Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1880-06-25
A NARROW ESCAPE,

partments and the smoothness of the sea
they would have sunk with nearly 400
passengers. The Anchoria seemed the
most injured, and her $50 passengers
were transferred to the Queen. Thieves
sells then headed for New York.
The Queens starboard bow struck the
Anchoria about midway between the
bridge and foremast, cutting through to
the first dead light on the upper deck, a
distance of nearly eight feet. The hull
was broken in below the water line, and
into this gap the water rushed with
frightful rapidity. 1--WE are sinking"
was the'cry that rang out from the An
choria, and the 300 passengers were wild
with terror. On board the Queen it was
believed that the Anchoria could not
float long, and boats were quickly low
cred. Fortunately, the sea was smooth,
and the disciplined crew were ready for
the dreaded emergency. 1t took but a
short time to transfer the passengers to
the deck of the Queen, and had the An
choria gone down in five minutes after
the collision, not a person would have
been lost. The Queen has rent in her
port bow, through which, as one of the
sailors expressed it, "a horse and cart can
be driven" 1t reaches below the water
line. To the bulkhead in both of the
ships their safety is due. But for these
safeguards they, with their living freight,
would have been at the bottom of the
sea in less than fifteen minutes after the
accident occurred.
An Anchoria passenger said of the ac-
cident: ''The collision occurred about
half past one o'clock in the afternoon,
and the majority of the passengers on the
Anchoria were down stairs at their
lunch. The vessel was going ahead at a
slow rate OF speed, with her whistles
sounding almost constantly. The first
notice most of the passengers had of any
danger was when they felt the shock of
the collision. Our vessel was struck on
the starboard side, just forward of the
captains bridge, which was torn away
by the force of the collision and fell in a
wreck on the deck. A hole about eight
OF ten feet wide was torn in the side of
the Anchoria to point below the water
line. The water began to rush into the
opening and a terrible scene of confusion
ensued. The passengers who were below
in the dining-room ran upstairs with
life-preservers on, and an immediate rush
was made for the boats. In the hurry
and confusion one sailor fell down the
forward hatch and lady fell overheard.
The sailor was not hurt and the lady was
picked up by one of the boats of the
Queen"
The account given by another passen-
ger was: "a very dense fog hung over
us, and the Queen sounded her fog
whistle every half minute. The passen-
gers chatted and did not seem as a rule to
apprehend danger. Suddenly, the fog
whistle from another steamer was heard,
and the vessels blew whistles answering
each other three times before she struck.
We thought that the ship was the Spain,
the sister ship of the Queen, and felt the
danger, for the whistle from the invisible
ship out in the fog sounded as if the ship
were very near us and coming nearer and
nearer. AS soon as the first whistle from
the approaching ship was heard, our ship
was turned to the starboard. Suddenly
the Anchoria, sailing under full head Of
speed with sails set, hove in sight, and
our courses lay across each other, for she
was going toward New York as well as
the Queen. The Queens engines were
reversed as soon as the approaching ship
was seen, but it was too late. Our bow
plunged into the ships starboard fore.
quarter, cutting into the side of the yes.
sci, crushing a large hole in her, and
tearing away the captains bridge. The
ship was seen to be the Anchoria. The
Anchorias stem swung around, and the
ships were side by side for an instant
then the headway of the Queen carried
her scraping along the side of the An
choria and the davits of the latter's life.
boats smashed one of our life-boats
Then the Anchoria drifed back into the
fog and out of sight. There was great
excitement on board of the Queen for 8
little while, but it was allayed by the
ships officers, and the passengers soor
had their wits again. A few women rar
about the decks as if they were crazy
and began to pray, Many rushed tC
their state-rooms to save what they
could, and l thought that there woult
be great panic, and that we were al
going to the bottom. But the officers
stopped the excitement with repeated
assurances. 1t was soon ascertained thai
our bow was stove in and that gooC
deal of water had poured in, but mel
were at work propping up the bulk-heaC
and the officers said that we were all saf
{ as the water could not go into the shil
, any farther than the forward compart
, ment. In what seemed to me remark
ably short space of time, after the COLI
sion the crew of the Queen lowered ava,
/ the life-boats and rowed to the stern an,
l off into the fog where the Anchoria ha,
t drifted. In an hour all the passengers G
t the Anchoria had been taken on boar
{ the Queen, and they acted very COOL
e under the circumstances. The steerag
S passengers were most excited and wer