The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1880-06-24
THE LONG ISLAND SOUND HORROR,

THE Long ISLAND SOUND HORROR.
Collision Between Two Steamers, On. u
Which Takes Fire While Slnklng-Terri1
sfssae Of the Survivors.
NEW YORK, June Il
!. The s6ui}d stsarier Stouington came in col:
Hsion with her sister Shir Nartagansett, of the
bennington line, between II 30 and u gcloelR
on Friday night, on Long Island Sound,
%es Distant Tacn y ctS
StOnlngtOn struck her on the starbOard Quars
ter, Just IN front Of the wheel. The shock was
.eIrnc. II snook the Stonfngton, which struck
sleeping passengers cut of their bcrtlss:
4 y ripped open g great hole in her bowl
SImost down to the waters edge. An the
gulshcd Passengers found them selves locked
IN their state-rOOms in absolute darkness, The
s,d otn OF the, the boat was ripped open below the
ateiy: fire also broke forth, and so fierccIy
that In an hour and halt at farthest all the
parts OF the vessel remaining above water
shallow water. She must have settled upon
some bar, for the water rose only
just high enough to submerge tho So
!SEn deck l asie upper deck would have
been for the fire. Many of the passengers on
board the Narragansett waited neither for
fhe sinking nor for the fir. In sudden ter
coming humbea and exhausted, sank be-
fore the arrival of aid. II was in this manner
undoubtedly the loss OF life befeNs Those
the shock the bulk of the passengers climbed
on the top deck. The boat sank, but it for.
tunate'y soon struck bottom, and they were
so tierce!y to leeward that the Loats on that
side could not be lowered, but the boats to
windward were successfully let into the water,
all save one, which was swamped with a con.
overheard. They proved the salvation Of
Scores Two of them were on the boat. They
are about twenty feet long and ten wide,
Trey are res SO arranged that it does not matter
tossed into the sea. The RATS are con-
structed Of air-tight metal cans a1d plat:
forms of wood. The passengers swermed
Narragansett, but they bore up as lightly Is
though they had Sustained no more than a
pound 9 weight. Passengers dashed them
tx syod 30 e
assistance was at hand. The steamer City of
New York bound for the metropolis, came up
manned from both boats, and soon the rescued
were being lifted aboard the Stonington and
the New York by the score:
STORY OF PASSENGER:
The Posts extra has the following aec0tfnt
tngton: "SoOn after the steamer left PrOvt
dencc the weather became thick. By II
o'clock nearly everybody was in bed, and all
on board quiet. At about HAS there was a
sudden crash, and in moment there was ter
rible confusion. Men, women and children, in
all stages of undress, rushed frantically
decks. For few moments everybody
thought the boat gas sinking, and thele was
struggle for lifc-s reservoirs. The officers of
the boat said the boat was leaking forward,
fhny vr0S M IL "a hon 0frnI1
that the steamer into which the StOnington
had rLn was the Narragansett. The latter
had been struck amidships. and two or three
and almost Immediately envel ped the entire
vessel. The scene was frightful. The shrieks
and cries of the passengers OF, the Narra-
stonington. They could be seen lcaping into
the water and rushing frantfcally in all dircc-
tions. The boats Of the Stonington were low
cred, after delay of several minutes, and
and Vas sinking. BY some blunder the plugs
in the lifebOats We're left out, and they filled
with water. This caused additional delay.
The men in the boats did not know how to row
wreck, and picked up numbers OF persons
floating on lifc-preservcrs, mattresses, chairs,
tables, planks, eta The scene was appalling.
At this juncture the City of New York came
up and lay off some distance. She lowered her
boats and picked up as many of the drowning
passengers as she could find: When all hope
VI 1uTtueT rCSCuC WIS dOslUuOIlCU tuG OtOuluX.
ton transferred the rescued persons, 1!5 in
number, to the City Of New York, and return
ed to StoningtOn. Many of the passengers
rescued are badly scalded and others were half
naked"
CLARENCE LEONARD.
. Clarence Leonard and wife, recently OF
Booths Theater, were passengers on the Mar
ragansett: Leonard says: At the time of the
Gods sake, light the gas, that may save my
wifcl" Somebody did light the gas, and just
then man rushed through the saloon, Stout
l ihg; aIn on your P1e.ef rye with
tried to fasten them to our bodies, but, being
without proper fastenings, when we got into
the water they were more of an impede
and were no support; but finally we man.
aged to get hold of the ropes of the life
raft and were lifted upon it. The raft
kept cramped on her knees for some time.
Dozens of persons were clinging to the ropes
around the raft, and making frantic efforts to
get upon 1t. The raft was six inches under
water through the weight of the persons cling
ing to it. The raft was finally towed by q row.
boat to the city of New York. Leonard speaks
in strong terms against the conduct of the
officers and crew of the Narragansett. He
says the Captain was one of the first to enter
the life-boat. A Mrs. Osborne threw her six
3ear-Old child from the main deck to him, and
then jumped for the same boat and was res
cued. She had nothing on but her night
clothes.
ONE OF THE SADDEST EVENTS
connected with the horrible calamity is the
case Ut Mrs. A. p. Dix, of Brooklyn. wife OF
broker of the firm of Dix Phyfe. Mrs. Dix
was on the Narragansctt with her three chill
dren and nurse. All a"e lost but Mrs. Dix
boat. Men tried TO lower the boat. The
water poured in and capsized it. When the
life-boat rightcd again some of the women
were carried away and the men abandoned
the boat. Mrs. Dix, her nurse. baby, little
boy AMI girl chung IT, the boat. but the boat
was turned over in the same way three times.
and Mrs. Dix saw her baby, her nurse and
her little boy and girl washed away. Her
diamond rings a'c embedded in swollen flesh,
the SIX n having been torn off her fingers,
hands and wrists by the boats sides and the
ropes to which she had chung for life. As soon
to Mr.. DIX, and he rushed to the pier and
found his wife. The meeting of father and
motLcr, who had lost their entire family
brought tears to the eyes of every one. Other
survivors who had not met with SO great
losses forgot their own misery for the moment
in sympathizing with the unfortunate man
and wife whose children we" drowned.
MRS. CHRISTINE BAILEY.
Some OF the stories of personal experience
are thrilling. The most comprehensive Is
that of Mrs. Christine Bailey, of Brooklyn, N.
She she the
deck, about amidsuips, and had retired for the
night. but was not asleep Mt the time the dis
aster occurred: Said she: II was iying g IN
which sounded just as if the boat had run
into a stone wall jumped out Of the berth,
put few clothes on, rushed up the upper or
saloon deck, followed by a great many
others who had berths on the same
deck. When arrived there the utmost
confusion prevailed, and for few
seconds hardly knew what to do. Finally an
officer shouted for everybody to keep cool and
put on a life-preserver. l then tried for some
time to find one, and finally succeeded in find
ing ono, fastening 1t around me. By that time
the boat was all on fire and people were jump
ing overheard from all parts of the steamer.
/ followed their example, but hardly had
struck the water wien man with lady cling.
ing to him caught hold of me and tried to pull
my life-prese,Vef OF. resisted to the best Of
my ability, telling him that life was as dear to
me US to him. After considerable trouble
succeeded in getting into small boat, which
Immediately capsized. throwing me again into
the water. My chances for getting out then
seemed desperate: but with the exercise of all
the strength l could muster l padded to
another boat, only to find it full of water, and
all efforts to turn it over were fruttless.
then saw another boat q little ways of and
made for that. After considerable difficulty
l, with several others. reached the last boat
which was also partially filled with water
Three times did We get into the boat only t.
be thrown into the water again. wa
determined not to die, however. IL there
and il ever a person fought for life
did. The boat last referred to was fastened
to the steamer Narragansctt. which by this
time was burning ficrcely, and despite all we
could do, for there were four ladies and one
gentleman on board. the flames SCOrChcd our