New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-03-29
THE WRECK OF THE CORNELL
RUNNING ON THE ROCKS IN A DENSE FOG.
TIE PILOT BLAMED FOR THE ACCipRNT-THD


| Rondout and Kingston Line, which ran upon
| Ledge of rocks at Danskammer Point ten miles
| below Poughkeepsie, at half past o'clock Monday
! evening. was q total wreck in two hours. Tho
steamer left Rondout at O'Clock, having on board
| los passengers and freight valued at abous
| $4,000. The weather was thick and lowering. IL
| raned and the fog was driving in eTeat banks up
| the river. The orders of the Cornell Steamboas
| Company. owners Of the Thomas Cornell. are per-
emptory that the vessels shall not start up or down
their in fog. Now and then. thowever, on
Monday night, tho wind would come down tho
mountain gorges and blow the fog away. Ats
o'clock it looked if the fog had finally lifted and
the Cornell put out from her dock and proceeded
down the river. The boat usually stops at Esopus.
Poughkeepsie and Marlborough All this time
dense fog had been closing in and by the time tho
vessel lett Mart torough objects on the water OF on
the shores conld not be distinguished.
Ten miles below Poughkeepsie on the west bank
Of the river Is Danskammer Point. From this
point ledge of rocks runs out about 300 feet into
the river South Of the Point the river makes turn
to the westward. The Cornell ran slowly until tho
vicinity of Danskammer Point was reached. when,
thinking he had passed tho Point, the pilot in
charge, w. H. Briggs. started the vessel ahead az
what one of the officers of tho boat describes AS a
pretty good rate" In about three minutes the
the pilot concluded that he had made mistake In
his "dead reckoning" The boat struck with .
shock that threw people who were standing on
their feet and those who were sitting from their
seats. Nearly all the passengers were IN Inc nam
saloon when the crash came. For a minute there
was considerable excitement, especially among tho
women won en- The officers and crew Of the boat did all
they could TO quiet and reassurc the passengers ana
sent them all forward telling them they would
the bow OF the boat had run up forty feet OF the
rocks of Danskammer Point, which are here hfteeu
feet above the water
The vessel was broken almost in two just aft her
forward gangway, and again little aft her paddle
boxes The water could be heard rushing into the
hold and stern was sinking rapidly Ladders
descended to the rocks; A large piece OF canvas
was taken from tho wreck and tent extempoorized.
the rocks, and the passengers proceeded to camp
out as best they could. The camp ground was
rather moist but walking in the vicinity was moro
so, and prevented the castaways from seeking moro
comfortable quarters. AS soon as the vessel struck
the engineer drew tho fires. The only stove on
board was in the cooks galley forward, and though
was set on fire. The bell of the steamer was runR
violently to attract the attention Of any steamer
began to lift and half an hour later, the John l..
Hasbrouck, steamer of the PoughkeepsIc Trans
portation Company, came down to the scene OF tno
wreck and took the passengers OF the Cornell on
board Some of them were left at Newburg and the
| rest brought to this city,,
steamboat Company. No 1877 West-st aud gave
the following account of the accident: There was
| a heavy fog when we left Poughkeepsic II would
| lift for few minutes and then come up the river
again in great banks. We felt our way along pretty
carefully after we started, for the fog closed n
got along all right till got to Danskammer Point.
Then we went ashore good and solid. lhe he pc people
bat %G1 ss out the
| rocks all right--not soul hurt-and then the has.
| brouck came along and took everyone who wanted
the woman into the feboats to transfer them to tho
roscuug steamer because the rocks were so slippery
and wet. Only one woman tainted, however, ana ana
two pilots and the deck-hands we kft on the ROCKS
| to look after tie wreck the captain and the
walters were landed at Newbqrg, and and most OF
the passeneers-pame on TO the city. The Cornell
lies with her bows well up on the rocks ber middle
resting on surken reef and her stern In fosty-hve
| feet Of water"
The clerk cf the Hasbropck was found by the
| reporter checking baggage In little box on Pler
No. 35, Nc1th River. WItha rare mqaesty ne re-
hal SYT waited twenty minutes longer she would have
| been all right When we went INTO New Hamburg
about twenty minutes of 9, ii, so thick that We
the tSs''A Cornell made mistake, in in turning
In fact it is a bad river in q fog any way We had
| got about a mile down the river from New-HaJn-
burg.when we heard the signal-oel OF the Sorneii.
and We Immediately. went over to her and made
| fast to her stern All the passengers were taken
aboard' and at Newburg we had a doctor come on
board. but no needed his assistance The Cor
| nell was breaking up fast when we left her. and
guoss there is not much left of her by this time
f. n Gage, the freight clerk of the Cornell, said:
Just before that heard the signal given to the en-;
| gineer from the pil0t-houSe To WnoOP her up,
and we were going at a pretty good speed when We
| struck. There was no attempt to save any OF the
| freight except two horses. They were unhtehed
and taken to the forward part OF the boat, but ls
was impossible to get them down on the rocks, and
running around loose on the deck, The freight was
| mostly butter and dairy products"
it was learned that the Thomas Cornell was not in
| sured. Her value was placed at from Sl9O,o0O 10
SI75, 600. The vessel was built in 1861 by L. S.
Whitelook. at hs shipyard IN Greengoint, and vas S
was licensed to carry 100 passengers and was hand.
somely fitted up, She was 900 feet long, 50 1ses @
beam 10 feet hold and of ,253 tons burthen. Tho
place where she was wrecked is called Danskammef
or Dams Hammer Point i was called by The Dutch
stsrs rpSys pa' Sas uSTs ST the been re
piI piots and efforts have been made to have
light placed there. 1t was at this point tnat & ans
| ago The officers of the Cornell were As follows:
| Captain. William H.. Cornell; first pilot. w II.
Briggs second pilot, Lewis Schultz; chief engineer
| Andrew Barrett clerk, Samuel Cole.
| dispatch from Ponghkeepsie states that samuel
CoykcndaD. half owner OF the wrecked yesSei, says
rarily, and that new iron vessel VIII % Dult 20
take the CornePs place. He lays the blame entirely
on the pilot who violated weIl-knOwn rule oil the
| company in running in q fog. Two canalboats and
a tug were alongside the wreck yesterday after
noon and the bedding. freight and other movable
articles we're transferred 10 them. derrick and
Submarine divers were sent up from this city and
an effort will be made to save the MACHINERY Cap
tain Dubois. of the steamer Oswego one OF thc OLD
reporter yesterday that when he came by tho
wreck nj 9 a. H.. she was going TO pieces fast.
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