Show IN SAN BAY heartrending DETAILS OF THE SAD AFFAIR tiie city of chester collides will the oceanic SAN FRANCISCO aug 22 an unknown steamer was sunk by the steamer oceanic from hongtong Hong Kong and yokohama st ten tins mom ingoff fort point j the of the harbors al clial the is the ty chester which eureka california this morning jdith a largo number of on ehe oceanic had hoc hoats passengers tho steamer san ba bave gaab to her assistance several lives are reported lost thesa iyer eruik ishai caf have come yie kanda the foll ali A lare obbo i i ayery beah lna de ta so far as seriously injured ane odthe moat disasters that eye occur rp on the coas m vo bay of 9 the Gol denGate abOT iSLO dock chester here and start ed onifer denla trip abath ova coast of Ci fornia nuri usually large num b e an th e decks and waved adi euto frends who had gathered rP the dock the chester daoa the bay when ci two aniles of the heads it thick so locality captain wallace of hiie city of chester bogan steam whistle to warn all vessels of his approach the citro chester proceeded cautiously on her course till on fort pointy when the hoarse sound of another whistle floated across the water capt val lace answered the signal and the proper warning to the stranger to jass on the port side alnis was evidently understood for in a nio ment those ioa board baw the ange prow bithe and oriental steamer Oceanic 7 merge from the trog the oceanic had aust arrived from hong kong and yokohama and way moving up the bay taher arwas so tho atch ester chere was no possibility for the cutter to escape the cabin passengers were nearly all on deck and the captain seeing the danger called to them to prepare for a shock ensued at once partially among tha women and children of whom there was a large number the oceanic struck the chester on the port side at the gangway and the shock was terrific her prow cut into the chesters upper works and then crushed down to the bulwarks bulwa starting the great timbers and iron plates and breaking into the state rooms and cabins the wildest confusion prevailed among the passengers the passengers crowded together seme shrieking with fear and others praying bow of the oceanic brushed into the middle section of the chester cutting her almost into halves and causing her tinder the terrible blow when the vessels vere locked a number of the chesters passengers were passed up over the oceanic bow and rescued inthis way but as soon as the large steamer could clear herself she swung around and immediately began to lower tier boats at the moment of the shock most of the officers and crow of the chester seemed to lose possession of their senses and several passengers stated afterwards that some of the crew took the first opportunity port unity to climb aboard the oceanic and left the passengers to cut away the boats and on of these was lowered as jboob as possible and a number of passengers taken off into them others provided themselves them with life preservers and jumped overboard the greater portion however were compelled to remain on the bleamer bt eamer which began to settle immediately after the collision torrents of water rushed into the hold and in civo minutes after the collision the chester disappeared and sank in fifty fathoms of water those of the passengers and crew who came to the surface were picked up by the boat the greater number were drawn under by the rushing water and never appeared again As soon as it was known around the bay that a collision had occurred a number of tugs and boats of all descriptions went to the assistance and rendered what service they could in picking up the living or dead floating among the wreckage the greatest loss of life is believed to have occurred among the steerage gers of whom there were twenty three aboard and only two are accounted for late this afternoon and it is believed the others were lost they were in the hold or lower decks of the steamer at the time of the collision and there was no opportunity to warn them of their danger or render them any assistance afterward the cabin passengers numbered seventy and of these ten are lost three of the crew were also lost the names of the cabin passengers lost are as follows r W aulderson oakland mrs T E prather san diega mrs 0 B paves california J A hampton and wife virginia nov CT davis spring ville california and misa davis his niece J Greer Napa california mrs and mrs porter captain wallace master of the chester was among those who had a narrow escape he said I waa standing on the bridge and the chester was feeling her way ont through the fog blowing her whistles regularly when the oceanic whistles were heard we answered her and I 1 supposed wo would get clear all right I 1 had an idea sho was on our port side somewhere and I 1 answered her accordingly I 1 took the proper steps to avoid her and I 1 supposed she was clear of us suddenly her great black hull came up out of the fog there was no human possibility of getting out of the way and the passengers were got ready for the shock and many screamed with fright the shock oa tho chesters side was something horrible the oceanic struck us on the port side inear the gang plank after the shock r hardly knew what happened I 1 saw that the upper works of the chester were apparently knocked off and the cabins were splintered into kindling wood the wreck waa scattered about in every way I 1 had a hard struggle to get through the crowd and the people seemed un manageable it was a difficult matter for the oceanic to pick up the people but her officers did splendid work it was not four minutes after the collision that the chester went down she filled so rapidly it was impossible to get the passengers on the oceanic and when she started to go down she went with a rush I 1 was among those on her who had to go down like the rest of us I 1 was lucky in getting hold of wreckage 1 went under the next I 1 knevi yas at the surface with wreckage of every conceivable sort about me on every side of me people were in the water some of them doing their best others wildly struggling I 1 do not think many of these people were saved T was picked up I 1 dont see how the disaster could have been avoided the vessels came together in such a thick fog it was impossible to see captain metcalf of the oceanic made a statement we were entering pork chis morning with the weather foggy I 1 was on the deck myself as is customary entering port we were steering amid the channel course when r observed a steamer about two points on the starboard whose whistle we had heard some time previous she was going at a high rate afi speed while we were proceeding slowly I 1 immediately gave orders to have starboard helmed and gave two short blasts of the whistle which were re spondee to but through some mistake she ported instead of and the louision coU ision occurred the oceanic was going slow at tha time the steamer which we then recognized as the city of chestor had in some manner turned broad side and we struck her on the aporff the the pas bongers on board a rush and many clambered inboard onboard on board wo in the meantime throwing over life buoys and lowering the boats by this means we rescued some fifty or sisty persons in about five minutes after the collision the chester went down taking one of our boats in the whirlpool the third officer was in command and the crew came up and were picked up but the lady they had previously rescued never came up again |