River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1884-05-15
DOWN I'M THE DEEP.
Confirmation of the Loss of the Steamer
State of Florida with over 100 Lives.

Eonnrmat1on or the Loss OF the steamer
State of Florida, with over 100 Lives.
Quebec Special: The painful suspense that
prevailed here all day with regard to the sur
yiyors of the disaster 10 the Inflated steamer
Stateof Florida, was relieved by the arrival Of
The Donaldson steamer Titiana. from Glasgow to
Montreal, with coal and general cargo, which
was telegraphed the 5th as on her way to Quebec
with twenty four of the saved party.
The captain of the 1itiana reports: May ,,
1t P. m, while proceeding up the gull aud of
Bird rocks observed ship exmbllng tive
bright lights, and thinking lie wished 70 com.
municate, bore down upon him and took of
twenty four passengers and the crew rescued
from the State Of Florida of Glasgow. The
steamship City Of Rome passed them while on
board the ship Louisa and answered their sig
nals but did not stop Following is the official
report of the third officer of the State of Flor
ida:
Left New York on the 18th of April, with
about l67 passengers and crew aud full gen
eral cargo All went well until the night of the
18th At II 80 came in collision with the bark
Ponema of Chatham, n. B., Capt Helburn
Both ships went down almost Immediately, and
out Of the steamers passengers and crew only
forty-fOur, including the stewardess, managed
to escape in boats, and out Of the bark 5
crew of fifteen only the captain and two sea-
men saved The next morning the bark
was observed bottom up The survivors, after
being thirty-fve hours IN boats without food or
water, were rescued by the Norwegian bark
Theresa of Christiana, from that port, bound
for Quebec On the 32d. twenty-four of them
were transferred on the ship Louisa, of and
from Cardiff for Quebec whore they remained
till May 5, when they were taken on board the
Titiana for Quebec 1t is believed that 135 lives
were lost
Members of the rescued party on board the
Iitiana presented pitiable appearance, SO
fle lar laf a in
their hunks at the time, had to hurry on deck
and into The boats in their nightclothes. Most
of them had but very confused idea OF what
really took place All could distinctly remem-
Der however, thecrash and rush for the deck.
Thesuryivors also remember with shudder the
dash for the boats as the ship went down amid
the shrieks and lamentations of the passen-
gers. Those on duty at the time remember
seeing a red light flash for an instant, followed
by crash, after which nothing but confusion
followed, the steamer beginning to sink and
hurried preparation being made to launch the
boats, The bark went down instantly. The
frightened passengers rushed on deck in their
nightclothes, and the scene was indie
scfibable. Women went into hyster-
les and men refused to move The women
especially objected 10 being doomed vessel.
Some who could have been saved absolute
ly refused to bulge an inch Those who chung
TO the bottom of the eapsized boat all night
suffered terribly from icy cold water, though
the sea was calm Nevertheless they did not
lose heart Out of l67 souls only "A were saved,
if the other 20 were not also picked up. The
bark also went down with II souls.