plying the Great Lakes, and whenever it pulled into ports crowds gathered to gawk, said Brendon Baillod, a Great Lakes maritime historian.
``Worldwide, she was definitely the Titanic of her day," Baillod said. The sinking even inspired a song, ``Lost on the Lady Elgin," which became popular during the Civil War.
Even so, Baillod said fascination with the Titanic has overshadowed the Lady Elgin and virtually all other shipwrecks since the ocean liner sank in 1912 , killing more than 1,500 passengers and crew.
``Artifacts from most shipwrecks aren't attractive to museums anymore," Baillod said. ``The Titanic's sexy because of the [1997 ] movie. Other shipwrecks are not."
Among Zych's artifacts are parts of musical instruments and an entire chandelier, under which passengers danced until the collision with a 130-foot, Chicago-bound schooner -- the Augusta.
The Augusta rammed the 250-foot Lady Elgin's bow first, sheering off one of the larger ship's paddle wheels, then punching through the hull. The Lady Elgin flooded and sank within 30 minutes, while the Augusta stayed intact and sailed on to Chicago.
The whistle, which Zych says ``sounded the death knell of the Lady Elgin," is among his most treasured artifacts. Among the several hundred others are china plates, swords, rifles, and a spoon engraved with the words ``Lady Elgin."
Zych has contacted museums around Chicago about the artifacts. He blames their disinterest in part on what he calls a misplaced emphasis on flashy, entertainment-oriented exhibits.
Greg Borzo, an official at Chicago's Field Museum, said museums face tough choices about what artifacts to exhibit. Less than one - half of 1 percent of the 23 million artifacts housed at the Field Museum is on public display, he said.
© Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company |
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