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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 2, 1906)
fir v tfrm-m- wpi.ytmt , The Commoner. .VOLUME 6, NUMBER 3 8 , ! X i-" f M I' P m r K CURE6NT Vop,c ngSSSTOSanfete- 8 rr-T rTg'gF28 "' - -"-N,- V" SP D1 '-x kISPATGIIES FROM Victoria, B. C., under I .... - r o .. Minf llin flinimiGr I UlUG Ol .Mill limy "' nlJ ." " r. . .. i. i, nfA mMno fmm (Minn Valencia Biruuii u iuuiv u ""'" . ,-, . Bonlo, Mohdiiy night, Jiiinmry 22. One hundred and fifty-four people wore on hoard and or tins number only twenty wore rescued. The com mander of the vessel was Captain 0. M. Johnson. TJioso who were rescued say that Captain John son mado no effort to save his own life, hut clinging to tlio rigging prayed for relief to his passengers. Many urged the captain to place a , Mo uolt about his waist, hut ho persistently re " fused to do so. THE SURVIVORS OF THE Valencia wreck have many stirring stories to relate. One ol them, J. Willits, who was rescued from a raft, "' sayfj: "The ship struck at 12:07 on the' morning of Tuesday, January 23. I was on deck at the ' thrio, smoking a cigar and was looking at my "' watch when tho first crash came. In an instant all was oxcitcment. There were tho shrieks of tlio frightened men and women, the wail, of little 'cJi'JJdren and tho hoarse orders of tho officers of u th6 ship. Tho vessol reeled like a drunken man, slid over tho reef and struck again. The com maud to back her off was given and she, went , astern at full speed, but It was too late. Tho ' water was pouring In like a mill race and with ' a sound which drowned all else. The wind swung ' tho vossel's stern to the beach and her head to tho waves. Tills saved many lives as she was thon swept back to tho shore and struck once again in such a position that she remained partly abovo tho water and on an even keel. Every wave now washed clear over her and many people who hastily rushed on deck went to their deaths with out time to murmur a prayer. Tho order was given to got out the boats. Two of them on the woathor side were launched and were smashed llko oggsholls as soon as they struck tho water. Then camo tho attempt to get out tho ice boats. Purser O'Farrell took charge Four women and a number of men went into the boat. I do not crash, carrying its load of humanity to a terrible death. I don't think there was a single one saved. Their bodies were washed from the ship and we could see them dashed against the rocks. To add to our misery, the last of our food was washed away. We had no water to drink, save the bitter cold sleet. The wind and rain combined with the sea, soon numbed us. Every little while one of those in the rigging would lose their hold and be swept away to the sharp rocks. When we saw tho Queen in the morning we thanked God for saving us, but when she, in company with the tug, sheered off and sailed away, she was followed by nothing but curses. I suppose it was too dangerous for them to attempt to save us. When the Topeka finally hove in sight we de termined to make an effort to reach her in the raft lift. Pew of the men cared to make the attempt, as it appeared to be certain death to oven try to cross the breakers. But eighteen of us were willing and we started. With only a pair of oars the struggle against the wind and sea was almost too much for us. Part of the time we were under water and were almost drowned. But were impelled by desperation and fought and fought against the elements like demons." THE EXPERIENCE of the passengers on the raft are told by Mr. "Willits thus: "We held one man upright in the center of the raft and had him wave a shirt on a pole. When we saw the steamer turn we thought she had over looked us and was going away. If she had we would have died right there. The waving of the shirt on the raft reminds me that when the Queen was first sighted the women in the rigging even removed portions of their clothing to wave as a signal for help from their positions in the rig ging. When we left the ship on the raft we tried to get some of the remaining women to go, but they refused. No help can now reach them before morning and the ship will have then gone to pieces. She was breaking up when we left llftV SVlfi Pfllllrl nnf nnoothlir lin-rr l.nl.1 J-H. " -..-.. ,...v ..... ww uwni,. j, uu juji -. .. UwU.u uui iwooikjij UU.VV3 UC1U lUgCLUUl .lOWj Just na Inav worn Inwnrlncr tlio nflim llin lnvlta rectlv in sunn n. nnsftlnn flint thorn le n Imna Iitrtl.n ntwl Hin rtfriitii f 4-liss lmnJ- -Ps11 I . i1a ...i rf nntr nnn wAnnli4n r.ls. T4 4-l i..A 1-.x.- t.l i. whilo the bow hung in the air." T7WERY ONE ON THE Valencia was precipitated V.vi--. into tho sea and swept away in an instant. Mr. Willits gives this dramatic recital: "For a second .or two I caught a glimpse of an agonized face, thon another, and yet another, as they were washed by me. It was awful. The waves dash ing over the ship started breaking her up. They swept the deck loose and every swell lifted it Wo clung to the rigging and deckhouse. Then an attempt was made to get a lino ashore. A fire man named Cigales agreed to swim ashore. He was in tho water fully half an hour but was un able to make tho beach. The ship struck in a bad spot. She was directly at tho foot of a pre cipitous bluff that conies sheer to tho water's edge One man was swept ashore and succeeded in landing on a small rock. We shot a line to him and he then tried to climb the cliff but he fell and was killed before our eyes. One of the most Pitiable incidents was that of a little .boy about five years old. His father, mother and two lit tie sisters put off in one of the boats. The boat was capsized and all were drowned. The little follow waded around tho deck crying for Is parents The last I saw of him he wa! cHnging to the rigging. There were many similar cases tlllT m,T from th0 Concord, accompanied by his two sisters, was also in the rigging. By Wednesday morning the ship was rapidly going to pieces Every swell carried away a portion of the ship and the decks rose and fell with evevv breaker and it was impossible to stay on deok "tcjingirig to a support. The ship was sunk to about the. level of tho hurricane deck." T N THE MORNING another calamity occurred AboT5IC?fS Jde8Crib.0d by Mr Willets in this war About fifteen or twenty persons, nmonc flipm one or two women, had taken re uge ?i the for? S?nomaBt-.Thoy nppeaml t0iV the safest Place, as it was removed from the wail? ftfS waves, although the fiyW snmv JSSli their heads. luddenlynT wSt Xl mast tottered and there came a shriek from those on it, and. the next moment it fell with a of any one reaching shore. If the two boats which wo saw get away and put to sea are picked up. they and ours will be the only ones saved. Cap tain Johnson lost his bearings and ran the ship ashore. It was a dark and stormy night; and nothing could be seen. The ship struck while running full speed. We all thought we were to the southward of Flattery, and after striking Cap tain Johnson proved himself a hero. He made the statement that he would never leave the wreck alive, and I believe it. The chief engineer is also carrying a revolver with which to blow out his brains when the critical moment comes. There were many deeds of heroism and many acts of cowardice, but on the whole tho people behaved well and met their fate like men." HE NEBRASKA PRESS association will meet T iu xuiriy-iourtn annum nnnvontinn . Lincoln, on February 27 and 28. The Nebraska association is one of the oldest in the country and the annual meetings are always interesting and instructive to its members. This year an un usually good program has been arranged, the topics being such as will interest all -members. The railroad advertising question" will be dis cussed in all its phases, and the discussion will be opened by J. C. Seacrest, business manager of the Nebraska Daily State Journal, who will speak from the business office standpoint, and R L Metcalfe, associate editor of The Commoner who will speak from tho editorial office view Hon Lafe" Young, editor of the Des Moines Daily Capital will deliver an address on "Newspapers of the Orient," and John T. McCutcheon, the fa mous cartoonist, will deliver an illustrated, lecture1. M CLEMENT ARMAND FALLIERES, presl . dent of the French senate, has been elected KUn?nv f F,r,ance by tlle national assImW? sif ting at Versailles. He received 449 votes whion was four more than were necessary to etecT his closest opponent, Doumer, president of the ciiam- l"pff' reCeKng ?lh The following S" the UtoNiry Digest: "Although several other candidates were mentioned for tho nresi doncy in succession to M. Loubet," says the cor respondent of the New York Post, "M. Sarrien former minister of justice; and M. Leon Bourgeois, the former premier, the real contest law between. M. Fallieres and Doumer. The former had tho general support of the advanced socialist and radical groups, constituting the famous party which sustained the Combes ministry." "There is a great deal of similarity between the new and the retiring presidents of the French republic," says the New York Times. "Like M. Loubet, M. Fallieres is, before everything else, a man oC the people. His grandfather was a blacksmith and his father a magistrate's clerk. Like M. Loubet, he is a man of absolute integrity, trusted even by his bitterest opponents and esteemed by all. He is a finer orator 'than M. Loubet, but his sim plicity of character is similar to that of the pres ent president, and he possesses the same inna'te politeness and capacity for suiting himself to his circumstances. In politics he is regarded as-eminently 'safe,' considering every point thoroughly before deciding on any action, and possessing the happy faculty of intuitively knowing the trend-of opinion of the majority of his countrymen." LOUIS H. TURRILL at Detroit, Michigan, a former accountant of the Standard Oil com pany at St. Joseph, Mo., testifying before a com missioner at Cleveland, Ohio, January 25, said that he was asked to become a director in a new oil company which afterwards provea to be "The Republic Oil Company." He said he was induced to sign articles of incorporation as F. E. Turrill instead of Louis H. Turrill, and was told to say nothing about being a Standard Oil employe. Turrill says he subscribed for three hundred shares of stock for which he did not pay a cent. . He was made secretary and treasurer, and a di rector of the company, and was given charge of the accounting system in the Cleveland field. The directors of the Republic Oil company hold meet ings at the Standard Oil company's offices In New York and whatever they did was done upon the suggestion and order of H. M. TJlford, one of the executive holders of the Standard Oil com .pany T;irrjUl. said ..that his communications were directed to No. 75 New street, New York, which was the rear entrance of the Standard Oil build ing at No. 26 Broadway. He said he was in structed to maintain the impression that the Re public Oil company was independent and to deny that it was controlled by the Standard. Frank Rockefeller was summoned to testify, but at his earnest request was excused from going on the stand. Service has not yet been secured on John D. Rockefeller. THE AMERICAN CITIZENS on the Isle of Pines have organized a literary bureau and seem determined to resist Cuban authority. Sec retary of State Root has declared that the Isle of Pines is legally under the dominion and gov ernment of the Republic of Cuba, and the Amer icans on that island are obliged to obey Cuban laws. The Isle of pines Americans, however, say that Mr. McKinley formally declared that the Isle of Pines belong to the United States and caused an official statement to be made by the war department that the island was American territory and that the public lands therein were subject to the disposal of congress. Appeals to congress have been made by those who protest against Cuban authority to retain the Isle of Pines within the American system. T T IS BEGINNING to dawn on some of Mr. . X Roosevelt's friends that when he made his tie-up in New York politics against former Gov ernor Odell he assumed altogether too creat a vp. sponsibility Lined with Mr. Roosevelfand Gov ernor Higgins In the fight against Odell were the insurance magnates who have recently been un der investigation, as well as Senator Piatt. Gov ernor Higgins has already protested against legis lative investigation of the state Insurance bureau, and a New York dispatch to the Houston (Texas) Post throws further light on the' situation. This dispatch follows: "Some significance is believed to attach to recent editorials in the Albany Jour na. which is owned by William Barnes, Jr. These edi orials are upon the s.ubject of insurance legislation, The editorials are very cautious written and yet they appear to urge a let-un in t w ?fatop 0fi tes18111"01;- T1i? editorials hold that it is the -business of the insurance superin- x v'F j 4dflfS' H6l3 .nsuajwiiwa?.:; ..!