Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-01-27
THE CITY OF COLUMBUS.
Divers Examining the Wreck-The State
Rooms Carried Away-NO More Bodies
DiscOvered-The New Theory of the
Wreck Discredited.

Rooms Carried Away-NO More Bodies
DiscOvered-The New Theory of the
Wreck Discredited.
A special dispatch from New Bedford.
Mass, to the New York Times gives an
account of. an inspection of the wrecked
steamer, which took place on Thursday.
1t says: SIN spite of the unfsvorable
weather and high sea running to-day.
three divers were sent into the wrecked
City of Columbus. and their discoveries
settle to some extent some important
points. Seven tugs or steamers went out
to the wreck. a diver to look for dead
bodies In the interior of the wreck was
carried out by the Storm King. Another
WAS taken by the George w. Hunt to ex-
anime the wreck in the interest of the
Boston underwriters, and the third was
taken by the Thomas A. Scott. OF New
London, to make an examination in the
| interest OF the New York underwriters.
The Storm Kings diver, W. d.
Duncan, went down into the wreck by
the main rigging on the port side, and re-
mained under water for about half an
hour. On his return he reported that the
state-rOOms were all gone. thus upsetting
the theory that the port state-rOoms were
i'm tact, with the bodies Of their drowned
occupants still i'm them. He also reported
that the main deck was mainly swept away
an that only parts of the cargo were to
TO be seen. There might he a body or two
caught in the tangled cOrdage or accumu-
lated debris, but there was no such tier of
them as had been looked for. The hull
was pretty much Quilted. Even some of
! the iron cTOSs-beamS were broken. The
! diver found il unsafe to work long in the
wreck on account of the rOughness of the
sea. The water pouring over the decks
and then rushing out with the ebbng
waves made such an eddy that it almost
swept the man off his feet, and filed the
waves with dirt and sediment. The
! diver descended at slack water, the
! best time for making an examination.
Capt. John Alsen. the diver making eX.
animation for the Boston underwriters.
! descended by the main rigging OIL the
starboard side on to the sandy bottom by
! the vessels side. He was not commits
! stoned to search for bodies and made no
effort to find them. No bodies were seen
| on the starbOard side, and no search was
made on the other side. The hull of the
vessel was in very good shape, The Or
namental work above the main deck was
swept away, but the iron hull was but
little injured except for the large hole in
the bow end. The vessel rests upon a
sandy shoal. The bow struck a large
boulder and broke in two pieces. There
may be a boulder or two on the port side,
but none was seen. Capt. Alsen re-
| malned under water about an hour and a
quarter, and made a thorough eXami-
nation Of the starbOard side of the wreck.
He met the diver making examinations
for the New York underwriters and shook
hands with him under the water.
Capt. Townsend, of the TUG George w
Hunt. is not yet convinced that there are
no bodies in the wreck. He believes that
careful examination of the steerage
might disclose some, and that others may
be entangled amid the rigging. His
statement is that the stSrbOard rooms are
undoubtedly gone. This would seem to
indicate that the entire mass of state
rooms had been swept out OF the hull.
Capt. Townsend, however, does not feel
perfectly certain that the rooms on the
port side have been tirely swept away.
The patrol is still maintained on Martha's
Vineyard.
The theory that the City of Columbus
| first struck on a sunken ledge. the lOca-
| tiOn of which has just been discovered 400
| yards from the buoy, is not generally
| credited by sea-faring men here. 1t is
| reasoned from the position oil the wreck
that the vessel remained within II few feet
of where she received the fatal blow. That
| this was on the edge of the DEVILS Bridge
! IGuEt. but lnhCOLlRdbtOIo Vi AD-udy ~ Ao
| contended prove. She is, moreover, headed
/ on the cour southwest by west. Rocks
| exist outside the DEVILS Bridge, but re.
cent soundings show that they lie below
! AZ fathoms of water, while the City oi
| Columbus drew only II feet. The Devils
Bridge, instead OF being mass OF rock,
consists of a few large bOuders on d
sandy foundation. No more bodies were
found to-day.
George Rowland, Jr., advances the the
ory that the officer in charge of the City
of Columbus ought to have known by the
apparent altitude of Gay Head light that
he was too near it. 1t is 10 feet above
The sea level, and at the distance of three
quarters of mile it would appear to be
at height of about two and a half de-
grees, or five times the apparent breadth
of the SUMS or moons disk-that is, il
would look to be five times as high as the
upper limb of the sun when the lower
limb touches the horizon.