Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-01-22
CAPT. WRIGHT'S COURSE.
WHY THE SHIP TOOK THE
FATAL PATH STILL UNKNOWN.

A Discrepancy Between the Course of
the Captain and that Steered by the
Quartermaster-Capt. Hedges Course
Very Different Even from that Al
legged to Have Been Ordered Followed
by Capt. Wright
BOSTON, Jan. 21.-Quartermaster Mac
Donald, who was at the wheel when the
City OF Columbus struck, has made a
statement, in which he says that the course
given him, and which he was steering.
was southwest by south. Capt. Wright,
in his original statement, said that the
vessels course was southwest by
west. n. Pease, Keeper of Gay Head
Light, says: II do not think that the buoy
has shifted. think that the steamer was
two miles or more out OF her course. She
was fully quarter OF a mile inside of
the buoy. Even if the vessel had backed
two ships lengths she could not have
reached her present position from the
outside of the buoy"
NINETY-sEvEN LOST.
The passenger list Of the City of Column
bus, as corrected, foots up 81 passengers,
cabin and steerage, and there were 45 Off
GERS, seamen and walters. OF this num-
ber y passengers and II of the crew were
saved. The total death list, therefore. is
81. There is no possibility that these fig
ures will be altered by the discovery Of
additional survivors.
THE COURSE OF A SISTER SHIP.
BosToN, Jan. 21, 8 P. M.-Capt. Hedge,
Of the steamer Gate City, the sister ship
to the City of Columbus, being interview
ed to-day in regard to the course usually
steered by him over the ground where the
bor, I
the West chop | steer northwest by
west until Tarpaulin Cove bears west
half south. l then run for it, and when
nearly abreast of Tarpaulin Cove set her
southwest by west One-half west. On this
course | clear Gay Head by from three to
four miles. This course viii vary accord
ing to wind and tide, but this
is the usual course | follow. l know
that the course l take is a perfectly
safe one, and the course which Can't
Wright says that he ordered. while it
takes him a mile and a half or more
nearer the shore than my course, is also
safe enough. Why the accident should
have occurred or why they were out of
their course l do not understand"
THE LIFE RAFT DRIFTS ASHORE.
NEW BEDFORD, Jan. 81, II P. M.-The |
life raft, upon which several passengers
and several of the crew, including Chief !
ashore yesterday afternoon at Cedar Tree
point, about ten miles from Gay Head. |
The steamer Storm King, owned by the |
Baker Wrecking Company. of Boston, ar |
rived here this afternoon, bringing nine |
bodies from GAY Head in charge of Medi- |
cal Examiner Leach, of Vineyard Haven. |
ATLANTA's LOSS.
ATLANTA, GA, Jan. 21-It is now
settled by kilograms that the mother with |
the little child held close in her arms, |
swept from the deck Of the City of Column |
bus, was Mrs. Annie Kelley, wife of |
Policeman Jas. Kelley, Of Atlanta, and a |
daughter of Jerry Lynch, the well |
known tailor. She leaves husband and |
two little children here. Her husband is |
prostrated in bed by grief at his loss.
THE LONDON TINES CENsURE.
LONDON, Jan. 21.-The Times. com |
menting on the City of Columbus disaster. |
says that the story Of the wreck seems in |
credible, and implies an almost impossi- |
bic degree Of negligence on the part of |
every officer and man ON the steamers |
watch.