The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-11-03
A pnAvr OH NAN.


Captain Bogert, seeing the effect the re-
port Of the engineer was likely TO have, in
8tantly turned to carry out his original idea
of sending the old men with. the ladies, and
said, in loud, sharp tones, ''Now, Governor
Wood, 1T is your turn. Make haste y To
which he received the following answer,
which, spoken under the circumstances,
shows that the days of true heroism have not
yet passed away:-''No!" said the brave old
man; nearly all here are young men, to
whom life is of value. 1 am seventy-four
years of age. 1 will wait" If there had been
for moment the slightest feeling of 'every
one for himself, that feeling was instantly
dissipated by the noble, self-sacrificing SEN
timent thus expressed. Captain Bogert,
whom zone of ours heard describe the Incl
dent, said in true, blunt sailor-like fashion,
while tears we're brought to his eyes by recol-
lections of the moment:-''When received
the answer, lump rose in my throat as big
as my fist; couldn't speak for some seconds.
As soon as l could, l took hold of the Cover
nor and said as loud and as harshly as could,
''Sir, command you to get into that boat !"
and in this manner the generous spirit was
almost perforce passed into the boat. The
ship now keeled over considerably more than
she had done previously, and only portion
of the upper side was above water and every
one had to cling to the bulwarks to avoid
DelUB WdSueu ONSTDOdru.
ANOTHER AccIDENT-A CONTRAST.
Before the first boat left, a passenger Of
somewhat diminutive proportions came
struggling and climbing along to where the
captain was assisting the passengers over the
side. His makeup was ludierous enough
to excite a smile, even under the trying cir
cumstances of the moment. He had on no
less than three life-preservers, blown out to
an inordinate size; one was attached to each
leg, and one round his waist. Dressed in this
position, he addressed the Captain thus:-
''Stow nae away in that boat, sir, and burst
ing into tears, he continued: II have a new
wife, sir, and l don't want to be lost. "
His request was not granted, and he
had to await his turn. 1t is needless to dwell
further upon the scene. The greatest dill
gence being used, the whole of those on
board were got away in exactly one hour At
1920 o'clock the ship struck, and at 1l'20
all were safely at anchor in the boats. The
captain was the last man but one to leave the
ship. The chief engineer had stood next to
the captain with a lantern in his hand, SHOW
ing light. When all the others were in the
boat the captain said, 'Now.it is your turn"
to which he replied, mo, sir, L will hold
the light for you" And so it came that the
chief engineer was the last man on board.
NIGHT IN THE BOATS.
The next thing to determine was what was
to be done under the circumstances in which
they found themselves. The fog was still
thick, and it was impossible to tell in which
direction the shore lay In this state of mat
ters the captain wisely determined to lay at
anchor all night. Fortunately, keg con-
tanning ten gallons of water had been saved
so that no one suffered from the thirst which
so often overtakes persons after periods of
excitement. At daylight the fog lifted, and
it was found that they were only three-quar-
ters of mile from shore, and three miles
from San Simeon, for which place they then
steered.
On their way they met whaling boat,
which they hailed, and the captain made an
agreement with the person in command of it
to visit the wreck and endeavor to bring away
the passengers luggage for the sum of $3.50.
Fortunately their exertions were successful,
and nearly all the luggage was saved, only
few trunks being missing. The boats having
arrived at San Simeon, all on board were
landed, heartily thankful for their escape. A
boat was sent out to intercept the steamer
Senator on her way TO this port. This having
been done, she steamed toward San Simeon,
and the crew of the Sierra Nevada were put
on board. The passengers took stage over
land to San Luis Obispo. When the captain
had seen them all off, he went on board the
Senator and came on with his officers and
crew to this port. He and they have lost
everything they had on board. Captain
Bogert had even to borrow clothes enough on
board the Senator to enable him to appear in
the city.