Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1886-08-05
TLL-FArsD isAEAsUAE Party.
story Of the Eranstc EIght for a.iso
in the Cabin.

Am hhAS Chnhhs
HIanLANps, N. j., July 3D.-lnitlligence
nos been received that IL sehuontr yacht
from Philadelphia upset near u e ;overn.
ment dock at Sandy Hook during tho storm
last night. Six ladies aud a youUg man
were drowned. The body Of one person
was recovered. The others arc supposed
to be In the cabin OF the yacht. Seven OF
the yachts party, who were found clinging
to the rigging after she eapsized, were res.
cued, by tug. The yacht is said to be the
Mary Craig.
PHrLApELPmA, Aug. 1.-The bodies of
Mrs. Stevens, her two daughters, Miss
Mamie and Mrs. Askins, Miss Emma
Merritt, Miss Maud e. Rettew and Mr..
Chester Clark, drowned in the capsizing
of the schooner Sarah CRAIG, arrived from
Long Branch this afternoon, accompanied
by Messrs. Potter, Buckley and Jordan,
three of the saved, and the sad party were
met at the depot by the remaining sur
ytvor, Mr.. f. W. Hall, who came here
last night to make preparations for the
transfer of the bodies to their homes.
A number of friends of the victims
were also at the station. The survivors
bore many marks of their dreadful ex-
perience, and Mr.. Buckley, who was
nearly lost after the others had been taken
off the capsized yacht, was quite badly
bruised. The body of Chester Clark was
considerably disiured, and told plainly
of his frantic efforts for life while in the
cabin below.
Captain Rutland, in his story of the dis
aster, says: GAN the women had gone
below to get out of the rain, and the
young men had come on deck to see il
they could help lower sail. We chung to
the port rail, away from which the awful
wind and hail threatened every moment
to tear us, with our feet ON the hatch
coamings, up to our waists in water. TIC
escape the volley of hailstones, which
battered against the bottom of the vessel
like bullets and bruised us whenever they
struck, we crouched down under the lee
of the rail.
GAN this time we heard the muffied
screaming of the women imprisoned in
the cabin. The gentlemen made every
effort they could to get at the women.
They tried to dive through the submerged
companion way, but the wind was toe
strong for them, and they had to give il
up. We could hear the women humping
on the inside of The cabin, and that drove
us nearly wild. We got big
fender and tried to break in
the cabin at the risk of being
washed away by the rising seas. Then
we sighted pilot boat about one-half
mile to leeward. We waved gossamer
on an oar and shouted for help, and they
sent over yawl with two men in it.
Mate Ferguson got in the yawl and
rowed to the big tug George w. Pride,
which was about half mile away, to get
IN Nyitla IN hal,. - n,
ladies'. II was then near dark, and the
gale had moderated to brisk wind.
''While Ferguson was gone, however,
the wind shifted and blew as hard as
before. The yawl, Ferguson tells me,
was swamped. II seemed like half an
hour between the two hurricanes, but l
hear it was only five or six minutes. The
tug Pride would not come to our assist
ance because her captain feared to leave
adrift the $50, 600 dredge he was towing.
But the tug William Oramp steamed ont
from the Hook to us. The colored
cook (Paris) jumped on the Cramp as she
came alongside of us. The young gentle
men might have got off at the same time,
but they said they would stick by the
ladies until they were all saved or drowned
together. The Cramp collided with us
several times, and was finally blown away
by the gale. She steamed back and threw
us line, which was made fast to the jib
traveller.
''The tug strained on the line about 10
minutes, when the traveller gave way, TAX
ing part of the bulwarks with it. The
humping on tho inside of the cabin and
the muffled screams which we had heard
now and then above the roaring of the
gale had ceased altogether by this time.
The sea was making clean breach
over the schooner. The tug Haviland
then hove in sight and came alongside.
1t was then pitch dark. Mr.. Potter, Lewis
Bowman, Sam Jones and myself watched
our chance, and with the help of the
crew of the Hayiland, got aboard of her
and were taken into the government dock
at Sandy Hook"
Miss Rettew was step-sister of Horace
Rettaw, an employee of the Delaware pulp
works, this city.