The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1886-12-12
FIVE HEROES DROWNED.

Save Othcrs.-A Rescue Party
CapSizcd in Il Heavy Sea and Bat
Ting for Two Hours IN rho Water
-Unavailing Efforts TO Save Them.
NEW YORK. December S.-The steamer
Knickerbocler. OF the Cromwell Line,
arrived this morning from New Orleans
with only two officers and two scamen
remaining Of the crew Of three officers
and six sailors with which she left port.
The first officer and four scamcD had lost
their lives III brave effort to render as
sistanCe 10 disabled vessel. Captain
Frank kempie tells this story Of the sad
affair:
AT about : O'Clock Tue, SHAY morning.
when some fifty miles south uf the Della
ware Breakwater. wc sighted n schooner
flying the ensign Union down rs signal
Of distress, AMI we altered orr course TO
Iun near her. She proved TO H. the
Mary j. Cranmer, bound for Philadcl-
I delphia. The captain explained that his
rudder was disabled ana he asked Us 70
/ send boat to him for line IL was
blowing hard from the northwest at the
| time and a heavy sea was running. We
! lowered one of our iifo-hnats and First
/ Officer Henry. as brave sailor as ever
/ walked a deck, with four able s,amen.
/ volunteered to man the boat ana went TO
/ the schooner for line.
UPSET N a HEAVY SEA.
When the boats crew had taken "a
line and started TO return To the steamer
the wind suddenly shifted to the north
/ west and blew n gale. THIS made an
ugly cross sea and blew the boat out Of
/ her course, and in trying To get her head
! up toward the steamer they were caught
! by q great wave and CapsiZed They had
been paying ont line from the boat 20 the
/ schooner, but when the boat turned over
/ the line was lost. Mr.. Henry and the
four men chung 70 tine CapsiZed boat and
/ managed To right her, hut she YVES full!
of water and could not hc handled We
tried u get near enough 10 throw them
a line, Int the kuickerhOCker was lightly
1 laden and rode so high out "f water that
the wind and seas continually beat her
off ID made it impossible IL get near
! the boat.
| BATTLING FOR LIFE
"While we were irving TO reach the IN
| the boat was again overturned hy the
seas, and the poor fellows W, re- seen
struggling in the water for their lives.
/ They succeeded in righting the boat once
more and chung to the sides. IL was
impossible to get out another boat. ne
cause we had only two seamcu left and
/ they could not handle n heavy lifc-hOat
in such sea a was then running. The
I only thing TO DO was To steam around
and try 10 get line to the unfortunate
| boat crew. The schooner was drifting
hclrlcssly TO the leeward and her crew
could render no assistance. The steamer
had 70 make long turns in the attempt
10 ran near the drifting boat. and could
not be srCered closely enough in such
| weather 70 make the attempt at all Ger
tain. Four times the men in the water
righted their boat and were carsizrd
The water was cold ami driving rain
made the air still colder. but they main
tanned their battle for life nearly two
hours.
FRUITLESS EFFORTS Tea RESCUE.
AT last we got near enough 10 throw
them line, but they were so exhausted
and benumbed by cold that thew could
not grasp it, and when we came about
again they had disappeared. The boat
was washed up against the steamer :
side by the waves, and We succeeded IN
getting hold of it and turning it right
side up. Mr.. Henry had dashed himself
TO the boat and ne was found floating
under it, but he wGs dead. The BODY
was taken aboard and the boat east
adrift. The four scamCn had been una
bic to cling 10 the boat any longer and
were washed away and drowned
The lost first mate, y. j. Henry. was
we'll known 10 shipping men. having
been commander of some large sailing
vessels in the California trade and ~ one
time captain of a steamer OF the Crom-
well Line. He was always called Cap
tain Henry. lie was - yeas old and n
resident of Thomaston, Me-, where his
wife and two children live. The lost
seamen were John Johnson. George Har-
ris. Fred johnson and William Meiz,a-
ten, all Germans and young. unmarried
men. IL is not know that they have
any relatives III this country.