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I think the Lady Elgin disaster was just one of those weird circumstances where the Augusta hit the most vulnerable area on the Lady Elgin. The seas and winds were nothing that the ships couldn't handle but with the Augusta's angle of collision piercing the hull right in-between the engine room bulkhead and forward hold compounded with the destruction of the portside hogging arch simultaneously doomed the Elgin as she lost power, then her boilers fell out of the hole, and then she started to come apart as her structure was compromised. The palace steamers of old were never built strongly.

September 8th seems like a particularly brutal day in the history of the Great Lakes. The loss of life on the LADY ELGIN (297-350), the HIPPOCAMPUS (36) , and the ADVANCE (7) are described in the current edition of "Today in Great Lakes History - September 8." Be careful out there!!