Daily Republican., 1888-08-23

| oAA RAAAbLbOOa aug Ha.--One Gt thl
m ct terrible marine disasters tlat hai
ever occurred on tbs Paeiac Coast ap
pened .. about 10 0a.m TO day IN ~,
Bay Of San FraDci i,eo, At seor, q St,pcs
from the Golden Gate. The e'e,meI
City OF Chester left her dock At 9.31 AM
9 arted on ter regular trip to Eureka, on
the Northern coast Of California. An
unusual J large lumber of passengers
stood on her deets and waved SdIe1 n
friends on tho wharf. The Chester
steamed slowly down The bay, and when
within two miles Of the heads tncoun-
tered thick fog. G plain Wallace be
gan to blow his whistle TO warn all yes
sells OF his approach.
The Chester proc eeded caution ly on
her course TIL OF Port Point, when the
hoaree sound Of another WbiG,le floated
AefosS the water. Captain WALLACE
AnsWered the signal ami gave prooer
warning 70 the stranger to pass on the
port side. This was evidently rot un-
derstood for In MON Mt those on board
saw the large prov Of the Occidental and
Oriental Steamer Oceanic emer. e from
the log. The DC anie had Just arrived
from HonR-Kong and Yokohama, and
was moving up the bay TO her dock The
nuRe steam'r was so close TO the Chester
that there was no possibility for the lat
ter TO escape. The cabin passeppers
were nearl All on dcef and the captain,
seeing the danger, called to them 70 pre-.
pare for the shock.
A panic ensued at once, particularly
among the women and child en-, of whom
there was large number. The Oceanic
struck the Chester on the port aide at the
ganKWRy and the shock WAS terrific,
Her PROV cut into the Chester's upper
works and then crushed down the bull
wsrks teari7R thegreat Hmbers and iron
plates and breaking in o the state rooms
and cabin. The widest confusion pre-
vailed among the passengers, who crowd
ed toge her, s9me shrieklng with feA ?
and others praying for help. The bow Ci
the Oceanic crushed into the middle sec.
tion Of the City Of Chester, cutting her
almost into halves, and causing b TO
reel under the rrlble blow. When the
vessels v ere locked q number of the CITY
=, Naste . passengers were passed up
to the Clesausc and rescued in this way,
As soon - the large steamer could
clear heTselt. ,bs -ung around and Inn
mediAtely began TO lAunc- Dos Az
the moment Of the shock mos- Vi tue
officers and crew OF the City of Chester
seemed TO lose possession OF their sen,es.
and seVe al passengers stated afterwards
that some of the crew took the frat Cd
portunity TO climb aboard the Oceanic,
leaving the passengers to cut away the
boats. One OF these was lowered as
soon as possible and q number of pAssen.
ge's taken OF. Others provided them
selVea with life pr servers and jumped
~ n To-
ever, wire compelled to remain on the
steamer, which commenced 10 sluk im.
IN adlAtely after the collision,
Torrents Of water rushed into the hold |
and IN five minutes after the collision the |
City OF Chester had disappeared. She
sank In fifty fathOms of water, Those of
the passengers and crew who came to the
surface were picked up by the Oceanic's |
boats, but the greater number were drawn |
. Jwn by the rushing water and never
appeared again. As soon as 1t was known |
at the collision had occurred number
Of tugs and boats of all descriptions went |
10 the tcene and rendered what service
they could in picking up The living and
dead floating among the wreckBge.
The greatest 10 s of fe is believed to |
have occurred among the steerage passen-
gers, Of whom there we're twenty-three
IN board. Only two OF these were ac-
for late this afternoon. Tie
others are regarded as lest. They we e
IN the lower deck of the steamer at the
lime Of he collision and there was no
opportunity to warn hem Ct danger or
'ender them help afterwards. The cabin
passengers numbered seventy, and Of
hese ten are lest, Three Of the crew are
.lso lost.