Daily Kennebec journal., 1880-09-06
FoUnDERINe OF THE STEAMER
VERA CRUZ.
Details Of the Terrible Calamity.
ONLY I3 PERSONS SAVED.

New YORK, September 4. The reports of
the loss of steamship City of Vera Cruz are
sadly verified. Thus far only - of 20 people
who left this port on her are accounted for.
Details of the terrible hurricane in which she
went down, leave small hopes of any more
being heard from. Details of the fatal hour
when the ship was given over to the fury of
the storm are not enough to form Judgment
on the calamity, but the fact that only three
of the passengers are accounted for in the list
of thirteen survivors, is significant.
The names of only two survivors are as yet
known, follows: James Kelley. seaman.
New York; Mason Talbot, seaman, England.
Known to be lost: Edward Van Sise. captain:
Frank NJ. Harris, first mate; p. +. Whitney,
| second mate. Passengers: Gen. A I. Tor
bert, Mrs. X. Ames, Mrs. F. Barnes, Miss
Clark. Miss Sadie Fay, Mrs. J. Garcia, Mrs.
f. Hannedz, Mrs. NJ. Welch and child.
A St. Augustine despatch says: The i'll
fated steamer fouEdered at $50, Sunday
morning. in the midst of the hurricane. hav-
ing labored painfully for some hours in
heavy sea. Few of the crew survived the
wreck, and both they and the surviving pas
sengers were much exhausted by their terri
BILE experience.
Saturday afternoon the steamer encoun-
tered strong gale, which increased in fury
till , +. NJ. The steamer was running in
one course in so deg. west, longitude 30 deg.
! 40 min. north. THE sea ran very high and
the Vera Cruz labored heavily but sturdly
for some hours. Every effort was made to
keep her before the wind, but it was found
necessary at | o'clock Sunday morning to
throw a drag out to keep her head about.
| This secured the desired result for the time
| being, but the gale had grown to a hurricane,
and immense waves began breaking over the
doomed steamer Each surcpedinu uayp tore
away pieces of the upper works until the deck
was finally swept clear. The rigging being
torn and shattered the drag ceased to fulfill
| its functions, and heavy seas rose over her
bows and deluged the decks. They soon
reached the furnaces and extinguished the
| fire, the matches were torn from their fasten-
! ngs BY the billows, the fires being put out
| soon stopped the engines, and the Vera Cruz
| lay at the mercy of the waves and storm.
Not even the donkey pumps could be worked
| to relieve the vessel OF water she was rapidly
making in the hold In this extremity Capt.
Van Sise ordered the men to throw overheard
| the deck load, 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 bv the incom-
| ing seas and washed overheard
Capt. Van Sise and his officers acted cour-
| ageously in the performance of their duties,
but were one by one washed overheard from
| the steamer as she laborcd in the trough of
the sea. The captain perished fully an hour
before the vessel finally succumbed The
sailors and passengers then seized fragments
of spars, stateroom doors, or any movable
article that would float, and awaited the end
all knew was at hand. The surviving sailors
state that the vessel was 80 miles off shore at
! this time. the hurricane heaving with terrible
fury. BY this time the ship was wrecked,
men and women had equipped themselves
with impromptu buoys. and the final catas-
trophe occurred. it being then 80 A. NJ
With one awful, tremendous lurch. the
steamer sank into the ocean, the surf carry
ing down many.
| OF the 20 on board before the storm began
only Is reached land alive, all men, three of
! them passengers, eight deck hands, one
engineer and one sailor. They were all in the
water, buffeted by the tempestuous sea 2G
hours. But for this ordeal many more would
have been saved, for there can be no doubt