"The worst smash up that ever occurred in the canal took place Tuesday evening when one of the big Pankratz scows, stone laden, crashed into some piling, stove a hole in her bow and sank squarely across the channel, putting complete stop to further traffic in this waterway for the next three days. The Duncan City left port about 5 o'clock Tuesday evening with barge No.2, laden with 150 cords of stone, in tow and bound to Whitehall, Michigan." Door County Advocate 11/24/1900.

The owner of the scow and the stone, Pankratz Lumber, was notified of the situation and given until noon the next day to remove the wreck and stone blocking the channel. Tthe decision was made to let the government do the work. Thursday morning saw dredges No.1 and No.2 removing the stone from the deck of the scow. A diver was engaged to inspect the wreck who reported that the only damage was a hole in the bow and it was thought that when the stone was cleared off the wreck it would float again and could be taken to the shipyard for repairs.

"...It was expected by those having the work in hand that when the stone had been removed from the decks of the scow the craft would float...the decks were entirely freed of the stone by Saturday afternoon. But she failed to come up... On Sunday Diver Isabel was called on to make another examination. He reported that the boat had been badly wrenched and had settled amidships. It was then decided to blow her up with dynamite and the work of destruction was begun the first thing Monday morning...The dredges also assisted in tearing the craft up to pieces, and as fast as this was done the tugs pulled the debris out in the lake, where it drifted on the beach or went out on Old Michigan. By Tuesday evening there was nothing left of the scow but the bottom and the next day this had also been removed. Part of the stone were also dredged up, placed in dump scows and taken out in the lake and dumped...The loss of the scow is total, there of course being no insurance. She was valued at about $7,500, being one of the new scows built by Rieboldt & Wolter for the Pankratz Lumber Co., and which was launched at the shipyard last June." Door County Advocate 12/01/1900.