Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1883-12-02
DAvY JONES' LOCKER
Claims for Its Own Eighty-nine
French Fishermen.
Their Vessel, Small Brig, COIiides With an
English Ship and Sinks Almost In
stantIy-Ony twenty
One Escape,

NV ORR, December lone OF the sad.
dest casualties that has occurred on the
ocean in many months was reported last
night, when the ship Thomas Dana arrived
in port. When his vessel came to anchor
off the Battery, Captain C. C. Sisson made
the following statement: We sailed from
Liverpool October -, bringing small
cargo OF chemicals, merely for ballast. At
o'clock on the morning of the Goth, the
second officer came on deck to take charge,
and got ready to go below. The weather
was so beautiful that | hesitated about
going, and stood talking with the mate.
We were in longitude Il and latitude IS.
Finally | vent to my room, but instead OF
lying down concluded to take a smoke,
when |
Heard n Peculiar Thud
against the starboard side. 1t was 10 more
of bump than heavy sea would make,
and knew there Was no heavy seas about
US, end il there was they wouldn't strike
US on that side, for the wind was in the
othtr direction. Almost Immediately after
that beard tie mate sing out al The mead
of the hatch, and | ran on deck.
Running to the side OF the ship saw a
spa.i craft that Lad run plumb into us,
ana he only thing that prevented her from
sinking instantly like a stone was that she
had run her iibboom clean into our star
board quarters, and her rigging was other
wisC entangled with Us. Bat this only
kept her bows above water for moment,
and then she disappeared, leaving no. so
much as bucket floating on the surface.
During tho Brief Moment
that she was hanging to our side, men were
jumping into the sea from her bows like
rats in a panic. Most of them were stark
naked, as they had just got out OF their
berths. The moment that their craft went
down, suppose there were about thirty OF
these men struggling for life in the water.
There was no time TO think about lowering
boats, for whatever was done was done in-
stantly. Ny Liverpool crew of twenty two
men Jumped into the work like tigers, and
my second officer, Mr.. PfatT, German, be-
haved gal.antly. In a very short time We
Lad tished out twenty one men, most OF
whom fell on the deck exhausted as soon as
they were pulled up. Then, while part OF
the crew search around for bodies in the
water, dead or alive, the rest
Made Ready 20 Lower the Boats.
But nothing more could be seen, and five
mina;ls after the collision the surface OF
the sea was as clear as if nothing at all had
happened We stood by from o'clock till
lC:31. hut saw nothing more.
We soon discovered that all the men we
haG picked up were French fishermen, and
not a solitary one Of them could speak a
word of English. On the other hand,
there was no one in my crew who knew
apyibing about French. BY great perse-
verarce did manage to find out that
their vessel was a small brig of only 10
tons, that her name was the RoCaby and
that she was from the island Of Peirfe,
bound for Il. Nalo, France.
Then came the awful intelligence that
she had on board llu men, all returning TO
Fra; ce from the N-wiouHd fisheries,
AS here we're saved only tSenty-one, tAis
left
Tne Aumicr oi Those that P"rI"hrd
EighiyStne.
IsLil Csc that MT Of them were asleep in
thei! bertl =. and went down without ever
knowing y nat nsd happened 10 them. ]
don't know the name # a single one OF the
lost, or whore aay oi hem belonged, eN-
cept that they ,r"H.l French, and were
returning to S;.MIio. which is the great
Goldfish port OF Trance. We bore south
and made for the Island OF Faysl, of the
.oss; CT Spain. We sailed into port No
vemher :. flying signals which read, Ship
wrecked passengers, send out boats We
he'd a letter rrspsred for the United States
Consul q FGyal, and left il for him. We
led given every onn of the twenty.one sur
v!vC!s suit Of clothes, and when the boats
reached Us from the land We transferred
them. have no doubt they have all
neachrd Their Homes In Safety.
The Rocabv must have been sailing
without a lookout, My second ofticsr
Gays her lights were burning brightly, aud
if she hau held her course that the acc
We being q ship o! 40 tons, and she a
little bil OF brig OF lGo tons, she was
crushed and went down We were making
abova four srd ha!I knots, a1d she vas
runrirg free with the wind at about eight