Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1880-09-15

Stories of Two Survivors of the Recent
Terrible Disaster Off the Coast of
Florida-The Foundered
Steamer City of
Vera Cruz.
ST.. AUGUSTINE, Fla, Sept. 5.--lt
now seems probable that the Vera
Cruz must have gone down between
Port Orange, which is at the mouth
of Mosquito Inlet, and Cape Canaveral,
distant from ST. Augustine about ll5
miles The cyclone which caught her
came from about northeasterly di-
rection, and swept across the Florida
Straits and the State of Florida with
a fury never before known even in this
latitude of violent storms. The morn
ing Of Saturday, August 2Sth, broke
with signs OF severe approaching dis
turbance. At noon the mercury in
the barometer was falling rapidly, and
that evening the cyclone was upon the
coast All that night the tempest
howled frightfully and rolled up i'm
monse breakers which pounded the
shore with deafcning roar At day
light on Sunday morning the gale had
not spent its fury, and tremendous seas
were sweeping over the reefs and far
inland. The cyclone left in its track
across the country uprOoted trees, dis
mantled dwellings and destroyed crops
The Vera Cruz was about thirty miles
off shore when the cyclone burst upon
her Saturday evening. The heavy
seas which she shipped made their
way into the engine-room. The fires
were cxtinguished. 1t became i'm
possible to keep ner under control, and
preparations were made to abandon
her. Several oftbe boats were launched,
filled with passengers and members of
the crew, and were dashed to pieces
before they reached the water. While
the remaining passengers and crew
clung to the ship, paralyzed with fear,
the vessel suddenly broke in two and
went down, carry them with her.
How the seven men escaped to tell the
story is almost miracle.
A THRILLING NARRATIVE.
The account given by Mason Talbot
one OF the seven, and a seaman, is in.
tensely interesting awe were," he
said, "about thirty miles from the coast
when the great seas began to pile over
the ship and fill the hold. We were
put to work at the pumps, but as fast
as we made little headway another
sea caught u.s. and the water gradually
gained so fast that pumping became
useless. The water poured INTO the
engine room, and, work as hard as they
could, the fremen could not keep up
the fires. These burned so low that il
was impossible to keep up steam, and
then the danger really began. The
vessels head could not be kept TO the
wind, and finally heavy drag was
rugged forward and thrown over the
side. This helped matters little, and
although We were tossing like an egg
shell, now on top of a mountain wave
the next instant down in the trough
Of the sea, with the mountain breaking
over us, we had hopes of weatherinl
the gale. The passengers and many
of the crew seemed TO be panic strick
en-, and, having provided themselves
with life e-preservers, were only waiting
for the first favorable moment t
abandon the vessel The lie.boati
were cut loose and swung out upor
their davits ready for instant service
Life-preservers were distributed t
such as were unprovided, and every
body prayed for the morning light
When day broke the condition OF affair
was no better. 1t brought moro cool
ness however, to the officers and crew
IL was determined to abandon the
ship, as the water had gained so rapidly
in the hold during the night that it wa
evident she could not long remair
a1oat. One of these boats was swuny
over the side and manned with crew
Then the passengers tumbled into hel
as best they could. When she wa
filled the signal to let go was given
The boat went down with run, bu
before she had gono ten feet theside Q
the ship coming up with roll strucl
it, and those who were not crushed I
death outright were dropped, hal
stunned, into tho sea, whore they wer
drowned before our eyes.
APIrIFUL SIGHT.
at was a pitiful sight to see then
struggling almost within our grasT
and then disappear one after anothe
beneath the waters. Another boa
was got ready, and was let off in th
same manner. It, too was ground I
splinters against the ships side, an
its occupants met with the same fat
as those in the first boat. Meantim
the seamer was found to be slowl
settling Every sea shook her fror
end to.end, and if she had not been o
stiff and strong as she was, she mus
have been wrenched to pieces durin
the night. Those who now RENAME
aboard were 80 completely unnerye
by the horrible sight which they ha
seen, and the shrieks Of the drowning
that they refused to enter the boats. Tn
Captain and some OF the officers wer
in one Of tho boats. IL was about 5;3
o'clock when they went over the sd'
Such a scene never witnessed as tha
new presented. Men and women wer
in the cabin praying and shriekin
and screaming. All OF sudden ther
was swapping sound as of man
timbers giving way, and shock tha
was felt all over the vessel. She ha
; broken completely in two. She CAV
one or two plunges, the water rushe
! in through the wide open seams an
cracks, and the next minute the Yer
Cruz went down, carrying all on boar
SINKS WITH ALL ON BOARD.
al was clinglng to the deck and WI
sucked down with the vessel. / cam
, TO tho surface, breathless and chokin
, with salt water | had swallowed
Then ono person and another came I
r the top, grasping wildly for somethin
TO support them. The water WI
dotted with heads and filled wit