The Portland daily press., 1880-09-06
HER LOSS CONFIRMED.

HER LOSS CONFIRMED.
The Vera Cruz at the Bottom of
the Ocean.
ONLY THIRTEEN OF SEVENTY PER
SONS SAVED.
The Terrible Story of the Disaster.
New YORK, Sept. 4.-The Herald's st.
Augustine dispatch says the ill-fated steamer
foundered at half past five O'Clock Sunday
morning in the midst of hurricane, having
labored painfully for some hours in heavy
sea. We are yet unable to CLEAN all the parti-
that but few of the crew survived the wreck.
and both they and three surviving passengers
are so exhausted by the terrible experience
that they are incapable of giving clear des-
cription. OF the scenes before and after the
laundering of the steamer. SATURDAY. after
noon the steamer encountered strong gale,
which soon increased in fury. 1t was then
about p. M The steamer was running on
her course in about so deg. W. long, and 80
deg. Som. n. lat The sea ran very high, and
the City of Vera Cruz labored heavily but
sturdily 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 out drag to keep her head about.
This secured the desired result for the time be-
ing, but the gale had now grown to hurri-
cane, and immense waves began breaking
over the doomed steamer. Each succeeding
wave tore away pieces of her upper works, un-
til the deck was finally swept clear, even the
rigging being torn and shattered. The drag
ceased to fulfil its functions, and, as the seas
rose over her bows and delrged the decks
they soon reached the furnaces and extinguish-
ed the fires the matches having been torn
from their fastenings by the billows. The
fires being out, a stop was soon put to the en-
gines, and the Vera Cruz lay at the mercy OF
the waves and torn. Not even the donkey
pump could be worked to relieve the vessel of
the water she was rapidly making in the hold.
In this extremity Capt Van Sice ordered the
men to throw overheard the deck load, but the
ing out the captains orders, for, while thus
engaged, several of the men were carried off
their feet by the incoming seas, and some of
them washed overheard. Capt Van Sice and
his.
OFFICERS ACTED CouRAGEoUsLY
in the performance of their duties, but were
one by one washed overheard from their sta
tions as the steamer labored in The trough of
the sea. AS near as we can ascertain, the cap
tain perished fully an hour before the vessel
finally succumbed, and, as nearly all hands
were lost, the few remaining alive on board
now saw there was no hope, so they took to
life preservers the life boats having already
disappeared. In fact, every boat and lire raft
was stove in when the top hamper went by the
board. The sailors and passengers then seized
fragments of spars, stateroom doors, or any
moveable article that would float, and awaited
the end all knew at hand. The surviving
sailors state that the vessel was about thirty
miles off shore at this time, and the hurricane
was of terrible fury. By the time the ship was
wrecked, men and women had equipped them
selves with impromptu buoys. Then the final
catastrophe occurred, it being then about 80
a. m. With one awful tremendous lurch, the
steamer suddenly sunk into the ocean, the
swirl carrying down many of tho living. OF
the seventy souls on board before the storm be-
gan, only thirteen reached the land alive.
These thirteen were all men, three of them
passengers, eight deck hands, one engineer and
one oiler. They were all in the water, buffet
ed by the tempestuous sea, twenty -four to
twenty-sx hours. But for this ordeal, many
more would have been saved, for there can be
little doubt that several perished after the
FoUNDER1NG OF THE STEAMER
through exhaustion. We are yet unable to
obtain the names of only two of the survivors,
both sailors, and their names are Mason Tai
Rot and James Kelly; the first native of
England, the other born in New York. One
of the passengers saved was young man. He
does not wish his name to be sent for publica-
ton, but he was companion of Gen. Alfred
I. A. Torbert. Bodies of the victims came on
shore 30 miles south of this place. Among
them was that of Gen. Torbert, and his body
was placed in cask and buried "Wednesday in
the grounds of j. ii. Rotefuhr near DaytOna,
a settlement opposite Mosquito inlet. The
bodies of two of the steerage passengers have
also been found. The bodies of three femal es
were recovered from the waves alongshore,
and four other men, probably sailors. These,
bodies is that of gray haired man, and near
it the body of one of the women was found,
that of a young girl. 1t IS impossible to iden-
tify any of these bodies, except that of Gen.
Torbert. The masts and portions of the gum
wales of the steamer lie scattered along the
beach where the bodies were discovered With
them is quantity of handsome cabinet furni-
ture, all badly smashed and ruined by the
waves. The trunk mentioned in my dis
patch of last night, contains quantity of
children's clothing and some playthings.
Frank Harris, the first officer of the Vera
Cruz, lived at Greenville, N. j., where his
wife and family still reside. He was son of
DR.. Harris, once health officer of this port.
LIKING FOR THE SEA.
Before he was 20 years of age he was mate
of West Indian bark, and subsequently COM
manded several fine ships, both English and
American. When the blockade on the South
ern ports was ordered in the late war men like
Frank Harris were in great demand among the
English shipowners, who knew that one cargo
smuggled through the line of the blockaders
would pay for the loss of a first class vessel
Harris knew every indentation of the Ameri-
can coast, and was familiar from long expert
ence with all blockaded ports He was quick
ly furnished with fsat steamer anG made sew
eral successful trips. At LENGTH however.
growing over-confdent, he was captured off
Charleston and cast into Fort Lafayette for sew
eral months. Next to Capt. John Smith, who
ran the blockade throughout the war and was
never captured, Capt. Harris was regarded as
the most daring and most successful blockade
runner. While the Turko-Russian war was in
progress, Hobart Pasha, who commanded the
Turkish navy, offered Harris prominent posi-
ton in that service. 1t was accepted and Capt.
Harris was on his way to assume his duties
when Hobart Pasha was temporarily deposed.
Capt. Harris was 45 years old.
The friends of the late Gen. Torbert, Mr..
Walter H. ellison, of Jersey City, and E. A.
Buck, of the Spirit of the Times, have been
telegraphed to make arrangements for bring
ing his remains to Milford, DEL, for interment.
Mrs Torbert is frantic with grief.
STATEMENT OF SURVIVOR.
New YORK, Sept 5, P. MA. Rowan,
saved passenger from the City of Vera Cruz,
says:
The cold wave of Wednesday with rain con-
tinued with brisk winds from Northeast Thurs
day and Friday, but calmed down at midnight.
The ship listed badly, and at meals it was diff
ficult to keep the dishes on the table. Partic-
ularly was this the case on Friday, which
proved the storm was increasing. The weather
was cloudy with frequent rain. The passen-
gers, however, at meals were in good cheer,
and though the rain kept them from the deck,
they seemed to enjoy the passage. Saturday at
daylight the fore and aft sails were set as the
wind was blowing from the Southeast. At
p. m. Saturday the captain was heard to re-
mark to Harris the first officer, 81 have Just no.
ticed the barometer is falling rapidly, we are
going to have hurricane" Orders were then
given to cut up and throw car for Mexican
railroad overheard, also barrels of oil, cases, of
acids and cases of vegetables which were on
deck. The real blast of the cyclone struck us
on the port bow about % minutes to 2 in the
afternoon of Saturday and listed the ship al
most on her beam ends. From this time it be-
came next to impossible to walk about without
clinging to chairs, tables and other stationary
furniture of the cabin, and as all the movable
objects in the saloon were quickly thrown from
port to starboard walking was exceedingly
dangerous. The wind was northeast and the
vessel steering south by east During the eve
ming three skylights in the main saloon were
carried away and the waves poured considera-
hIa watar into the saloon and StafarOomS cot