| Show AWFUL OCEAN DISASTER halifax N S july 6 the british 0 iron ship was towed to wed in here this morning by the allan liner grecian with her bow torn away by a collision sixty miles south of sable island with the french steamer la bourgogne the latter vessel went down ten minutes later of the passengers and crew one report says saya on board la bourgogne only were saved one woman was saved by her husband the captain and other deck officers went down with the ship the crows marty shire laid to and picked up the tha i passengers and seamen who were rescued transporting them to the grecian which came along shortly after wards the log of the Cromarty shire shir 1 l signed by captain henderson is as follows J on july ath at 5 a m dense fog f 0 position of ship sixty miles south sable island ship by wind on the port tack heading about tho though U under reduced canvas going about tout fout t or five knots per hour our foghorn was being kept going regularly ever every minute at that time heard a steam ers whistle on our weather side ox 01 port beam which seemed to be nearing very v fast we blew the horn anft and were answered by steamers whistle when all of a sudden she loomed 7 through the fog on our port bow crashed into us going at a terrific 1 i speed our fore top mast and main top and gallant mast came down doNw mft bringing with lit it yards and everything attached I 1 immediately ordered ehte boats out and went to examine th damage I 1 found that our boats were completely cut off and the plates platen 1 twisted other ships disappeared through the fog however our ship smi was floating on her collision bulkhead so there seemed no immediate danger of her sinking we set to work immediately to clear the wreckage and also ship our starboard 7 anchor which was hanging ovo the starboard bow and in danger of punching holes in the bow I 1 heart heard 1 a steamer blowing her whistle on com I 1 ing back and we answered with ol 01 fog horn the steamer then threw up a rocket and fired a shot we also 1 l threw up some rockets and fired several r shots but we neither saw nor he healt anything shortly alter after or about abou self the fog lifted somewhat and we aal two boats pulling toward us will c french flag flying we signalled signal led the tl to come alongside and found that the steamer was la bourgogne from new york for havre and that she had 9 gone ne down we laid to all day and received on board about survivors from amongst the passengers and crew reported to be in al about several of the passengers were on an life rafts without oars and I 1 called for volunteers from among my crew and the surviving french seamen to bring those rafts along vide bide the ship some of the passengers and seamen from the sunken steamer assisted us and we jettisoned jetti some 36 tons of cargo from our in order to lighten up the ship at about 3 p m another steamer hove in sight heading westward we put up our signals IN C 1 want assistance shortly after a steamer bore down towards us she proved to be the grecian bound bom glasgow to new york the captain agreed to take the passengers on board and also agreed to tow my ship to halifax owing to the condition of my ship I 1 accepted the offer and proceeded at once to transship tran ship the passengers and get ready our tow line at 6 13 p m we had made a connection and proceeded in tow of the grecian toward halifax having put all sail gall over the broken bow to take part of the strain of the collision bulkhead there was at that time fourteen feet of water in the mrs henderson wife of the captain was on board of the Cromarty shire with her two children she tells a thrilling story of the terrible experience the weather was foggy and she had risen from her bunk at an early hour as was her custom when the weather was bad shortly before the vessels came together she heard a steamers whistle blowing on the port side the Cromarty shire was sounding her fog horn barn at intervals of one minute mrs j henderson called the attention of her husband to the sounding of the whistle and a minute later the mate who was on watch also detected the sound it came nearer and nearer and mrs ken henderson stood near the cabin in order to rescue her children should a disaster occur suddenly the huge hull of an ocean steamer loomed ed up in the mist going about 17 knots an hour almost immediately med lately there was a fearful crash and mrs henderson rushed below and found her children awakened by the shock she dressed the little ones aa quickly as possible and removed them to the deck expecting to see her own ship go down any minute captain 39 henderson enderson as soon as the collision occurred lowered the boats and ordered the damage to be ascertained As it was found wat the r T f ahlee ire was in no immediate danger the tt fr put about the vessel with k which they had collided was at that je tame unknown A few minutes later j her ber whistle was heard and several tickets were sent up captain heny derdon replied in ike manner thinking t the steamer was offering assistance but in a few minutes all was quiet and v those on board began to realize the aw f 1 i ful results of the collision at s the fog lifted and two boats boat s f wire seen approaching later the C weather areather cleared and men were to be wreckage and floating on life raf rafts to it seen in every direction clinging to was a terrible scene no pen can pie twe the appalling sight revealed to the onlookers on lookers when the curtain of mist arose the work of rescue was com encee without a moments delay and over persons were picked up and taken on board the ship mrs henderson who had ample op 9 of interviewing those who i berei rescued expresses her belief that MV biere abete had been no effort to save the yi women many foreigners on board 1 aught tor for places in the boats it was fully ten minutes to a quarter of an hour before la bourgogne went down and during that time there was ample opportunity offered to rescue at least some of the women and children As it was only one woman mrs la casse was saved she has been on board ever since she is the wife of M D lacasse teacher of languages of Plain plainville ville N J the crew of the Cromarty shire comment freely upon the fact that only one woman was saved out of nearly all the first class passengers were lost those saved being steerage and sailors lacasse and his wife were in the water eight hours clinging to a raft before they were picked up by a boat from the they lost everything but what they stand in including money and abiles ab fles one passenger was going home to france with his hia two child children Ten his wite having died a month previously he was saved but his two babies went down with the ship the only officer saved was the purser he went down but being a strong swimmer managed to save himself when the ship struck they were off cape sable the passengers with the sole exception of prof lacasse were below deck without warning came the terrible shock lacasse rushed in haste to his stateroom on the falcon deck and got his wife butof out of bed and partly dressed they hastened on deck only to be precipitated into the water they were not long in the water however when they found a partly submerged raft upon which lacasse lifted his unconscious wife and clung to it himself some of the boats lacasse says capsized and all on board were drowned the struggles and the terrible screams of the drowning made the situation an awe inspiring one never to be forgotten one man on la bourgogne when the ship sank went out of his mind and jumped to a watery grave on the morning of the collision captain henderson was on the poop with his third mate A C stewart sailor haley was on the lookout and first officer was also on the forecastle deck the was going about 5 knots an hour with several sails set and taking in all the time not a sound was heard until lookout haley saw a large steamer halt a ships length ahead on the port bow in an instant the jib boom struck the Bourgo gnes bridge and the sailing vessel crashed into the liner a big hole near the engine room la bourgogne scraped the whole length of the port side and then she veered off la bourgogne blew whistles for assistance third mate stewart of the Cromarty shire says that the frenchman evidently thought that the bourgogne had sunk the colliding vessel the boats were sent out and nearly persons were saved at the time of the collision third mate stewart says la bourgogne was going at about the rate of 18 to 19 knots an hour through a dense fog shutting out more than 20 yards away the passengers and crew saved number persons in all of this number were passengers and the other thirty were members of the crew of the french steamer |
