Nebraska Newspapers

    The Frightful Reesrd of the
Year in Marine Accidents
Hie Number of Wrecks at Sea Last Year
Was Unprecedented—The Loss of Life
in Some of the Larger Was Ap^
palling—Tragic Fate of the
Bourgogne*
In spite of the numerous modern
Inventions annually projected and
tried by the navigators of today, and
In spite ot complete ocean charts des
ignating the currents, trade winds,
paths of travel and probable areas of
bad weather during certain seasons of
the year which should be avoided by
mariners, the record of the past twelve
months shows that the list of casual
ties on the sea is alarmingly large.
Not only are these accidents, wrecks
and Injuries Included among the small
er and old-fashioned sailing sea craft
engaged In the roasting trade, but es
pecially have they been noteworthy
among the large ocean liners, and mil
lions of dollars' worth of property and
capital Invested In the latest improved
types of ocean greyhounds and freight
steamers are lying today on the bed
of the ocean through the losses to com
merce In this year alone.
The past twelve months have been
exceptional In the severe storm.-, which
have from time to time swept the
seas and ployed havoc with the ship
ping and other Industries. Especially
has this been true the past fall, and
aa a result hundreds of coasting ves
sels plying, along the shores of the j
United 8tat.es have been consigned to
the cold barren bed of the ocean,
where their water logged bulka are ly
ing thickly encrusted with salt, or else j
beached along the coast, with their !
hulls gradually bleaching in the sun.
In additiun to the elements, Are has
had Its share of the victims, and the
late war with Spain has contributed
not a little to the losses of ships sus
tained by the various countries this
year.
" he year opened auspiciously for I
■hipping trade, and it was not until
ttw 31st of January that the first heavy
loss was reported, when the British
mall packet Channel Queen wan wreck
4 fn a atorm off the Guernsey coast,
.nd nineteen persona on hoard were
'rrnrned.
A respite followed until the day after
he destrucllon of the battleship
daine while anchored In the harbor
of Havana, February 16, when the
French line steamer Flachet was
wrecked on the rock-bound coast on
Teneriffe, off the Canary Islands, and
so fierce was the raging storm that
thirty-eight of the crew and forty of
the passengers were lost.
Following Immediately on this cas
ualty great anxiety was felt towards
the latter part of February concern
ing the French line steamer Ga Cham
pagne, from Havre to New York,
which was greatly overdue, and a huge
■Igh of relief went up from the nu
merous friends and relatives of the
passengers of the unfortunate steam
er when she was towed Into Halifax
badly injured.
Following rapidly on this news word
■fas received from Asiatic waters in
the shape of a cablegram from New
Caledonia, dated March 1, that a se
rara hurricane had destroyed a French j
gunboat, and on the 22d of the same ,
month the bark Almy, for Glasgow,
was wrecked. On the following day
forty-eight men of the Newfoundland
■ealing steamer Greenland perished 1
while searching for seals in the Alaska
Bor*.
War *'41*1*5 been declared between ,
‘ti® United t- .Mat and Spain, attention '■
/n.t turned from these Iohsss and rlvet
d upon the unprecedented successes
chlevpd by the American naval fleets,
nd while the Spanish war vessels i
era not destroyed by storms, still 1
they may be included among the louses
for the year.
Immediately upon the declaration of
the war Commodore (now Admiral)
Dewey was ordered to proceed at once
to Manila and reduce the Spanish forti
fications at that point and destroy the
Spanish fleet In those waters. On the
lat day of May his squadron, with the
Olympia as Ills flagship, startled the
^rounDCQirt6°r Tnt f9A5T stArttc pognJSo^
world by the unprecedented feat of de
stroying the entire Spanish fleet and
reducing u fortified harbor without the
loss of a single man. By this action
in Manila bay he sunk or raptured the
entire Spanish naval force in Pacific
waters, and at one fell swoop destroyed
Spain's naval power in Pacific waters.
This performance was duplicated off
Santiago harbor by Rear Admiral
Schley on the 3d of July, when the
Atlantic squadron, under command of
Admiral Cervera, comprising the Cris
tobal Colon, the Almirante Oquendo,
the Vizcaya, the Infanta Maria Teresa
and the torpedo-boats Furor und Plu
ton, were sunk in the short space of
two hours by the American fleet, with
the loss of but one man killed and less
than ten wounded. This engagement
rendered Spain powerless, as it de
stroyed at once and forever the only
really powerful naval force remaining
that Spain possessed.
The day following this great victory,
while the nation was celebrating the
glorious news, an accident occurred,
which was destined for many people
to change their Joy into mourning and
gloom. While steaming through a
dense tog sixty miles oft Sable Island
the French Line steamer La Bour
gogne. from New York to Havre, col
lided with the British ship Cromarty
shire. The Bourgogne was making 18
or 20 knots an hour, while the British
vessel was making live, with sails set.
The shock was terrific, and In ten min
utes this superb liner, with the greater
portion of her erew and passengers,
settled und sank. The Cromartyshire,
while almost in a sinking condition
herself, at once proceeded to rescue as
many of the unfortunates as possible,
but only succeeded In rescuing 165 of
the 725 persons on board, the balance.
560, perishing as the ship plunged
downward to her ocean grave. Nearly
nil of the cabin passengers perished,
the majority of the survivors being
steerage passenger* and sailors. The
surviving passengers told astounding
tales of cruelty. All order for the time
being was lost, and men and crew
fought like wild beasts to secure a
seat or standing room In the lifeboats.
Women and children were thrust aside,
and It was stated some men even com
mitted murder to escape from the
doomed ship. At any rate, only one
woman out of two hundred was res
cued, and to substantiate the stories of
the brutality a large proportion of the
crew was saved. The bow of the Cro
martyshire was stove In and she was
partly dismantled, and had It not been
for the calm sea she, too, might have
foundered. This, without exception,
resulted In greater loss of life thun any
other disaster of the year for any sin
gle accident or wreck.
On the 29th of July a severe storm
\ vt wnta< °rm n°nt(iAn y
ravages! the northeast coast of Eng
land, damaging much shipping and
ravaging the coast, leaving desolation
and ruin In Its wake.
On the 11th of September a hurri
cane in the British West Indies, in ad
dition to destroying thousands of
buildings and rendering 50,000 people
homeless and destitute, cut a wide
swath In the shipping in that region
and killed 500 people. This storm was
widely heralded and word cabled to all
the West Indian Islands open to com
munication. In spite of this a vast
amount of shipping was damaged.
Two vessels were sunk off the Wind
ward islands. The British ship Loan
da, 1,447 tons. Captain Dodge, from
Kio Janeiro: the American hark Gray
Lynwood, of 592 tonB, Captain Gilley,
from New York for Port Spain, both
lying at Barbados, besides two barken
tines, wore blown out into the ocean
and cast ashore and wrecked at St. i
Vincent, British West Inciles. Exten- \
slve damage was also done to the na
tive vessel-?, many being blown out to
sea and swamped. Following this
news was received that the leopard, ot
Labrador, with a crew of eighteen ami i
twelve passengers, was lost during a
severe storm off the northwest coast
of that region on September 27.
riUUIft* l< KNAtTMU AT TMK WMMt'fc or TMK •OUKOOUMB
»
On the 2d of October a severe hurri
cane raged In Georgia and along the
coast of that State and South Carolina.
The next day reports began to come in
of the extensive damage done. The
entire sea coast was submerged and
numerous vessels were driven by the
tremendous waves over the shore and
galled In the marsh back of the sea
line after the storm subsided. Im
mense damage was done to the rice
crop and dwellings adjoining the sea
coast. Four vessels were torn from
their moorings In Bavannah, the Brit
ish schooner Byanara, bound for St.
John's, New Brunswick; American
schooner Millville, to Millville, N. J.;
the Fannie L. Child, for Boston, and
the Italian bark Franklin, and were all
more or less severely damaged. The
Stephen Bennett went ashore off Sandy
Hook, and the Isaac H. Tillyer and the
Wandering Jew sunk in the storm.
The British steamer Lucanla was also
partly disabled In this storm on her
trip to Queenstown.
On the 14th of October the Atlantic
Transport Company's steamer Mohs<
gan, formerly the Cleopatra, of the
W'llson & Furness Lehland Line, leav
ing London for New York on the 13th
with fifty passengers and a crew of 150,
went ashore off The Lizard, between
Manacles and the Lowlands, and 110 of
the 161 persons on board were lost, as
It was next to Impossible to rescue
anybody with the heavy sea running.
On the 17th the barge Electra, with
1,300 tons of coal, sprang a leak off
Montauk Point, and went to the bot
tom like a ball of lead.
On the 19tb a heavy storm was re
ported off the New England and Cen
tral States coast, and a number of
fishing schooners foundered, most of
the crews escaping in boats.
In Asiatic waters on the 23d of June
a Chinese war vessel was wrecked at
Port Arthur, and 130 of her crew
drowned, and at the same time the
Chinese junks and fishing craft suf
fered severely, and on the 2Gth of Oc
tober 60 Japanese were drowned as a
result of a collision between two
steamers.
Another storm swept the Atlantic
coast on the 11th of November, and as
a result the newly raised Marla Tere
sa, which was proceeding to Newport
News, had to be abandoned, tho crew
believing her to be In a sinking con
dition. Tho vessel did not sink, how
ever. but stranded on Oat Island, where
she rapidly went to pieces. During
this storm the Westmeath was aban
doned.
On the 15th of November the Brit
Ish steamship l.umbmlan sailed from
Boston for London with a large gen
oral cargo and 650 head of cattle on
deck. On the 23d, In a violent gale, the
ship shifted the greater part of hor
cargo and also capsized. For two days
the uieu were in danger of drowning,
uitd then the Yedarnore hove In sight
and rescued forty-five of the crew by
three days of hard work, during which
time several men of the Vedamore
were nearly drowned from the huge i
waves breaking two of their lifeboats
while attempting to rescue the Im
periled sallora. On the third night the
ships parted company, and the Veda
more believed the laindutilan had
swamped and the captain and twenty
two men on board had been drowned.
A week later, however, the steam
ship Marta Ittckiuers discovered the
derelict, with sight additional sur
vivors, Including the captain, half
starved to death, hoping against hop*
that thsy would be rescued, and suc
ceeded In saving them but a few mo
menta before the doomed ship sank
I It seem* another boat load had tried
| Is get to tbs Vedawors. and all but
I seven were daubed lo pieces of
I drowned by Iheir Isul being crushed
| libs nn sgg shell against lbs aide of
the laipdoivtan
a ti«a«i*i.
Buyer Poor Ifewntrod' IJulMaf
Why r“M* Buyer Ilia • Mu*
guUl New Voth Journal
ONE CLASS OF WINE.
*t»ny Think It Changed Course of Foil
tic* In ThU Country.
It 1b said that a single glass of wine
probably wrecked the Democratic par
ty In 1860. The story is worth tell
ing, says the Atlanta Constitution.
After the breaking up of the national
Democratic convention at Charleston
the party In Georgia held a state con
vention. Great excitement prevailed.
The leaders of the party could not
agree. It was a critical period.
The majority report indorsed the se
ceders or bolters at Charleston, while
thj minority report opposed their ac
Uci. The leading champion of the
minority was Herschel V. Johnson and
his followers were confident that bis
eloquence and logic would carry the
day.
It Is quite likely that such would
have been the rase but for an unfor
tunate mishap. Ex-Gov. Johnson be
gan his speech before the noon ad
journment on the second day and con
cluded after dinner.
Old men who remember that speech
say that It was a powerful argument
and the Impression gained ground
that after the noon recess the speaker
would demolish hlg opponents with a
few sledge-hammer blows.
Hut the overconfident friends of the
minority report were doomed to dis
appointment. Johnson felt the strain
of the morning session so much that
he was unable to eat anything, and he
took a glass of wine upon an empty
stomach to strengthen himself. This
was a fatal mistake. That one glass of
wine perhaps changed the destiny of
the nation!
The great orator resumed his speech,
but the wine had nauseated him. He
was hazy, verbose and unintelligible at
times. His style and argument lacked
vigor, consistency and posltlveness.
His friends looked at one another In
despair. The men on the other side
were exultant. It was evident that the
speaker had damaged his own case.
Then Howell Cobb and Henry II.
Jackson followed each other for the
majority report. They spoke with an
air of expectant triumph and captured
the convention.
The majority report was adopted. It
U unnecessary to follow the history of
the next few weeks. The national De
mocracy was completely disrupted and
put two tickets In the field. Lincoln
was elected and the couijtry was
plunged Into a civil war. Had John
son succeeded In Inducing the Georgia
convention to adopt his conservative
Ideas, It is aafe to say that other
southern states would have fallen into
line with our commonwealth and the
national Democratic party would have
remained united.
This is the story of what a little
glass of wine did. It ruined a great
party, caused a disastrous war, and,
besides the loss of life, cost the south
over 14,000,000,000. Perhaps this is
rather speculative, but there are many
who believed It a generation ago.
.Mollified.
He kissed her boldly on Market
street, opposite the Phelan building.
"Sir!" she shrieked, "you are an
utter stranger to me. What means this
familiarity 7”
"Miss,” he replied, bowing low,
“though we never met before, you
must excuse me. I bet my friend that
1 would kiss the prettiest girl 1 saw on
the block."
A soft, forgiving smile replaced her
wrathful glance.
"You are forgiven this time," she
said, sweetly, “but please don't let It
occur again.”—San Francisco News
letter.
More for Her Money.
"I hear that your daughter has
broken off her engagement with the
count. Is it true?" “Yes; she ran
across a chance to get a duke at the
same figure.”
A Foolish Question.
The Preacher—And do you go to
Sunday school, my little man? The
Little Man—No. Christmas Is past,
ain’t It?
ARMY AND NAVY.
i
Of the $361,000,000 appropriated for
the war there will, it is estimated, re
main unexpended Jan. 1, lh'.i'j. a total
of $61,000,000 plus for the army, and
$33,000,000 plus for the navy; in all
$i>4,816,165.03.
8pain, with her population of less
thau 30,000,000, asks for un army of
140,000, while the American congress
questions whet tier 100,000 is not too
many for a republic of 75,000.000,which
has fallen heir to the distunt provinces
which Spain is no longer compelled to
provide for.
The proposed Institution of honor
medal* In the navy and the list of
promotions for meritorious service
may obscure the fact that the United
Ntates Is really very charry of gifts of
this kind The Military tlasette of
New rtotith Wales says that the Vic
toria cross was given to 175 men In
the Indian mutiny, l **■» In the Ur I met-,
Sn in the Zulu war and Ift eat h In Af
ghanistan and New Zealand The
rrtatM given for other campaigns do
not run tuto two figure*. None of
these aff.urs. except the Indian mu
tiny, rompare* with our civil war In
its ring adventure, and of course all of
them pul together do not npproneb the
number of men we put In the Aebl.snye
■ V mi. ' i ' I I : i t, m ( l he
honor medals recorded m the 14*1 o
’ m« register number only ill, and the
certificates to enlisted men it Dur
ing the Inst year there hate been one
or two addition* to the medallist*
There have been so nrsny swards wf
honor presented by personal admirer*
lately thet an Impreeetua Is given ef
I grant llbwrnitty In such matters, but
this exuberant giving doee fiat spring
trusw eMUfirwhs,
Baltimore £ Ohio.
From time to time articles appear
In various papers about the so-called
"Hill control’’ of Baltimore & Ohio,
togemer wiia exhaustive details or
various struggles which are supposed
to be In progress between Mr, Hill
and other people In the Baltimore A
Ohio board. The details of these strug
gles are very Interesting, but are open
to the criticism that they have no ex
istence in fact. The plain facts of the
matter are, first that Mr. Hill does not
control Baltimore A Ohio, nor has he
at any time expressed any desire or
taken any steps In that direction;
second, that there has at no time been
any differences of opinion between Mr.
Hill and the Baltimore A Ohio people
with regard to a selection of general
manager, the selection of Mr. Under
wood being satisfactory to everybody;
and third, that the delay in regard to
Mr. Underwood’s acceptance of the
general managership of Baltimore A
Ohio was due to matters connected
with the 800 Line more than anything
else.
It Is pretty well understood here
that Mr. Hill was Invited to Interest
himself In Baltimore & Ohio, on the
theory that be could be of great ser
vice to the property ns an adviser, and
to this end he, with some of his
friends, purchased a substantial inter
est In the preferred stock of the
company. This Interest Is nowhere
near a controlling Interest, but Is still
very large. It may be said without
fear of contradiction, that there Is en
tire harmony In Baltimore & Ohio
circles from top to bottom.
A wise man never Questions a child
In public unless he is sure of the an
swer. _
Pino’s Cure for f'onsurntitlon Is onr only
neili-lnn for coughs and colds.—Mrs. C.
Belts, 4M Sth Ave., Denver, Col., Nov.s,'U5.
Uneasy lies the head that wears a
crown, hut some other heads seem to
He easy enough.
Health for Ton Cents,
(‘asenrets make bowels and kidneys act
until rally, destroy microbes, cure headache,
tillllousnote andcouatipution. All druggists.
People who live In glass houses
.should have them frosted.
Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup.
For rhi .i m letoUlnic. softens the icons, reduces fn
•on ms:. >n, iiUsyiiiS.ij,cures slid nolle. s botti*
If a man can t raise a laugh he Is
very apt to heave a few alghs.
Coughs Mini Colds Cured (Julck
With tn 1 -Hi Arnold's 1 lush Kllier. All Iiruaglit*
slid Con..try Stores. !{&<;. s bottle.
Actiona may appak louder than
worda, but women will continue to uae
words.
—
IF lu,i« t' for Ml*. 42
Cl croiyfemi mU- J Ma
Kr itr« ctih.UfflWB
•it.
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After the Crip
Thousands of people say Hood's .Sarsapa
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Mooci’o Pill* cure all hirer Ills. 25ceoU,
V&CC1N2TE
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Write for le*' moiil.il , Address, Till#
M1IM. \ Alt INK KVKM til., K. O. Horn
MIA, I'm sons. Kansas,
NOO; C
FOR 14 CENTS
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