St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-11-12
CUT BY A CUNARDER.
The Umbria COllideS With the
Iberia Four Miles OF Long
Beach,
Carrying Away Her Stern and
Leaving the Vessel in a
Sinking Condition.
The Crew All Taken Off--The
Umbria Slightly In
jured,
But Her 700 Passengers Got
n H. IL
But Her 700 Passengers Got
Excited and Badly Shaken
Up.

New YORK, Nov. 1.-THE Cunard
steamship Umbria collided with the
Fabre steamer Iberia about four miles
off Long Beach hotel, just beyond
Rockaway, Saturday afternoon at lilo
o'clock. The Iberia was badly dam
aged, having her whole stern cut OIL
and the Umbria. after taking off the
crew of the Iberia of thirty men and
lying by the injured ship all night,
came up to the dock for repairs this
morning at II o'clock. When she left
the Iberia the latter was sinking badly
at the stern and it looked as if she
would go to the bottom before noon.
The Umbria was but slightly injured
and came back to her dock merely as a
precautionary measure, according to the
agent of the line, Vernon FL. Brown.
All the mark she bore of the ugly
wound she gave the Iberia was queer
triangular, ragged edged hole in her
collision bulkhead, In its largest di-
mensions about SIX feet by three feet.
The hole is just abaft of the extreme
bow and at its lowest point about five
feet above the water line. This is on
the starboard side. A small hole,
through which swallow might fly,
was also
PUNCHED IN THE PLATE
on the port side directly opposite. The
hole appeared to have been made by
the revolving screw Of the Iberia. The
story of the affair as told by Vernon H.
Brown, agent OF the Cunafd line, as he
got it from Capt. McMicken is as fol-
lows: 1.-The Umbria left her dock on
the North river Saturday morning, Nov.
IL, at 1O:45 O'Clock with 215 cabin pas
sengers, 81 intermediate passengers
| and 429 steerage, and a full cargo of
| about 1000 tons of general merchandise.
Sandy Hook was reached at 1912 p. M,
| and the pilot left at 1880 without in
| cident. The weather was hazy, and
was growing thicker all the time. AT
1:l0 the ship was slowed down on ac-
count of the thick fog. Aboutfiye min
utes later a steamers whistle was
heard on what appeared to be the star
board bow. Capt. McMicken was on
be growing nearer, the engines were
stopped altogether. At almost the next
moment strange steamer was seen
directly across the bows ahead, point
ing to the northward. The Umbria's
engines were Immediately ordered
REVERSED AT FULL SPEED,
but did not prove enough to neutraiiZe
ho ,l,,:o ct,. oIy
the stranger on the port quarter. carry
ing away a portion of the strangers
stern. Orders were Immediately given
to lower the boats and make an eX-
animation of the Umbria, which was
done, with the result as given already.
The examination showed tkat two
plates on the starboard bow had been
broken. Meanwhile the two steamers
drifted apart and lost trace of each other
for fully twenty minutes. Shortly after
getting nearer the first officer of the
crippled steamer got aboard. His name
is Guillot. He said the name of his ship
was the Iberia of the Fabre line. The
iberia had sailed from the Persian gulf
on Sept. 81 with cargo of dried fruit,
hides, coffee, etc. There were thirty
men in the crew all told, inclusive of
the officers. The Iberia had met with
an accident to the machinery, and had
been laying to make repairs for about
thirty hours. She had just got under way
when the accident occurred. The Iberia
was steamer of about 1000 tons regis
ter, and belongs in Marseilles, France.
She carried
NO PASSENGERS.
Her officers were Capt. Sangloes, first
officer, Guillot; second officer, Valery.
and three engineers, Pages, Lepage and
Durebuque, and crew composed of
Arabs, Greeks and miscellaneous ma
tionalities. Being in the middle of the
day there was great excitement among
the passengers OH the Umbria. The
blowing of the whistle of the strange
steamer had put everybody ON the qui
vive to see whence the sounds came and
when the Iberia lOomed out of the fog
the excitement grew apace among the
700 passen gers. Among the passengers
were Mr.. and Mrs. John w. Alexander.
child and maid; Hon. John Boyd
Thatcher, mayor of Albany; Thomas
Barring, the banker: Charles A. Miller,
George A. Brown, the broker: George
f. Grain, the banker: Edward Cooper,
Henry c. Kelsey, j. G. Munford and the
Farl of Norbury. Men were at once
put to work on the repairing OF the
damage to the Cunarder. 1t was an
all nights job. A plate of steel five
eighths of an inch thick will be placed
over the hole, which will be filled with
concrete, making the steamer as strong
as ever. Capt. McMickin, thoroughly
exhausted, went to bed when the Um-
bria was docked. He had had little
sleep for two nights. AT noon to-mor-
row the Umbyia expects to continue
her voyage to Liverpool, which was so
suddenly cut short.''
AN HOUR BEFORE
the collision, the UmbriaIbad narrowly
escaped another accident. The French
line steamer La Normandie, which was
also bound out, was running about par
allel with the Umbria, and the two
steamers could hear each others wlis-
ties at intervals. Suddenly the Nor
mandie's whistle sounded nearer, and
in few seconds the vessel came In
sight just before the Umbria's bow.
There were cries of alarm, but the
pilots on both steamers gave the proper
turn to their wheels and the vessels
swung away and in moment were out
Of sight again. Ex-Mayor Thatcher. of
Albany, says that the shock when the
Umqria struck the Iberia did not seem
at all cauara In Snito Of tho for