Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1884-05-09
TELLING THE TALE.
Story of the Sinking of the State of
Florida.
HOW DID THE ACCIDENT OCCUR
Graphic Details of the Wreck as Given by
the Surgeon Of the Sunken Steam
er---Thirt-FiVe Hours With
out Food or Water.

foot of Canal street, New York, at nine
o'clock on the morniug of April II, bound
for Glasgow She carried So passengers in
her cabin, so in her steerage and crew OF
81 men and one stcwardess. The vessel
proceeded on her course, meeting with no
special incident for six days. About ten
o'clock on the evening of April Is" says
the doctor, Il was sitting in my cabin read
ing. l had been on deck not long before
and noticed that it was clear, starlight
night Suddenly l heard the clang of
the gong in the engine-room, signaling
the engineer to back the en-
CINE at full speed and at the same time
| there was a confused tramping about the
| deck. | hastened on deck and there saw
the spars and canvass of big sailing ship
heading directly for. us. Her port (red)
| light was distinctly visible. The men about
| the deck yelled 'Collisonr Collision! The
| next moment, as our ship rolled to star
! board on a big wave, the other crashed into
us. striking us nearly amidShips on the star
board side. The shock completely de
| moralized every one. The men cried Take
| to the boatsI but many were too badly
| frightened to help themselves even after
| some of the boats were safely in the water
| and the ship was going down too rapidly to
| enable those of the crew to do much toward
| saving any lives.
But One Woman Saved,
Miss MCFarlane, the stewardeSs was low
| cred into the boat, but no other woman was
on deck | got into one of the boats with
Others, andi very few minutes both vessels
sank out of sight Captain Hepburn and
| two Seamem of the sailing vessel were found
| clinging to some of the wreck of their YES
| sci and were picked mp by the boat l was
| in. We drifted about for two days, having
neither food nor water. There were forty
| four of us in our boat The weather re-
| maincd tolcrablv fiir, however, and We did
not suffer very badly, except for the cold,
some OF the survivors being very thlnly
| clad. In the meantime we separated from
| the other two boats that were launched.
| Captaia Hepburn told us that his vessel was
| the Pomona. a bark belonging to the Jar
| dine Bros, of Chatham, New Brunswick.
On the 20th we succeeded in attracting the
/ atttltlOn Oh lllt IbOhOul 1i luC -NOl
| bark Theresa, which was bound for Quebec
| from ChTssiana, and we were all taken on
board and kindly treated Two days later
we fell in with the bark Louise, of Cardiff
also bound for Quebec We were making
serious inronds into the provisions of the
| Theresa, and accordingly twenty people
were transferred to the Louise. and my
| shipmates remained on the Theresa until
| Nav }, when the steamer Titania Overhauled
| us and we were transferred to her, and here
| we are.
Other Survivors.
From what was learned from other Survi
| yors it is probable that the State of Florida
was 100 miles out from New York. In
the panic which followed the collision three
boats were lowered that foated How many
were in the others has not been aScertained,
but they drifted, slipped away and were not
seen again The steamer Titania brings in
twcnty-four of the saved including Surgeon
Steele The other twenty are on board the
| Theresa, on their way to- this city.
The third officer Of the State of Florida
James Allen, thinks the disaster occurred
| about l20 miles off the Irish caOSt The Sar.
| vivOrs remember with shudder the dash
for the boats as the ship went down amid
| the ShriekS and lamentations of the psSSel.
| gers Those on duty at the time remcmb r.
seeing red light flash for mement, fo'
| lowed by an instantaneous crash, after
which nothing but confusion followed. The
| steamer began to sink and hurried prepara-
| tiOns were made to launch the boats The
| bark went down instantancousy The
frightened passengers rushed on deck in
| the night clothes aud scenes Of indeScriba
be confusion enSued Women went into
mysteries and men refused to move. The
women especially objected to leaving the
| doomed vessel. some who could have been
easily saved absolutely refusing to bulge an
inch
How Could the Accident Occur on n Clear
Night?
The survivors of the State of Florida
| give very confused accounts of the collision
and offer no explanation of how such an ac-
oident could occur on clear night. They
were awakened BY the crash, and had barely
time to get into their boats. One gentle
man, when asked if the captain retained
his presence of mind, said he was entirely
too cool, and led people to think there was
no danger, thus preventing many from tax
ing proper measures to save themselves
The only woman saved was the stewardesS
She, like the other women, refused to enter
the boat but was forced into one by Chief
Engineer Balm, who, BY giving up his place
periShed when the steamer went down. A
passenger speaks of Third Officer Allen as
the only officer showing any capacity for
l NJ. lln,, I,,l,png 20 ,t-hat bn
thinks Of the action, but it is inferred he be
lieveS something was wrong on board. 1t
stated the boats were contrary to law, unpro-
vided with water casks or provisions, and the
survivors were nearly famished when
rescued. An official inquiry will speedily
be made.
| At Montreal.
| MONTREAL, May S.-The steamer Titania
arrived here at D o'clock this evening A
large number Of people met her at the
wharf The crew and passengers of the
State of Florida were taken ashore and
auartered at the Albion hotel Nothing
new as to the main facts was ascer-
tanned. Several striking incidents, how,
ever, weretold and the condnct Of the captain
of the city of Rome was severely cenSued
as the steamer passed not more than half a
mile from them and might have easily hove
to for short time and taken them all Of
the Bark Being asked to explain why so
few passengers were saved Mr.. Bennett
said it was all their own fault When
it is remembered that within fifteen
minutes after the collision the steamer wen;
down it could be seen that the suddenness
of the catastrophe prevented any being saved
except those who kept their wits about them
and iesped into boats Andrew n Steele
surgeon, Of Montreal. has made staten snt
similar to that of Bennett He also say'
the Captain blew three whistles when
the vessel was sinking. and upon being
asked his reason for this, said he was bidding
those in the boat farewell. aud tnat he wAa.eC
to show he was sticking to his vessel unit;
the last
Another ksiSaster.
Nxw YoRx. May s-Dspatchrs to Ii
agents in this ctr announce the wreck o