Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1883-12-13
EIGHTY-NINE LIVES LOST.
The French Fisherman Whose Brig
Sank Amer Collision With an
American Shin.
Details Bought TO Port by the Collid-
ing Vessel Thomas Dana.
IN. Y. Herald, Dec. I.

] ~ H utfeiut W. lei
Just off Bedloe's Island yesterday q
big ship swung at anchor. She bore
traces of a long voyage, and sticking
from the timbers of her starbOard bow
was the point Of bowsprit. The paint
about il was trifle scratched and
tarnished but there was no fracture in
the planking, and only the name
Thomas Dana, of Boston (recalling q
narrative of disaster that has already
been noted in the Herald cable des-
patches disclosed that the vessel was
fresh from collision i'm which eighty
nine human lives had been lost. The
Thomas Dana sails under the American
flag. and her master, Captain SissOn, is
bluff American sailor, who deplores an
occurrence so tragical, even though no
title of its responsibility rests upon him.
Standing on the deck yesterday, he told
the story of this sinister happening of
the sea, of which he could only detail
the scene he witnessed. Ofthe person.
mel of the unhappy beings who went
down before his eyes he knows little or
nothing. They were all Frenchmen--
poor fisherman of st. MalO for the most
part, who, after cruising about off the
Newfoundland cost for season,
trimmed their sails for home when they
met their fate. According to the cap
tain, the catastrophe was as sudden as it
was unlocked for. There was no bus
tie, little struggling in the water, hardly
any work for the boats. Such as had
not sprung for the ships side at the first
the shattered craft which the one blow
had crushed.
THE FATAL COLLISION.
1t was on October % that the Thomas
Dana left Liverpool consigned to Snow
& Burgress, with light cargo of chemi-
Gals to Thayer & Lincoln. The trip was
quiet and uneventful until October 80.
On the morning of that day the ship
was in longitude Is deg. west, latitude
As deg. north. 1t was pleasant wealth
err. The stars were shining up in the
sky still, but it was becoming gray over
head, and down by the horizon there
breaking. 1t was near six o'clock, and
though it would not be clear for some
time, there was light enough to see a
good distance on every side. Frederick
Tfaff, the second officer, was on deck,
and CAPTAIN Sisson had just come up to
him and was speaking about the fine
ness of the weather when the lookout
hailed. The Captain looked up.
"a green light to starboard!' came
down from the man.
"All right, green to green's the rule"
said the captain and he took out his
pipe to smoke. He was looking for his
match when sudden cry rang out for
ward and then came a bump. 1t was
very slight. The captain first thought
some one had thrown something upon
the deck, but as he raised his eyes he
saw a tangle of spars and rigging over
the starboard bow and heard a clatter
of tongues and creaking of timbers.
He ran forward, and suddenly a fearful
spectacle was revealed. Low in the wa
ter, just under the ships bow, was a
small brig close up to the side with her
bowsprit piercing the planking and her
deck sloping downward to the sea. Her
rigging was in snarl, and all hands
had SUNK down from their posts and
were swarming forward. They were q
poor, weather beaten set, with dark
faces almost blue with terror and big,
eyes. Many of them were in
the water, and those who came strug-
Cling up went over the side. There
was no mistaking what that meant.
The brig was going down. Fearfully
fast, too; for, as the captain looked
over, she began to settle, and the poor
wretches splashing about struggled
away from her.