The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-11-30 00:00:00

TERRIBLE COLLISION OFF
FOLKESTONE.

Shortly after midnight on Monday the Pommerania, a
vessel of 3,382 tons, belenging to the Hamburg- American
line of steamers, while on her voyage from New York
to Hamburg sank off Folkestone after being in colli-
sion with the Moel Eilian, an iron barque of 1,100 tons,
of earaarvon. There were 109 passengers and 111
crew on board the Pommerania at the time, and of
these 58 were missing. The reraaining 162 were saved
in the ship's boats and picked up by the English
steamer Glengarry and landed at Dover on Tuesday
morning, the Moel Eilian being herself too much
damaged to lender any assistance. Other steamers
are said to have passed near the scene of the collision,
and it was hoped that a few more lives may have been
saved by their means. Amongst those who it was
thought had perished was the captain of the Pomme-
rania, who, although there was plenty of time for him
to enter one of the boats, refused to do so, and re-
mained standing on the bridge till the vessel sank;
but a Lloyd's telegram from Maasluis states that he
arrived there in the City of Amsterdam on Tuesday
'night, having been picked up by that vessel.

Writing from Dover on Tuesday night, the Correspondent
of the Daily News gives particulars respecting the disaster.
We make the following extracts from his letter :
The evening closed in with a slight fog, but all on board
are described as being in the highest spirits, and but a short
time before the collision dancing and music were indulged in
in the saloon. The slumbers of those who had retired to
rest and the mirth of those who had not retired were, how-
ever cut short by a rude shock which told its own tale with
unmistakeable emphasis. There was but very little wind,
and the sea was comparatively smooth, and the Pommerania
was at full speed, going at the rate of from twelve to four-
teen knots an hour.

"AS may be imagined, the scene on board the Pommerania
was in a few minutAs one of the wildest confusion. Those of
the crew who were on duty on deck state that the crash was
tremendous. In the thick haze, partly composed of fog and
partly of drizzling rain, they saw a huge barque bear down
on them and cut into them amidships, abreast the engine.
room. The rapidity with which the ill-fated steamer was
going dragged the colliding vessel through the water, and
as she passed astern the rent was widened, the iron
plates of the Tonal:Dennis emitting a sound dreadful to
hear. Through the wide chasm thus made the water
poured with ominous rapidity, putting out the en-
gine fires and plainly showing the Pominerania, must
sink, and that speedily. The barque, which turned
out to be the Moel Elnan, of Carnarvon, was quickly
lost in the gloom, and as she soon afterwards sent
up signals of distress, those on board the Pommerania
knew that no succour could possibly come from that quarter.
By the time that this was realised the passengers and crew
below had come on deck all dishevelled and in the utmost
panic, though under such perilous circumstances the pas-
sengers behaved better than might have been expected. The
captain's orders were most emphatic. To save the ship was
impossible. The water-tight compartments were reported
to have filled, and the ship was rapidly sinking; and he
therefore ordered the crew to cut away the boats and use
every endeavour to save the lives ot those on board. The
ship carried eight lifeboats, capable of carrying about
240 souls in a moderate sea These were swung on
davits, and, as is unfortunately too often the care, there was
some diffigulty in lowering them, and the davits had to be
cut away. Five were successfully launched, two were stove
in, and one sunk through overcrowding. The majority of
those who were lost must have been drowned in consequence
of the boat sinking, for very few appear to have gone down
In the ship, which floated for a considerable time after she
was struck It is variously reported that she floated for
a quarter to half an hour. The last boat stayed by the
steamer and received the last " Good-bye 1" from Captain
Schwensen, who when last seen was standing on the quarter-
deck with his great coat on. From first to last it appears he
made no attempt to save himself, and paid no heed to the
invitation of those in the boats to leave the ship. The last
boat which stayed by the ship had forty souls on board all
told, and in her crowded condition it was not thought
prudent to pull about in an attempt to save more life When
the morning dawned, all that remained visible of the Porn-
merania was her topmasts and fore and mainyards. She lies
about twelve miles south-west of the South Foreland.

The five boats which got away in safety from the Pom-
merania had on board 172 passengers. After drifting
about for about half an hour, they were picked up by the
English steamer Wengarry, which hove to until daylight,
when, finding that no persons were floating about on
wreckage or clinging to the visible spars of the Pommerania,
she transferred the shipwrecked passengers and crew to
the harbour tug Granville, which brought them to Dover
about nine o'clock on Tuesday morning. A temporary
refuge was found at the Sailors' Home in Blen-
heim-square, where they were treated with all possible
consideration, and notwithstanding the severe strain put
upon the resources of the establishment, clothes and provi-
sions were provided, some of the townspeople sending in
spare clothes to supply deficiencies, and to afford a change
where imperatively necessary. At noon, 109 of the passengers
were sent to London by the London, Chatham, and Dover
Railway, the Consnj-General in London having been pre-
viously telegraphed to by Captain Schlott, who received this
large contingent of the saved. During the day others left
for London, but between forty and fifty still remain at the
Sailors' Home.

The following are extracts from the letter of the Corre-
spondent of The Times, who writes from Dover on Tuesday
night :
"After the collision the muter superintended the lower-
ing of the boats, one by one. There was much commotion
on board, but affairs were managed with so much discretion
and order that several of the passengers asleep have stated
that they were roused by the stewards, who came down for
the purpose. The Pommerania had eight boats, which were
all on davits. The first boat to reach the water was
capsized in consequence of one end touching it before
the other. There were ten people in this boat.
Four of them got back again, but the other six
were drowned. Two of the boats on the starboard side
were crashed by the collision. The people who were saved
were saved in the other five beats. A man who was saved
in one of the boats informed me that they would have gone
back and saved twenty more people but they had no plug
In the boat, and it was also deficient in rowlocks. The
people ran from boat to boat, and each boat pushed off
quickly for fear It should be filled too fall and swamped.
The first mate's boat kept near the ship, about ten yards
off, till shortly before the ship sank, and the mate called
to the captain and offered to return, but the captain
refused. The ship took twenty minutes to sink, a tri-
bute to the strength of her compartments. The water
had covered the cylinders when the fifth boat left. All
this while the ship's rockets and lights had been burning,
and they were fortunately observed by the Glengarry, under
Captain Hogg. Sir is an iron screw steamer, with four
bulkheads, belonging to Gillan and Co., of Middlesborough,
classed Al at Lloyd's. What is certain is that on seeing the
signals of distress she bore in amonethe boats, and took the
shivering, miserable people off them, who had run up with-
out their clothes. The log is lost, so is the list of passengers.
Nothing has been heard of the German mails. All efforts
seem to have been directed to saving life. The Glengarry
transferred her desolate freight to the tug Granville.
About 830 this morning, the Rev. Benjamin Pearce.
secretary of the Sailors' Home, and Mr. Hatch,
of the Sailors' Home, were informed that the tug,
loaded with shipwrecked people, was lying off the Ad-
miralty Pier, and by nine o'clock the whole 172 had been
landed. They were conveyed to the Sailors' Home, an ad-
mirably managed institution, and supplied with hot coffee,
meat, and Dread and butter. Fires were lighted and extra
beds made up. The neighbours sent in vast supplies of
clothing, and to-night the kitchen of the institution is strewed
with surplus clothing. This will be used for the next
calamity of the kind. The resources of the institution have
been sorely tried by the emergency, and will much need aid.
Dr. Colbeck, hon. surgeon to the Home, and Mr. Tomlins at
once administered medical assistance to those who required it.
Two men had been scalded by steam. One had his leg
hurt, badly; he is believed to have been struck at the
moment of the collision. Another one was hurt in the
shoulder in getting into a boat. A lame man is among the
saved. His crutch was lost. Another man was hurt in the
body. The boats in which the people were saved were cut
adrift from the Glengarrio, and two of them were found
later in the day by the ulogne or Calais boat. At the
Royal Hotel there is a little girt of four years old, said to
be Martha Miller, daughter of a sea captain. She says that
her mother is in the ship, and that her sister Dora and her
brother Mlle are there. She also says that her father is at
Buenos Ayres. There are two orphans belonging to two
different families at the Rev. E. S. Wood's, incumbent of
Miss Newmann, one of the saved, is
Sister at the Sailors' Home.
litorki.eynoTagtyaenoC,
fhphotographer, of Snargate-house, has been of
the greatest use as interpreter.
"Miss Kissseman, a German governess, who was on her
way home from New York to Hamburg to see her friends,
has made a statement to me. Fhe says that she was in her
berth, and the Steward came down and called the passengers.
They took up their clothes and ran upstairs the best way they
could. She went to a boat. She could not get into a boat
till she came to the last. This boat was commanded by the
first officer, Mr. Franzer. They stayed by the ship and saw her
sink. The first officer had been on the bridge. The captain was
on the deck, at the place from which this boat was launched.
There were 15 or 20 in this boat. They could have taken
more, but they had to leave quickly because of the ship
going down so fast. The vessel was nearly even with the
water when they left. She saw ladies, gentlemen, and chil-
dren still on the vessel. The captain helped to get each
boat out. The boat in which she left was on the starboard
quarter.

"Mr. Schmidt, a passenger, who was in the boat which
was capsized, and who was afterwards saved in another boat,
says that he climbed up the rope on the boat capsizing.
There were ten in the boat. It was on the port side forward
Four were saved. He then ent over to the corresponding
boat on the other side, and there were 16 in this. On going
into the capsized boat he looked down at the machinery, and
the water had risen over the cylinders. In the second boat
there was no ping. They could have gone back to save more
if there had been any more. It was very cold. There was
only a little fog. They could see the Glengarry's lights a
long way off. After the boat had capsized he saw five or
six rockets from the Pommerauia. They were yellow in
colour.

"Among the losses in the ship is that of a large scientific
collection formed by a gentleman who has been travelling
sixteen years in America. He has lost three children. Two
earns ot money, one of 5,000 dols. and another of 25,000 dole.
in specie, belonging to different passengers, are lost. Mr.
Itaffell, with his wife and two children, are among the
saved. The captain had told the passengers that they were
within thirty or forty hours of their destination, and they
had made merry over it."

One of the survivors, Louis Laumann, made a statement in
which he says:—

"1 am a native of Baden, but reside at Akron, Ohio, I
left New York in the Pommerania. We had a capital run.
We got to Plymouth about three o'clock in the morning of
the 25th and landed our passengers, and we also took some
on board for Hamburg. We then ran for Cherbourg and
landed passengers. They were nearly all cabin, and those
left were mostly 'tween decks. Our crew consisted of 111,
and we had 109 passengers left on board. We have here (at
the Sailors' Home) 172. I was in bed on Monday night, about a
quarter to twelve, when I felt a sudden bump is it the Porn-
marania had struck upon s rock. I was alarmed, but did
not think at first that it was anything very serious, as
we had kept a good look-out and the cotain appeared
very careful. It was his 125th voyage, and he told us
he celebrated his 125th when he was last at Hamburg.
A few seconds after the collision the steward and some of
the crew came running to us and said a sailing barque had
run into us and we were all to go on deck. I went on
deck directly, and I saw our ship's lights, but the fog was
so great that I could see nothing else. The crew were then
all busy lowering the boats, of which we had eight. The
ship was then beginning to sink. In lowering the boats
there was great confusion everybody trying to crowd into
them. One boat filled and sank immediately it got into the
water, while two others were smashed by the collision. The
boats were fastened up tight and we could not get them undone.
The Pommerania was sinking rapidly. There were a number of
women among the passengers. I don't know how many, but
sighthave been saved and a baby. I think its mother has been
drowned. Our captain had some fireworks on board, and
there
eto
aboutge t intteon theminbuoteates
when
rheemlneitn
et them manodff
w.
e
a steamer, the Glengarry, a screw boat, from Middles-
brough, bound for Leith, saw the signals and picked us
up. She cruised about for a long time, and our captain
hWaed mbeaennagthe
had a chance to save his life, but he would stick to his
ship. He had as good a chance as any of us who were
saved. I saw him when our little boat got away from the
steamer. He was standing on the bridge giving commands
and trying to obtain order and save as many as he could.
In twenty minutes after the collision the Pommerania
went straight down. She did not heel over, but went down
as gradually as possible. The vessel which ran us down I
never saw at all. They told me she was a sailing barque,
and that with the north-east wind she came bowling along
and ran right into ne, but I cannot understand it at all. I
thought until we had landed that we had run upon a
rock, as the Schiller did. The Glengarry cruised about till
hall-past six. It was then very thick, and she turned and
ran round the Pommerania, for we wanted a last look at
her, and to see it any were in the water. We only saw her
two mute. The smoke stack was out of sight. All of
them say another steamer Caine kliringaide, but they do net
know what became otit. Wittitar it Was so or not I can.