The Portland daily press., 1880-09-04
Supposed Loss of Steamer City
of Vera Cruz.
FLORIDA COAST THE SCENE OF THE
DISASTER.
THE CALAMITY CAUSED BY
A GALE
Seventy Nine Lives Probably Lost.
SEVERAL BODIES WASHED ASHORE

SEVE 6ODlGO w f1oIlGO A0aORE.
NEW YORK, Sept. 3.-A Herald dispatch
from ST. Augustine, Fla, I'd inst, says there is
very little doubt that the steamer City of Vera
Cruz, of the Mexican line, which sailed from
New York Aug. 25th for Havana and Vera
Cruz, went down in the recent hurricane, which
has already strewn our coast with wrecks.
Only the faintest hopes remain that any of the
passengers survived. Portions of the mail car
ried by the Inflated vessel were washed ashore
yesterday some miles south OF this city. One
mail bag contained letters for Cuba and Mexi-
co posted in Paris, France, Aug. 18th, and
another lot was found with envelopes bearing
post mark New York Aug. 25th. On closer
examination several bills of lading of the City
of Vera Cruz were discovered. On Saturday
afternoon large steamer, supposed to be the
Vera Cruz, passed the brig Carolina Eddy,
then about sixty miles from the coast, off st.
Augustine. This brig was soon struck by a
hurricane and wrecked drifting on the beach.
Near the place where she was lost the letters
were discovered. At the time the steamer was
sighted she was headed south, the wind then
blowing very hard and the gale rising. The
City of Vera Cruz must have been struck by
the hurricane and probably foundered on Sat
urday night or Sunday morning.
Two sailing vessels, in addition to the Eddy,
have come ashore since the gale near here. AS
write, the sad tidings come that the body of
lady and little child were found on the shore.
They were buried by party OF wreckers in the
sands near where found. This makes already
five bodies recovered, three others being
corpses of unknown men; two, from their
dress, were thought to be passengers, and the
other sailor The shore for over forty miles
south of this place is strewn with the cargo of
steamer. A trunk was found marked "Her-
nandez." This corresponds with the name of
q lady N the list Of the CitV of Vera
Cruz in the New York papers of last Thursday.
The mails, or at least all that could be reoov-
cred of them, were brought here yesterday,
and will be forwarded by Postmaster Dew
to their destination. Several parties are look
ing for the remains of the lost and engaged in
recovering property washed ashore.
List of the Passengers.
The following is list of the passengers from
New York per City of Vera Cruz; Arrue,
Rafael; Arrue, Mrs b.; Betchi, Walter;
A.; Cole, George W.; Fay, Miss Sadie; For.
ber, General Fuentes E.; Garcia Mr.. j. A.;
Garcia, Mrs. j. A.; Glashof, H.; Gledhill,
John; Gombay, John; Hernandez, Felipe;
Hernandez, Mrs. s.; Littlefeld, E.. Martinez,
j.: Rubio Miss T.; Siloa. Q. p; St. Manner,
T.; Wallenge, Alexande; Wallange; Welsh,
M; Welsh, Mrs. M; Welsh, child.
The Lost Craft.
The City of Vera Cruz was wooden vessel,
1874 tons register, built at Greenpoint, l.. l.,
in 1874, by j. English, for Alexandra & Son
line between this city, Havana and Mexico.
beam and 26 deep, and had draught of 10
feet of water. She had three decks, was brig
rugged and her motive power consisted Of two
compound cylinder engines The material of
her timbers was white oak, chestnut and hack
matack. She had a propeller Is feet 6 inches
in diameter, witn a pitch of % feet. Iron
strips four inches wide and five-eighths of an
inch in thickness, doubled and diagonally laid
strengthened the vessel materially. She had
accommodations for 100 passengers and was
finely furnished.
Mr.. III. Alexandra said last night that the
firm had no information of any accident to the
City of Vera Cruz. There were rumors on the
street in the afternoon, but no credence was
placed in them. We considered her staunch
vessel, capable of weathering any storm. She
was loaded lightly. The cargo consisted of
potatoes, provisions and general merchandise,
amounting in all to about $4,000. Capt. Van
Sice was in command, an expert seaman and
one of the most careful men in the trade.
The first officer, Capt. Horn, has also been a
commander for years. A crew of fifty picked
men were on the City of Vera Cruz. There
is no manner in which can account for the
loss of the steamer unless she met with a col
lision during fog. We have never lost life
on any OF our steamers before.
The Times says the following communica-
tion has been forwarded to Washington to
Postmaster James in this city:
Posi- OFFICE Dept, OFFICE FOREIGN
MAILS, WASHINGTON, Sept. 1, 1880
Sir,-Thek ekPostmaster of st. Augustine, Fla,
has telegraphed to the Postmaster General
to-day, as follows: ga lot of foreign mail was
washed ashore and delivered to me. Shall I
loose the package and dry the letters? What
disposition shall make of the same? Letters
from France, via New York, for Havana"
That officer has been instructed by wire:
up as nearly as possible to the condition re-
ceived, and forward to the Postmaster at New
York.
(Signed) JOSEPH III. BLAcKMAN,
Supt. Foreign Mails.
. General Superintendent of Foreign Mails
Dwight Lawrence last night said the only
steamer which left this port recently with any
large consignment of "French letters, for Ha-
vana, via New York." was the City of Vera
Cruz, which sailed August %, just in time to
encounter the severe hurricane of August %
on the florida Straits
New YORK, Sept. 3-12.30 P. NAT the
office of the Alexandra line, up to noon, no
further information as to the reported loss of
the City of Vera Cruz had been received,
though-an answer to dispatch to st. Angus
tine, asking details, is momentarily expected.
The owners do not believe the steamer lost but
think she encountered hurricane, during
which the mail and baggage went overheard.
Ihey pronounce her one of the strongest
steamers in the world. She was on the dry
dock previous to the last trip. She vessel is
worth 100000 and is insured in London and
America. Many relatives and friends of the
passengers are at the office awaiting informa-
ton. Capt. p Harris, who commanded the
steamer on her previous voyage, is on board.
The chief engineer is named Miller and the
purser Burke.
An Account of the hurricane.
First Officer Hinkley of the steamer New
Orleans, which encountered the gale in which
the Vera Cruz is supposed to have been lost.
said to-day that his vessel run into the hurri.
cane on the 2Sth of August at s P. M. off the
coast of Florida, between Capes Jupiter and
Carnaveral. The storm was from the north
and east. The vessel was struck ON the port
side, and hove on her beam ends. There were
TOUR men at the wheel at the time. 1t was
impossible for man to stand on deck. The
vessel was for long time at the mercy of the
18th. Three boats were stove in and one lost.
The deck rail was carried away. Know moth
ing OF the Vera Cruz, though they must have
board the New Orleans thought he saw the
Vera Cruz during the cyclone, though his
statement is not credited.
ST. AUGUSTINE, Sept. 3.-The beach north
and south Of ST. Augustine light and as far
south as Matanzas inlet is strewn with wreck
ed stuff dry goods, provisions and every des-
cIiption of merchandise. The first evidence
|, of wreck was discovered near the light house
Tuesday and the following day the coast to the
north and southwards revealed the story of the
terrible disaster.
Ten miles below Matanzas trunks and mail
bags were found, the latter of which was
marked with a tag "Return to New York; was
opened and found to contain letters dated New
York, August %, per City of Very Cruz, also
bills OF lading for goods per steamship Vera
Cruz. Near the place where the mail bag and
trunks were found the bodies of three men,
woman and child were discovered and inferred
by the people in the neighborhood
All valuables and jewelry were taken from
the bodies so that the remains could not be
identified All the wreckage shows that the
steamer Vera Cruz, New York the 25th for
Havana, went ashore on or foundered just off
the Florida coast Monday night or Tuesday
morning during the heavy storm and all on
board perished