The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-07-20
SWEPT UNTO DEATH.
The Steamer Fulda Sinks a Large
Fishing Schooner.
Erom the Netr York World.


From the Netc York World.
There was missing link in the brief re-
port of Capt. Ringk of the North German
Lloyd steamship Fulda, which arrived from
Bremen and Southampton yesterday morn
ing. His report stated that the Fulda en-
countered dense fogs off the Banks of New
foundland, but tailed to relate
anything of the sad and perhaps
fatal consequences OF a collision on
the Banks, by which a large fishing boat
was sent to the bottom. The passengers,
however, supplied the missing link and told
the story yesterday with voices that still
| trembled with horror as they recalled the
awful sight.
Last Saturday morning about $3.50
o'clock, when the steamer was off the banks,
fog set in and shut out all but narrow
circle of sea about the vessel. The steamer
was running under reduced pressure and
the fog signals were being sounded mo-
mentarily. Faint rays of the morning sun
stole through the dark and thick banks of
clouds, while the loud peals of the steamers
fog bell were carried beyond the mist. Capt.
Ringk was particularly cautious and rlgidly
told his lookOuts to keep a sharp watch.
Suddenly one of his men cried out from the
bow:
ship aheadw
The warning came to late. The air was
suddenly filled with frantic shouts, which
caused all the passengers of the Fulda to
leave the breakfast table and rush excitedly
to the deck. An appalling sight met their
gaze Directly in front of the steamer was
fishing schooner lying at anchor calmly
awaiting the fatal blow. The engines were
reversed, but the time was too short to
check the momentum. An almost imper-
ceptible shock soon followed, and the sharp
bow of the Fulda went right through the
frail fishing schooner, severing her in two
pieces, which scraped for a few minutes
along the iron hull and were then left far
astern. The work of destruction occupied
| only few seconds.
The scene that followed beggars descrip-
ton. The hardy fishermen, who wore red
| shirts and red caps, loudly shouted the
Gave Maria" while some of them frantic
ally endeavored to climb upEthe steamers
side, but slipped back into the water before
assistance could be given them. While the
steamer swept through the schooner twenty
| or thirty of the fishermen could be seen
rushing from the cabin to the deck of the
sinking schooner. They sprang into the
| rigging, valnly endeavoring to escape an
| almost inevitable DOOM Before the ag Oniz-
| ing eyes of the Fulda'S passengers, amid the
| plaintive cadence of the poor fishermen's
| Ave Maria the little schooner, now cut
in two, with its heroic crew clinging to the
rigging, suddenly disappeared. The cruel
| and deaUh-dealing mist cast an lmpenetra-
BILE covering over the wreck of the unfortu-
nate fisherman, and 1t cannot be said
| whether the whole band of fishermen per
| ished. The passengers on the Fulda who
witnessed all this, say that to their dying
| days they will never forget the awful pic
ture of death which was shown to them for
those few minutes and was then shut out
| forever by the curtain of fog.
As soon as the Fulda could be brought to
standstill Capt. Ringk Immediately
turned around, and for over an hour
searched for the wreck and its victims. The
| fog, still dense and thick, refused to dis
close them, and reluctantly the officers OF
the Fulda resumed their voyage The
officers said the wrecked fishing smack was
a large two-masted schooner of the regula-
ton style of the bank schooner. AS far as
could be observed she carried sixteen
dories, which were hoisted on her decks
when she was struck. Her sails were
furled, and only the lookout and several
other men were on deck. The fate of the
men is unknown. 1t may be that they
were rescued by some other fishing
schooner, for Capt. Ringk says, judging
| from the peals of fog-horns which he heard
when searching for the men, he concluded
| that he was in the midst of an immense
feet of fishing smacks. The disaster occa-
stoned universal sorrow aboard the vessel,
but the officers say that they are not re-
sponsible, as every precaution was OBJ
served.
Dr. A. L. Fuller Phi D., a distinguished
philologist, who with his wife, is Just re-
turning from a three years visit to the
German universities, was an eyewitness of
the disaster. The doctor also said al
though the Fulda was only going at half
speed we were running too fast to avoid
collision if anything lay in our path. The
officers of our steamer felt very badly that
such thing should have happened. They
had their watch on the lookouts as usual,
but heard no sounds of a fog-signal until
the steamer was upon the fishermen.