The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1880-09-09

New York, September A st. Augustine, Flor
Ida dispatch says: The painful surmise regard.
ing the fate Of the steamer Vera Cruz has been
full confirmed, for a few survivors have happily
escaped death and are now safely on shore.
The Ill fated steamer foUndered at halfpsst FIVE
o'clock Sunday morning in the midst OF hurri.
cane, having labored painfully for some hours In
g. heavy sea. OF seventy persons who were on
board when the steamer left New York, only ten
are known to have been saved, so that sixty souls
perished
The hurricane that oCcasioned the disaster pre-.
cluded assistance or succOr from other vessels On
Saturday afternoon the steamer encountered q
strong gale which soon increased in fury. The
sea ran very high and the City Of Vera Cruz labor.
ed heavily but sturdily, for some time and every
effort was made to keep her before the wind, but
1t was found necessary at one O'clock Sunday
morning to throw out drag to keep her head
about. This secured the desired effect for the
time being, for the gale had now grown to bur.
ricane and immense waves began breaking over
the steamer. Each succeeding wave fore away a
piece Of her upper works, until her deck was
finally swept clear, even the rigging being torn
tions and, as the sea rose over her bows and de.
luged her decks they soon reached the furnaces
and extinguished the fires, the matches being torn
from their fastenings by the pillows The fire,
being out, soon put stop to the engines and the
City OF Vera Cruz lay at the mercy Of the waves.
Not even donkey pump could be worked TO re.
leve the vessel Of the water she was rapidly max.
ing in her hold,
In this extremity Captain Van Slice ordered his
men to throw overheard the deck load. The task
had been begun about midnight, but the sea was
too heavy to permit the crew carrying out the
Captains orders, for while thus engaged several
Of the men were carried off their feet by incoming
seas, and many Of them washed overheard. Cap
tain Van Slice and his officers acted courageOusly
in the performance OF their several duties, but
were one by one washed overheard from their sts .
tions, as the steamer labored In the trough Of the
sea,
AS near as can ascertain the captain perished
fully an hour before the vessel finally succumbed
and as nearly all hands were lost the few remain.
| ing alive on board saw that there was no hope
So they took thelii preserver the life boats ha
| ing already disappeared The esail0rs and passen
gers then seized fragments, spars, stateroon doors
| or any other mOVeable article that would float
and awaited the awful end that all knew to be al
| hand.
The surviving sailors state that the vessel was
about thirty miles off shore at this time the hur
riCsne being one of terrible fury. BY the time
| the shipwrecked men and women had equipped
themselves with their impromptu buoys the final
| catastrophe occurred, 1t being then about half
past five a. m. With one awful and tremendous
| lurCh the steamer suddenly sank into the ocean
swirl carrying down many Of the living OF
the seventy souls on board before the storm be-
gan.
Only ten have reached land alive. These then
were all men, three Of the passengers, five deck
hands, one engineer and one Oiler. They were all
| in the water butteted by the tempestuous sea
from twenty.iour to twenty.six hours. There is
no doubt but for this ordeal many more would
have been saved for there can be but little doubt
that several perished after The foundering of the
| steamer, through exhaustion.
The bodies OF the victims came on shore thirty
| miles south OF this place. Among them was that
| Of Gen. TOrbert His body was placed In a cask
and buried Wednesday in the grounds of Mr. J.
H. Botherfure near Clayton, settlement opposite
| the Mosquito inlet, The bodies of two of the
| steerage passengers have also been found-atleast
that is their classification by the survivors. The
| bodies of three females were recovered from the
waves along the shore, and four other men, pro.
badly sailors These, like the others have been
| duly buried.
| A telegram to the Board Of Underwriters from
| Jacksonville, announcing the loss Of the steamer
City OF Vera Cruz says, The survivors Of the crew
are there In distress, waiting assistance from the
owners