Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1879-11-13
OCEAN CASUALTIES.
Forty.ttYe Lives Lost.

uay uOInlug OIL bhe Chpes' 4uLIbf HFee WeLo
lost
The collision took place thirty-ive miles
eastward of Capes May and Henlopen, just
about daylight, at which time considerable
fog lay on the ocean off the shore. The ship
Lady Octavia was much damaged and could
not proceed further on the voyage. Accord
inglY a signal of distress was hoisted and a
flag shown for tug. In response one Of the
large Delaware Bay tug boats came to her and
gave her a tow. She is now on her way up the
Delaware River bound to Philadelphia. The
breakwater is full of shipping, and masters
of vessels are at anchor here, and the
residents of Pilottown are Hooking TO
LeWes for news. The Champion was one
of the first iron steamships launched in this
country, having been built In 1859 at Will
mington, Delaware, for the late Commodore
Vanderbilt. She had frequently been over
hauled and repaired, and was considered in
excellent condition. The steamer was rated
at one and half. Her original tonnage was
1,452, but of late was 1,418. She had three
decks and two mssts; was built in four com
partments, and was brigantine rugged. Her
| length was two hundred and thirtY-fOur feet,
breadth Of beam thirty-One feet, and depth of
! hold twenty-five feet. She was equipped with
beam engine. The Champion originally ran
to Panama. She was sold by Commodore
! Vanderbilt to the Pacific Mail Steamship Com
pany, from which she was purchased about
| twelve years ago for the Charleston Line.
Her last voyage was the two hundred and
sixty-sixth that she had made while in the
service of the latter company. The Vesselhad
never met with any mishap before, and was
considered a remarkably lucky ship.
Capt James johnson, OF Greenock, master
of the Lady Octavia, makes the following
statement: Ny ship arrived at Delaware
breakwater from Rio Janeiro for orders the
23d of October, andsailed for New York about
ten o'clock on Thursday night last About a
quarter past two yesterday morning, when we
had sailed about thirty miles, a collision oc-
cured. The night was clear and warm, and
the moon was shining brightly. We we're
moving at the rate of three and half or four
knots per hour. My chief mate reported
steamer ahead ten minutes before the acci-
dent happened. The steamer continued on
her course and on mine, and we approached
each other; but Immediately before the
crash the man on the lookout of my
vessel reported the steamers starboard light
from our port bow, and then she shifted and
her port light became visible, showing that
she had turned on her course. We had man
on the lookout constantly, but there could
have been no lookout on the Champion. Her
Captain, LOCKWOOD subsequently told me he
had altered his course a moment before the
collision, but assigned no reason for doingsO
and that he did not see my ship, which indi-
Gates that my idea in regard to the lookout
was correct. Indeed was informed that the
man who should have been on the lookout
was aloft loosening sail.
The ship sank in four minutes after the
co llision and there was terrible panic. nat
once ordered the boats lowered, and in fact
they were in the water before the steamer
went down. Two of her crew jumped on
board my ship at the time she struck.
In all thirty persons were lost, among them
the first mate and five women. Twelve of
the missing were passengers.
mean to say that the steamer came at us
end up, and there was no possible means Of
avoiding her. 1t was impossible to tell the
extent Of her injuries, and she went down SO
quickly and there was much confusion. Four
of the passengers and two of the crew were
sent to New York in the bark that came
alongside, but l did not get their names or
the names of the vessel they are on.
Captain Lockwood, in answer to interroga-
tiVes, gave the following account Of the dis
aster:
ave had remarkably quiet voyage up to
the time of the accident When we left New
York the weather was foggy, but this cleared
away before we were ten hours out. On the
morning Of the collision left my room five
minutes past three and returned to the pilot !
house for few seconds. l had hardly got
back to my room again when heard some
one sing out Sail ahead and hard by!' |
jumped into the pilOthouse, rang the bell to |
stop the steamer, and then to back at full |
speed. | saw that the ship was coming
down upon us and that a collision was in
evitable. She was east northeast and we
were going south southwest, half south. The
ship had full sail on and headed right at u.s.
We We're going under steam and had just set
the fore topsail. She struck us right on the |
bows of the cathead on the starboard side, |
and crushed right into us, staVing In our whole |
bows. | was afraid that my vessel would sink |
in almost an instant, and at once ordered the
FIRST mate to go forward and see what water,
If any, the Champion was making; but before |
he had time to return found that my ship |
was fast sinking. then ordered the second |
mate to get the boats in readiness that is, to
cut them loose from my ship, as 1t was fast
going down. | also ordered him to have the
life raft cut adrift, 80 that 1t might be rem
dered useful In case the steamer went down, as
/ was afraid she would give us no warning. The
next work was to warn the lady passengers Of
theirgr6at danger. Irushed into the cabin and
cried aloud Ladies, the ship going down;
you have not moment to spare; never mind
your clothing, come out at once.' | believe
there were but three ladies there, but Of this
/ am not sure; none of them came out, and
the only response received was loud scream
ing and hallooing. They could have come
out very easily If they wished, but suppose
they became panic-stricken. My duties called
me away and | was still In hopes that the
women had obeyed my summons, but unfortu-
nately found out afterWard they had not.
believe they were alllost. There has been but
one female saved, and that is the stewardess,
Catherine Cross. When the ship went down
was standing by the main rigging andnearme
stood anumber of the crew. / said; Boys, save
yourselves and don't mind me- Each Of
them then took a life preserver and expressed
their determination to stand by me. After a
few seconds l said: Throw the life raft over
board. will come afterwards Jump for
your lives. This was speedily done, and they
left me. l was the last to leave the vessel,
and went down with her. l soon came to the
surface again. This may seem strange, but
II Is nevertheless q fact. / kept near the sur
face Of the water, and so | suppose did not
experience the suction Of the vessel while she
was going down. When l came to the top of
the water / found myself close to the life raft
on which was pulled BY those already there,
"I have been commander of the Champion
for the past thirteen years. Mr.. Leonard,
first officer, was in charge when the collision
took place. He ran forward the moment the
crash occurred, and that was the last / saw of
him. He was a tried and experienced sea-
man, and had sailed with me for over four
teen years. He was a man about fOrtY-eight
years old, resident Of Brooklyn, and he
leaves a wife and two children. My room,
where went just before the collision, ad-
Joined the pilot house. In fact you could
almost step from one to the other. The