Show at point sur light house four lives lost in the disaster terrible u of passengers and crew of the los angeles near monterey cal monterey cal april 22 the pacific steamship steamer los angeles bound north from newport cal and way ports to san francisco ran on the rocks at point sur light bouse thirty miles booth of monterey between 9 and 10 last nigh the steamer sank within a few minutes and the pass and crew took to the boate As far as known no live were lost three boat loads reached tho shoie at point and the first news of the disaster was brought here by a messenger today two other boat loads and a raft cobain ing the other passengers and members of the crew were met by the steamer eureka this evening and brought to monterey from those who arrived on the eureka it was learned that the los angeles reached point sur light aliouse about 9 p m the captain who had retired had given orders to his third mate to call him when a certain number of revolutions had been noted the mate failed to do so and tho steamer went upon alie rocks at and in ten minutes sank the captain instantly ordered out the tour boats and a raft of awo floats containing about fifty men in reaching the shore two others and a raft kept out to sea chief engineer wallace in charge of one nf the boats saw the teamer eureka and succeeded in getting within heiling distance the steamer lay to and abent out boats to bearch for the other pary they soen found the raft with seven persons aboard whom they rescued and this morning about 7 picked up another boat containing fourteen more they then sent alie boats to those on shore and offered to take them the steamer bat owing to the roughness of the surface they failed to do so four dead bodies have been recovered and captain II 11 D lefand of the 2 angeles is reported in a critical condition by his brother captain jas 11 of the eureka tho ladies and children were saved mhd brought hare on the eureka tho steamer los angeles was a very old vessel leaving been ased by the cefic coast steamship company for twenty years before that ahe was a united states revenue cutter and was called the Wyan li she became useless to the and goodale perkins co the agents of the pacific coast steamship company purchased aher and put her into the service as a freight and passenger boat between ban francisco and southern way ports she was a small ethamer of not quite and for some time has not been grated as first class the etaamer was duo in san francisco today her passengers and crew numbered about seventy owing to the almost guint at which she was wrecked the names of lost had not been loaned loan ed up 10 this even aug the rocks at point sur which cluster of ugly spurs about a mile out from the shore have long been a menace to navigation on the southern route in 1885 the ventura a handsome steamer in the service of tho pacific coast steamship company waa lost on these rocks the steamer eureka which rescued the survivors this morning also struck alie rock several years ago shat her stern and barely escaping de the etaamer los angeles also etrick tho rocks once before though she escaped without serious in djury the location of the rocks is peculiarly culi arly dangerous in that it ia very the point where the steamers ete amers from the south change their course in entering monterey bay from one of the crew of the wrecked etaamer et eamer the details of the disaster have been learned his ie a tale of suffering and of deatle when the los angeles struck upon the treacherous rocke the were nearly all in their bertlie the first awful crush was followed by scenes of the wildest confusion we are lost waa the cry that escaped from abo captains lips frightened men and screaming women and children swarmed the decks nearly all were in their night clothes the officers and crew were the first 0 o recover their senses and then preparations were made to abandon the rapidly sinking steamer simultaneously with the giving of orders to lower the life boats and tho execution of these orders by tho rew blankets were brought and wrapped about the ebl vering women and children and life preservers strapped upon them then they were lifted aboard the boats when all the boate and the life raft had been loaded to their capacity ten men detill remained on the decks of tho doomed craft three of these did not live to see daylight those of the crew who remained bo hind sought first to eave their personal effects but so rapidly did the vessel down into the aea that only lew minutes elapsed before the second mate called out the warning all hands to the and every man for himself hime elf the vessels stern was all under water and abe water was rushing in forward captain lefand took to the rigging with the men they pulled themselves as far ag they could one beaman rested a while on the foro boom tho water then was up to his caiet and ho was forced to keep on climbing though two others were perched on the foremast neove him all were exhausted that they could barely maintain their perilous position and keep above the waves it was anie alie men were thus imperiled that three ol 01 their number were drowned one of them was fireman Kolan another was S 8 sheridan an aged citizen of bentura en tura and the other was a passenger not known to the seamen the second mate also lost his hold and was from drowning only through his ability to swim A rope waa lowered by a bailor who waa perched on abo top main mast the survivors say that they can never forget the sight of the helpless men who drowned before their eyes and almost within reach during all this time the boats bearing away the more fortunate passengers were within the seven men remaining on the sinking vessel who believed that every moment would be their last yelled frantically for some of the boats to return and anally one of the boats did stop head about and camo towards them to add to the despair of the men in the rigging the first sounds that reached their ear from the life boat were the words of the steamers porter harry hall who cried to the men at the oars dont mind them let them go and save us the life boat put about again headed toward the shore and left the soven men still in the rigging providence intervened however and the vesel spiked fast upon the rocks settled no further into the the men on the spars remained in their places until cne of the boats returned from the shore to rescue them they were eventually landed with others of the survivors on the rocks at the foot of point sur light house one of the passengers a youth who bad clung with tho sailors to the masts and was rescued with them died in the arms of a sailor soon after carried ashore the poor boy who biad been in the cold water and without clothing in the raw night air died exposure the survivor who reached the light bouse in the life boat arrived hero tonight in wagons and joined the passengers alio escaped to in two life boats and on one raft and who were rescued this morning by the steamer eureka |