The Portland daily press., 1884-07-15

IL
tie gives two blBsts, Of five seconds duration,
with an interval Of five seconds. In the heavy
fogs that somesimes prevail in the neighbor-
hood the sound Of the whistle is heard only to
distance of a few miles away.
The Passengers.
Among her passengers were tho following
from Maine: d. Dolay, @. W. Livey, Mrs. M.
Blades of Portland; J. Wetherbee, Eastport;
Miss Jost, Calais; Miss Eva Love, Eastport.
9ME PASSENGERS STORY.
Cap. VIM. HI vining,
Inspector of Fisheries, said / was one Of the
passengers. When we left Eastport, 1t was
foggy until We got as far as Head HARDER, but
from that place to Point Lepreaux it was very
dense. At the time of the disaster / was on
the deck talking to @. III. Fletcher, and it was
a singular circumstance that we were discuss
ing the loss of the steamers Falmouth and City
of Portland. l myself heard the whistle of the
fog alarm previous to the steamer striking.
When felt the shock L rushed to the side,
and much to my surprise saw the lighthouse.
-Four seconds previcgslT it had not been visi-
Bile. That may appear strange, but when you
consider the fact that we were going at full
speed, and the tide was carrying US, we should
have travelled quite distance in that little
time. In addition to this, / think the fog lift
ted little just at that moment. l believe
that owing to atmospheric influences the sound
of the whistle was not heard as correctly as u.s.
ual, and that therefore, the officers were mis-
led. After the catastrophe there was not any
confusion, and officers and men wera at their
places. The first idea twas that the vessel had
struck small vessel. Nothing could surpass
the solicitude of the officers for the passengers,
and Capt. Pixies conduct is beyond all praise.
All the passengers effects were rescued before
any steps were taken to save anything belong
ing to the officers or the ship.
Miss Baker,
of Wentworth, N. S., stated: / was a passen-
ger on the steamer and was on her when the
disaster occurred. There was in the first place
a little fright at the terrible shock, but the
GOODNESS and presence of mind displayed by the
officers soon served to allay any fears that were
entertained. am not good judge of time,
but think itlwas about fifteen minutes before
the first boat was got off loaded with women
and children. We tried to get ashore on the
starboard side Of the steamer but had to come
back and land at the lighthouse keepers land
ing place. This delayed us SO that although
we were the first to leave the vessel we we're
the last to land. All the officers and crew did
everything in their power to make us comfort
able when we got on land. We could not have
been better treated.
G. III. Fletcher
said: am member of the st. John fire de-
partment and at the time of the disaster [ was
on deck talking to VIM. H. Venning when we
heard the crash caused by the vessel striking
the rocks. 1T appeared to me as If there were
three shocks, the second and third being more
violent than the first / Immediately offered
my services SO as to help get the other passen-
gers ashore and took charge of one of the life
RATS. l think it was about ten minutes be.
fore that was launched and there were eight
passengers on it. There was not at any time
any confusion and great presence of mind wal
displayed by the passengers and crew. The
officers were GOODNESS itself and did everything
that was in their power.
Miss Eva Archibald,
Of Boston, stated there was not at any time
any confusion; everything was managed as
well as could be. The demeanor of the officers
and crew served to prevent any panic. I
think the passengers owe them a deep
debt Of gratitude for the way they
inspired confidence at such trying time We
were all very comfortable in the tents when
they were erected, until about or O'Clock on
Sunday morning. when it came on to rain, and
after time the water penetrated the canvas.
As many of us as could then took refuge in
the houses OF Mr.. Thomas and Mr. Gallant
played by these two families; they even gave
mp their beds to some of the passengers. @
Y. Fleming,
of Boston, said L was a passenger by ths:
State of Maine, and at the time she struck
was on the saloon deck. The first shock was
as If she had hit boulder, but the second one
raised the flooring of the decks. At the time
OF the disaster l think the steamer was going
from IA to 10 knots sn hour.
THE AUTHORITIES NARRATIVE
AT LEPREAUx.
w. A. Gallant
stated: have charge of the fog whistle at
Point Lepreauy. The whistle was started at
IL 30 p. M, focal time, ON Friday and has
continued from that time until now q a. M
Sunday At 2.15, local time, on Saturday
afternoon the whistle was blowing. For some
time previous to that / had heard the sound of
the whistle of a steamer blowidg aud this was
followed by the unusual sound of constant
blowing of the whistle. at once knew that
something was wrong and I ran to the shore
where saw the State of Maine had struck on
the point. Immediately launched boat and
rowed to the vessel, asking if / could be of any
assistance, bat as my hail was not answered
owing to the sound of her whistle pulled
back to the shore. My assistant then went
down to the scene OF the wreck and rendered
all the assistance he could. This is the entry
on my record book: "2.15 p m. stmr. State Of
Maine struck about 200 or 800 yards S.W of
where the whistle is sounding with a pressure
of IS pounds" At the time of the disaster the
fog was of its usual density, but it might have
have been thicker below the point. At $50 D.
m. was relieved by my assistant, James
nelly, anu iIom Lndb Glme was at WORK all
night helping at the wreck and seeing to the
comfort Of the passengers. Several of the
passengers were accommodated in my house.
Has there ever been wreck here before? do
you say. Yes, think it was in 1872, that the
Rolling Wave, a woodboat schooner, was
wrecked in the lighthouse keepers landing.
James Kelly,
the assistant light house keeper, said: AT the
time of the catastrophe / was on top of the
light house, but 1 did not see the steamer be-
fore / heard the noise caused by the crash
against the ROCKS. The whistle OF the steamer
had been heard for some time previous and we
were on the lookout for her. went down to
render her all the assistance could until 1
had to relieve W. A. Gallant at the fog
whistle. There was not any confusion on board
the steamer.
w. d. Durham
SAL: was on shore on Saturday afternoon
playing croquet in the garden of Mr. Thomas
house with one of his daughters. I suddenly
saw the vessel looming in the distance, and I
remarked to my companion: sShe is going to
strlE5." Immediately after made the obser-
vatpn she did strike with 8 Tremendous crash.
l went off with Gallant and subsequently rem
dertd all the assistance in my power Befere
saw.he steamer [ had heard her whistle.