The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1883-01-26

Another terrible ocean steamship disaster
has added its horrors to the long list. The
steamer Cimbria, of the Hamburg and New
York line, left Hamburg on Thursday for
New York via Havre with 80 passengers. of
whom twenty-three were in the cabin and
crew numbering ninc, y-two. She ran
aground lefOre leaving the Elbe, but got off
with the food tide, with the assistance of the
Hansa without having sustained damage.
She put to again at 2:''0 o'clock in the
afternoon On Friday morning she Gang
into collision during thick fog
off Borkum, one of the East Tristan
islands near the north coast of Holland,
with the British steamer Sultan, a freight
and passenger boat plying between Ham
burg and Hull, England. The Cimbria sank
in few minutes. The first news that she
had been sunk came when the boat with
thirty survivors arrived at CuXhaven,
ninety miles easS of Borkum. The company
sent out the steamer Hansa and the four
largest available steamers at CuXhaven
to search for other boatS of the
Cimbria. The West Indian Steamer Ba-
varia also left during the night with Il SINH
lar object
A survivor from the Cmbria makes the
following statement: The weather was
clear up to l:15 o'clock ON Friday morning.
but fog then set in, which continued and
increased in density. The engines of the
Cimbra were kept at full speed until 30
O'Clock. then mt half speed until >
o'clock after which they were kept
at slow speed. About ten minutes past .
O'Clock the whistle of another steamer was
heard, and the engines of the Cimbria were
stopped instantly. The Suitan's green light
was, owing to the fog, NOT observed until she
was only 40 feet of from the Ciinbria. She
struck the Cmbria abaft the first collision
bulkhead on the port side, and tie Cimbra
heeled over to starboard and speedily sank.
Members of the Cimbria's crew who were
1
tanned in the collision injuries so severe that
il at once became apparent she'mUSt sink al
most Immediately. The officers, therefore.
did ali i'll their power to save lives. Without
a moments loss of time life belts were dis
tributed among the passengers. and an
order was given to lower the
boats. This, however. in consequence
of the vessels heeling over on her SIDE was
found to be very difficult on one side and
absolutely impossible on the Other. As
Second Officer +. Spruth was -tii engaged
in cutting the spars loose, So that there
should be as much driftWucd H. possible
for the people to cling to when the in
evitable laundering occurred, the vessel
went down under his feet he seized a
spar, but. as several other persons chung
to il, was Obliged TO let 90. AID he swan
to a boat This boat was picked up by the
Theta at , O'Clock Saturday afternoon. The
second officer steered the Theta to CuAhavcn,
where she arrived about O'Clock. Seven
teen other persons were saved by the
steamer Dianant from the Neser light
house, and arrived at Brcmerhayen
Besides the thirty-nine survivors landed at
Cuxhaven and the seventeen al The Weser
lighthouse. another vessel landed eleven,
making sixty seven saved W 10 Sunday
night The number of lives lost was esti-
mated at fully 300 The passengers were
mostly emigrants from East Prussia. Among
them were six American Indians who had
been on exhibition in Berlin for some time.