Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-02-28

The story of Her FOundering OF the
Florida Coast as Told by the Crew-A

The story OF her EOunder1ng on the
Florida Coast as Told by the Crew-A
sad Tale of Suffering at Sea.
A terrible story OF the handships to
which sailors are exposed was told by the
arrival in the city yesterday of a portion
Of the shipwrecked crew of the Inflated
steamer America, whose loss of the
Florida coast, on Feb. IL, was reported in
the NEWS several days ago. Nine of the
crew reached Savannah yesterday morn
ing. They were weary, haggsrd and de-
jected-lOoking men, with weather-beaten
countenances, and were dressed in dilapi-
dated clothing. They went at once upon
their arrival to the office of DR..
E. II. Nichols, assistant surgeon
of the Marine Hospital. Some
Of them were sick and scarcely
able to travel, and several were suffering
from severe bruises and contusiOns. They
were anxious to secure transportation to
their homes in New York and Baltimore.
Their names are Daniel Finn, John j.
O'Neal, Hugh McIver, Oscar Stromberg,
stephen BrinbOse and Samuel Thurlett,
Of New York; John Layerty and John
Snee, of Baltimore, and Charles Matte
sen, of Chicago. After DIR. Nichols had
ATTENDED. TO their medical wants
they were taken to the Mayors office
and made application for assistance
to enable them to get home. Mayor Les
| ter succeeded in arranging transportation
bv the Ocean Steamship Company fer
those desiring to 90 to New York, and the
Merchants and Miners Transportation
| Company for those whose homes are in
| Baltimore, for s. each, which the city
agreed to pay. The New York men sailed
on the City of Augusta last night.
THE STORY OF THE WRECK.
Four of the men were seen by a
! NEWS reporter, to whom they narrated a
| graphic description of their experience.
| On Wednesday morning, Feb. II, all was
| apparently going well, when the vessel
was struck by a terrific nOrther.
She was heavily loaded with
sugar for Fernandina, and was off the
| Florida coast, about % miles north OF
| Jupiter Inlet. The wind was blowing a
gale and the vessel was cast about like d
| feather by the heavy seas and resistless
wind, and every timber in her staunch
| sides creaked until she shook from stem
| to stern. Although the America had
! braved many storm, successfully battled
| with the widest seas and had the conf
dence of her crew, yet the men knew that
| she was growing old, and as the storm
| grew fiercer and the waves increased in
volume, fear of a disaster brought look
| of dismay into every face. 1t was not
! long until it was discovered that the vessel
| had sprung a leak, and the pumps were
| Immediately put to work, even ybOdy on
| board working with a Will to save her.
| The water gained rapidly in spite of the
| best efforts of the crew, aud portion of
! the
CARGO WAS THROWN OVERHEARD
! 10 tighten her. The water continued to
| pour through a frightful rent in the YES
4 h
! the time the leak was discovered the en-
! CINE room was flooded and the fires were
| put out.
| AT 10 O'Clock in the morning it was evil
/ dent that the America was lost. The en-
| CINE could be used no longer, and Capt.
! +. G.. Miller. who commanded the vessel,
| determined to beach her, and ordered up
! all sail. At IL O'Clock she was stranded
/ and Immediately commenced to go
TO pieces. The boats were lowered
| and the crew took to them at
once, leaving all their effects, except the
| clothes they wore, behind them. The sea
/ was still very heavy, and they were then
| about p miles from shore. After a
/ desperate pull at the oars, the crew
4 finally succeeded in reaching land. The
! waves were dashing savagely against the
/ beach, and landing was difficult mat
I ter, several of the meG being more or less
/ injured in the effort to get ashore. The
| crew were
AT LAST SAFELY LANDED.
One of them said the feelings of relief
he experienced when he once more felt
solid ground under his feet could be better
imagined than described. Two days after
they had been safely landed the vessel
had entirely disappeared.
The men found themselves on a barren
beach without food and some of them with
FROM
injuries received during their battle with
the waves for life. They were 10 miles
from any place were food could be had in
sufficient quantities, and already eX-
hausted with their labOrs on board the ship
and at the oars in the boats. None of
them had any money. and the prospect
was a diScouraging one. One of them
said IT appeared to him that New York
was about as far away as the North star.
Capt. Miller and his first officer deter
mined to remain at the scene OF the
wreck to see if anything
could be recovered. The rest of
the crew. II in number. under command
of the second mate, Oscar StrOmberg,
started to work their way to New York as
best they could. They concluded if they
could get to Jacksonville they could OBJ
tain assistance, and started out TO walk
to that city, a distance of near 200 miles,
leaving the place at which they landed
two DAYS after they reached shore. They
walked most of the way, and begged what
they got to eat. Fortunately the weather
was pleasant most of the time, and they
experienced little suffering from the cold.
They generally met with kind treatment
from the people along the route, but there
were times when they suffered from hun
ger. and occasionally they were compelled
to camp out because they could not find
place TO sleep.
Arriving at Jacksonville. five OF them
succeeded in securing passage to Charles
ton by boat, the others came to Savannah
by rail, leaving Jacksonville Thursday
night and arriving here yesterday MORN
ing. John LayeTty aud John Snee will
leave for Baltimore Monday; the others,
as already stated, have already gone to
New York.
THE VESSELS HISTORY.
The America was commanded by Capt.
+. c. Miller. She sailed from New York
on Jan. S last, in ballast, for Baltimore.
Prior to sailing she had, in accordance
with the wishes of the underwriters, I'M
dergone a general overhauling and repair
ing. At Baltimore she loaded for Havana
with a general cargo, large portion OF
which consisted or heavy machinery. She
was unable to take all the cargo assigned
tn her, and when she sailed, on Jan. 90
she was unusually heavily laden. She
arrived safely at Havana and sailed
thence to Cardenas. There she took in
cargo of bag sugar for Fernandina, Fla.
Her crew at the time of sailing consisted
OF Capt. Miller, Chief Officer Colsen,
Second Officer Stromberg, Chief Engineer
Harris, Assistant Engineer Rowe, two
firemen, two cOalpassers, one Oiler, four
seamen, one cOlored steward and one col
Ored cabin bOy-siXteen hands all told.
The next news received of the vessel
was the dispatch to the News setting
forth that she had foundered on Feb. IL,
and that her crew had succeededin reach
ing the Florida coast.
The America was Of 500 tons gross bur-
den or Whereabouts; she had two decks,
was schooner rugged, and drew about
Is feet of water.
She was built in Portland, Conn, in
1868. She was valued at about $4,000,
and was owned partly in New York and
partly in Canada, and was insured for
little more than half her value. She was
chartered for the present trip by W. ID.
Munson. OF New York.
Capt. Miller, her commander, is %
years old, and the America is the first
vessel of which he has been master.
The Inauguration
is causing a great stir, but it does not