News
Explorers in Lake Michigan Discover 1886 Shipwreck Using Newspaper Clippings as Clues
Nearly 140 years after a ship went down in Lake Michigan, explorers have discovered the wreck “remarkably intact” after following clues from old newspaper clippings. The wreck of the steamship Milwaukee, which sank after colliding with another vessel in 1886, was found 360 feet below the water’s surface, explorers from the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association (MSRA) said this weekend.
The researchers said they located the Milwaukee in June 2023 using side-scan sonar and then surveyed the wreck using a remote operated vehicle (ROV). The team announced its discovery to a live audience at a theater in Holland, Michigan, at the association’s annual film festival.
Originally, the 135-foot vessel had three decks, two designed for freight and one for passengers. But after the Wall Street panic of 1873, many Great Lakes ships like the Milwaukee were repurposed to accommodate more cargo, such as lumber, iron and packaged goods.
In 1883, a businessman named Lyman Gates Mason of Muskegon bought the Milwaukee to haul his company’s lumber to Chicago. The vessel was converted to fit Mason’s needs, but there were no photographs to provide any details of how the ship was altered.
“It was newspaper accounts of the sinking that provided the clues we needed to locate the shipwreck,” said Valerie van Heest, who created the search grid.
Newspapers described how on July 9, 1868, the Milwaukee set a course to Muskegon, Michigan to pick up a cargo of lumber as a nearly identical ship, the C. Hickox, left Muskegon for Chicago with a load of lumber, while towing a fully packed schooner barge. Though the lake was calm that day, smoke from wildfires burning in Wisconsin was hanging in the air, and eventually the ships ended up on collision course. Under navigational rules, Captain Armstrong on the Milwaukee and Captain O’Day on the Hickox were supposed to slow down, steer right, and sound their steam whistles. “But the old superstition that bad things happen in threes would haunt the captains of both ships that night,” the shipwreck association said.
Neither captain ordered their ship to slow down, according to the report, because “a thick fog rolled in rendering them both blind.”
Captain O’Day finally made a turn, but when he tried to pull his steam whistle, the pull chain broke, and soon the Hickox plowed into the side of the Milwaukee.
“Pandemonium broke out on the Milwaukee. The captain went below deck and saw water pouring in,” the shipwreck association said.
Almost two hours after the collision, the Milwaukee plunged to the bottom of Lake Michigan. Luckily, everyone on the ship had made it safely aboard the Hickox.
“News accounts of the accident, as well as the study of water currents, led us to the Milwaukee after only two days searching,” said Neel Zoss, who spotted the wreck on the sonar.
The Milwaukee was found resting on the bottom of the lake facing northeast, the same direction it had been heading 137 years earlier when it went down.
“Visibility was excellent” said Jack van Heest, who piloted the ROV. “We saw the forward mast still standing as the ROV headed down to the bottom.”
After studying the wreck, the explorers realized the Milwaukee had indeed been remodeled, with the pilothouse and aft cabin made smaller in order to accommodate more lumber.
Both of the ship captains temporarily lost their licenses after the accident.
“Slowing down in the face of danger may be the most important lesson this shipwreck can teach,” the shipwreck association wrote.
The announcement of the Milwaukee’s discovery comes just a few months after a man and his daughter found the remains of a ship that sank in Lake Michigan 15 years before the Milwaukee, in 1871.
News
Is now the right time to invest in gold as prices have cooled?
The price of gold has climbed to record highs recently and has remained strong through much of April. And, that growth continued until the precious metal traded at around $2,390 per ounce on April 19, 2024. But since, growth in the price of the precious metal has cooled, with gold’s price now hovering around $2,300 per ounce.
This lull in gold’s price may represent an investment opportunity.
In general, investing is centered around buying assets when prices are low and selling them when prices are high – generating a profit on the difference between the two. So, considering the declines in gold’s price over the past few days, now may be the time to make your investment. But is buying gold during this lull in prices really a good idea?
Compare your gold investment options among leading brokers now.
Gold prices have cooled. Should you buy in now?
With gold’s price down from recent highs, you may be wondering if now is the right time to buy in. There are several reasons the dip in gold’s price may represent an opportunity to buy. Here are some of the biggest:
Prices may rise again
If looking at a gold price chart shows anything for certain, it shows that changes in the overall growth of the medal come in fits and spurts. Periods of price growth are typically followed by periods of declines and vice versa.
But with inflation rising in recent months – and with gold’s reputation as a safe-haven asset that can hedge against inflation – it only makes sense that the price of the precious metal will eventually start to head up again in the future. While attempting to time that directional change may be tricky, buying the precious metal while the price is down gives you the opportunity to take advantage of any upward movement that may be ahead.
Add gold to your portfolio now before prices have a chance to rise.
You may be able to make a quick profit
Gold isn’t known as an asset in which you can earn a quick return, but in today’s market, that may be the case. Don’t forget that in January, gold was trading at just $2,000 per ounce. And, by mid-April, the commodity’s price had climbed to around $2,400 per ounce. That’s about 20% growth in a matter of months, much of which happened since March 1 – an impressive climb for any investment asset.
Perhaps more importantly, gold’s price growth through the beginning of 2024 shows that the commodity doesn’t have to be a buy and hold style investment that you keep in a safety deposit box or precious metal depository for years to come. There’s also the possibility that the commodity’s price could climb further ahead, making it a compelling way to potentially generate a quick profit.
There are other benefits of investing in gold
There are other benefits of investing in gold that have little to do with the price growth seen thus far in 2024 – or the lull in prices seen over the past couple of days. Those benefits include:
- Inflation protection: Gold has long been considered an inflation hedge, and for good reason. When inflation drives the prices of consumer goods and services up – and the value of the dollar down – gold’s price tends to rise. So, it could be used to maintain the value of your portfolio during inflationary economic conditions. That’s important in today’s economic environment as stubborn inflation continues to weigh on the value of the dollar.
- Portfolio diversification: Gold’s price doesn’t always move in the same pattern that bonds or stocks do. So, mixing a reasonable amount of gold into your portfolio (up to 10% of your portfolio assets) as a diversifier could protect you from losses should one or more of your traditional portfolio assets fall in value. “If you have less than 5% – 10% of your net worth in commodities & FX (forex), you should absolutely consider adding exposure to gold and other precious metals,” says Vijay Marolia, money manager and managing partner at the wealth management firm, Regal Point Capital.
The bottom line
Gold’s price has fallen from recent highs – which may represent an opportunity to tap into growth ahead. However, gold isn’t simply a “buy while it’s low and sell while it’s a high” kind of investment opportunity. The commodity can also protect your portfolio from the stubborn inflation we’ve seen thus far in 2024 while acting as a diversification tool that could increase your risk-adjusted portfolio returns. So, consider adding gold to your portfolio today while it has the potential to grow in value.
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