Silver Bay in 1913 — Trapped in fog

About 200 Boston area delegates en route to the 1913 Young Women’s Christian Association conference at Silver Bay Association spent a harrowing night on the water when the steamer Morrison was trapped in a dense fog.

“The passengers … were thoroughly frightened by their experience, as no one had any idea on what point of the lake they were on,” The Ticonderoga Sentinel reported on July 10,1913.

The steam boat left the Lake George dock at 5 p.m., but encountered unexpected dense fog after it set out.

The crew stopped the engines and kept the boat in place until the fog lifted, when the crew resumed the journey north, arriving at Silver Bay at 4 a.m.

About a month before the conference, the Newark, N.J. YWCA on June 4 performed the musical drama “The Dress Rehearsal” to raise funds for Silver Bay Association.

The performance included folk dancing by high school and college students.

The cast, under the direction of Mrs. Albert W.H. Thompson, had been rehearsing all winter, the Newark Evening Star and Newark Advertiser reported on May 29.

The YWCA conference preceded the 10-day Missionary Education Movement conference at Silver Bay that ended July 20.

The 12th annual conference had record attendance of 550 delegates from 14 states ad six foreign countries.

“The afternoons were largely given over to recreation, at which time tennis, bathing, boating, baseball and tramps through the beautiful country were enjoyed,” The Post-Star of Glens Falls reported on July 26. “Two afternoons were set aside for field and aquatic sports, and two others for an immigration pageant and demonstration and a China demonstration.”

Speakers included the Rev. O.P. Gifford of First Presbyterian Church of Brookline, Mass,, the Rev. Ernest M. Stires of St. Thomas Episcopal Church of New York City, and former U.S. Rep. William Stiles Bennet, a Republican from New York City who was an advocate for civil rights and liberalization of federal immigration policy, The Lake George Mirror reported on July 19.

Bennet served three terms in the House from 1905 to 1911, and returned to serve another term in 1915 and 1916.

Other July 1913 conferences included the New York State Sunday School Association conference, beginning July 21, and the Eastern Association School for YMCA employees beginning July 30.

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