Connecticut western news., 1875-05-21
THE STORY OF THE SCHILLER.
The ul-fated Steamer Strikes the Rocks in n Fog, and Over Three Hundred Idves

Fog, and Over Three Hundred Idves
 Lost. ssBB sE#s Ek6sE
 The following particulars of the terri ble disaster to the ill-fated steamer Schiller havesbeen received "A heavy flag prevented observations on board the steamer since Tuesday. In consequence of the fog the engines were put at half speed, and sail was reduced at nine o'clock Friday night. At ten o'clock the same night the ship struck the ledge. A great panic, of course. prevailed, and men and women were wild with fear and excitement.
 Captain Thomas is highly praised for his conduct during the terrible scenes which followed. Two boats were filed with men who refused to come out. The captain fired his revolver over their heads to drive them out, and then fired at them, but without effect. sAfterward the ship was washed with her -broadside to the sea, and all on board these boats perished. The stern tackle was released too soon, leaving the boat suspended by the bows. Three boats then got@saway. One of. them, a lifeboat, was so badly in- iured that she sunk, and eleven of the people on board of her were rescued by the other boats. The fog lifted an hour afterthe steamer struck, and the lights were plainly visi= ble. Two of the boats on the steamer were crushed by the falling of the fun nel. Rockets and guns were fired from the steamer until the powder became wet. The deck house, crowded with people, was swept away at two P. M. The captain gathered some of the sur vivors on the bridge. All were gradually swept away by the flood tide, which took 1 the doctor and captain last. The rigging which remained above water was crowded with passengers and crew all night The mainmast fell at half past seven A. M., and being of iron sunk with all who had taken refuge on it,. The 'foremast gave way soon afterward.
 Lifeboats and wrecked stuff saved the lives of some who drifted miles away. One man was rescued after being in the water ten hours. Two boats from St. Agnes arrived short time before the masts fell. They were unable to ap- proach the steamer on account of the shoals, but picked up stragglers in the water.
 1 The passengers say Captain Thomas left the. bridge at three A. M.,. to assist those on the deck, and when he reached them the deck was swept away by a heavy sea. All concur in saying that he exercised the greatest care and was not abed for five nights previous to the dis aster. .Sspss.
 The sea began to break over the vessel half an hour after she struck, and the tide rose twenty five feet before day break. Only one woman was saved. The survivors who were landed at Trescow escaped in the Schiller's own boats.
 Mr. Dorrien5 Smith, of the Softly Is lands, writes to the London 7Toaes, thai many additional lives were lost because the guns and rockets fired from the Schil- Ter were thought to be merely ordinary l signals of arrival, which have frequently been the cause Of false alarms. Fifty corpses from the Schiller have come ashore or been landed at St. Mary's alone. The dead are much mutilated. The number of lives lost, including pas, sengers and crew, was over three hun. dred. They were from almost every State in the Union, and many of them were Germans who, having acquired for tunes in the United States, were visiting their native land for the first time.