“Great excitement prevailed
amongst residents on this Beach this forenoon. Just as the train was about to
start from the Ocean House for Hamilton, a fishing smack far out on the bosom
of the lake was seen to capsize, and the two occupants were thrown into the
water.”
Hamilton Times. December 11, 1883.
A gentleman happened to be
on the Beach Strip and was returning to the city when he witnessed the calamity
out on the waters of Lake Ontario. When he arrived on the Hamilton and
Northwestern train and alighted onto the platform on Ferguson Avenue, he was
able to tell a Times reporter what he had seen:
“One of the fishermen was
struggling in the water beside the boat and the other had climbed up on the
overturned craft. A very heavy sea is running on the lake today, and those who
took a good view of the situation through the best of glasses fear that the
poor fellows cannot escape
“The fishermen along the
beach were soon out like a swarm of bees discussing the best mode of rendering
help to their unfortunate comrades, but nothing had been decided when the cars
left.
“ ‘It would have been
madness for anyone to attempt to go out in such a sea in any ordinary boat,’
said the gentleman who communicated the above facts to a Times representative.
The necessity for a life boat at Burlington canal was never more apparent than
it was this morning.” 1
1 Hamilton
Times. December 11, 1883.
Ben Foulds and Edward
Holmwood were experienced fisherman. During the morning of December 11, 1883,
despite the extremely rough conditions on Lake Ontario, they were determined to
head out to retrieve their nets.
Foulds and Holmwood had not
got out on the lake very far, indeed they still could be seen from shore, when
their small boat was capsized by the large waves.
Holmwood was the stronger of
the two and he managed to climb on the overturned boat. Twice he grabbed Foulds
and attempted to pull him on the boat as well. The first time Foulds fell back
but was reached again. The second time that Foulds fell back, he disappeared
under the water and was not seen again.
Mr. Smith, the caretaker of
the Ocean House, was the first to notice the peril of the fishermen. About 11
a.m., he ran to the lighthouse to inform Captain Campbell of what he had seen.
The lighthouse keeper got out his skiff and then quickly tried to assemble a
party of volunteers to help him with the rescue:
“The wind was blowing a gale
from the southwest, and as the captain’s boat is a very frail one, it was
difficult to get anyone to volunteer. At last, William Partlow, captain of the
schooner Bismark and F. Cotter volunteered, and when getting into the boat,
Partlow asked Captain Campbell if he had money on him, because he thought that
if they escaped drowning themselves, they would likely be driven down to
Oakville and the money would be needful to take them home. They started off,
having first procured a flask of brandy, and rowed for about a mile and a half,
the waves beating over and drenching them.”2
2 “Hamilton
Spectator. December 12, 1883.
Captain Campbell, Captain
Partlow and Cotter were having tremendous difficulty when they spotted another
larger and more substantial boat which had set off towards the upturned boat,
so they returned to shore:
“Captain Tommy Armstrong was
on the beach and saw the position of the men. He at once proposed that a crew
be formed to go to the rescue, and soon John Morrison, Wm. Rollo, Robert
Trucker and Mortimer Carey set out in Rollo’s boat on their life-saving mission.
“Armstrong and his crew had
many narrow escapes on their way out to the disabled boat, and at times the
waves swept Rollo’s craft from stem to stern, washing completely over its
heroic occupants.”2
The rescue team took half an
hour to plow through the frigid waves to reach the boat:
“Poor Holmwood was startled upon
it, and was thoroughly exhausted Captain Campbell put out his hand to assist
him to the boat, but it was found that he was unable to raise his arm.”2
They eventually managed to
get Holmwood aboard their boat:
“When Holmwood was taken
into the boat he was asked, ‘Where is Ben?’ His reply was, ‘Poor Ben is
drowned!’ ”2
The rescuers brought
Holmwood back to the Crook’s hotel where his body was vigorously rubbed to
bring warmth to the outside, while liberal quantities of brandy were provided
to bring warmth to the inside.
Ben Foulds was about 45
years of age and was one of the oldest fishermen on the Beach. He drank
considerably and was considered to be somewhat reckless:
“Only on Monday, his team
ran away with him, and on the morning of the same day (Monday), he was heard to
remark to Holmwood, ‘that boat will be your coffin’ having reference to his own
boat, which was a comparatively new one. He little thought that the next day he
would lose his own life through it.”1
The Times account of the
incident ended as follows:
“Too much praise cannot be
given to the brave men who took their lives in their hands, as it were, to save
a perishing fellow man.”2
