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Show 7W; 141 LOST 2N Sim of mm Driven by Terrific fiale the Berlin Is Destroyed in Ordinarily Calm AVater-vay AVater-vay at Entrance to Hook of Hollend; Opera Singers Perish. The Rotterdam mail .steamer Berlinufrom England, with 141 passengers and crew, was wrecked off the hook of Holland, at the entrance of the river Maar, leading to Rotterdam, shortly before 6 o 'clock this morning, and with a few exceptions all on board perished. A terrific southeast gale was blowing in shore, and drove the steamer on a sand bank close to the northern jetty as she was trying to enter the new waterway. Ilea vy seas quickly pounded the vessel to pieces, jshe broke in two, her forepart sinking immediately, whire the doomed passengers and "crew ' could be seen for a brief space of time clustered upon the afterpart. mer she usually was. crowded with passengers, pas-sengers, but at this time of the year her average was about as it was last night, the number being equally divided between first and second class. Many Commercial Men. One of the inspectors of the railroad who saw the steamer train off at the Liverpool station said last night that there were more first-class than second-class second-class passengers, most of them being commercial men, or else inhabitants of the Continent returning home from business trips to Great Britain. Much difficulty is being experienced in obtaining the names of the passengers, passen-gers, as the tiekets were purchased from many agents in London and other cities. The only names the company can be sure of are those of passengers i who secured reserved berths. The members of the crew, numbering fifty, were mostlr - Englishmen from Harwich. The officers were CapL Precious, Pre-cious, First Officer Morsley, Second Officer Offi-cer J. Watt, Chief. Engineer Bennant. Only Two Women There, - The Great Eastern .Railway company this afternoon was able to issue a list of forty-eight passengers, including the nineteen members of the German Opera company, who had booked berths in advance. Jt is pointed out, however, that some of these may not have sailed owing to the stormy weather. With the exception of the members of the German Ger-man Opera company there were only four women and two children among the passengers, the other travelers being chiefly business men. LONDON, FEB. 21. THE LIVES OFf PROBABLY 141 PERSONS, PAS-.' PAS-.' JERS AND CREW, WERE LOST li HE WRECKING OF THE ROT-. ROT-. TERDAM MAIL STEAMER BERLIN, BER-LIN, OFF THE HOOK OF HOLLAND, AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE RIVER MAAS, SHORTLY AFTER 6 O'CLOCK THIS MORNING. THE STEAMER WAS DRIVEN ON A SAND BANK BY A TERRIFIC GALE FROM THE SOUTHWEST. SHE WAS: POUNDED BY HEAVY SEAS AND BROKE IN TWO. THEN THE AFTER PART SLIPPED OFF THE LEDGE AND DISAPPEARED. TUGS AND LIFEBOATS, LIFE-BOATS, WHEN THE ALARM WAS ,. FIRST SOUNDED, PROMPTLY'PUT , OUT TO THE ASSISTANCE OF THE BERLIN, BUT THE VIOLENCE OF THE GALE AND HEAVY SEAS , MADE IT IMPOSSIBLE TO AP- PROACH THE WRECK, AND THE I HELPLESS LIFE-SAVERS SAW THE 1 STEAMER BREAK UP AND THE CREW AND PASSENGERS WASHED AWAY WITHOUT BEING ABLE TO RENDER THE SLIGHTEST ASSISTANCE. ASSIST-ANCE. One man, an Englishman, was saved. . He was unconscious when taken out of the water and had not regained consciousness con-sciousness when he was carried to a hotel in the neighborhood. j By 7 o'clock this-morning twenty-five twenty-five bodies had already been washed ashore. Opera Singers Drowned. Among those who were drowned are nineteen members of a German opera company who had just concluded thieir season - at Covent Garden. The mWer 0f the Covent Garden said to- io far as we know, these do not include any of the star artists. The party was made up of members of the chorus returning to their homes. They made arrangements directly with the railroad company, so that we are not yet able to get an exact list of their i names." King's Messenger Lost. Arthur Herbert, one of the' King's messengers, who was journeying to the Continent, also was lost. The Berlin left Tarwich at 10 o'clock, last night upon the arrival of the London train with the greater number num-ber of passengers who subsequently lost their lives. The steamer should have reached the hook of Holland at 6 o'clock this morning, and would have then proceeded for Rotterdam. A great gale was blowing in the Korth .sea when the Berlin started. As the Berlin was entering the waterway at the entrance of the river Maas, however, she apparently became unman-- unman-- ageable on account of the wind and was driven ashore. Sinks With Land Near, j The steamer apparently struck about midships,- as her fore part broke off and sank immediately, while her after part eould be seen for a considerable time afterward. The waterway in which the disaster occurred is a new one upon the north side of which is the' pier and railroad station. The steamer must have been within a few miles of tying up after her rough passage pas-sage when she was overtaken by the disaster. Land was only a few yards away, and except in the roughest weather those on board the Berlin could have been rescued without difficulty, especially as the waterway is navigable at all tides. The Berlin was a steel steamer, only twelve years old and popular with travelers trav-elers to the 'north of Europe. In sum- |