Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1889-04-26
THE SAMOAN DISASTER.
A NAVAL CADET OK THE TRENTON
GIVES INTERESTING PAR.
TICULARS,

GIVES INTERESTING PAR.
TICULARs.
CINCINNATI, April 20.-Naval
Cadet George Logan, son of Thomas
A. Logan, well-knOwn lawyer Of
this city, reached home last night.
"YOu know" said he, "that there
will surely be q court Of inquiry,
for the regulations call for one,
even when a ship only touches bot
tom, and as we must all, every man
who survived, appear to testy, |
must be careful what say. Well,
the Samoan Islands are in West
longitude, but we kept east lOngi.
tude time, so the dates Of the storm
as gave them to you, the 10Th, 10th
aud 18th. are nearly one day be-
hind time.
"During the afternoon of the
18th the barometer began to fall
rapidly and by . o'clock the next
afternoon had fallen to 300. Ar
hour later the storm burst upon us
aud it began to blow most violent
~, the wind being fully forty miles
an hour. Il came from north north.
west, and gradually shifted around
to north northeast. All the ships
in the harbOr sent down their up
per spars and either sent their an
chors down or got them ready for
letting 90. We all had steam mp.
Let me say right here that the
hurricane season there is from DE.
cember to March, and the indlca.
tions were such, ard there was no
reason to believe that the blow
would be of unusual violence.
at continued to blow very heavy
and at daybreak of the 10th the
German ship Eber was about to go
ashore. In a few minutes she did
so and was lifted by an enormous
wave and carried brOadside onto
the inner reef, where she went all
to pieces in a few minutes. The
largest piece left Of her was her
bow, and that was so small that
ten natives picked it up. or the
seventy-fOur souls on board only
one officer and three men were
saved. -Four Of her men were on
guard duty on shore and they also
escaped. Another German ship,
the Adler, was next to 90. She
struck on the same reef and was
hog backed.
"At nine o'clock that morning
Her MaJesty's ship CalliOpe was
seen driving onto the reef, and it
was evident to all that she too was
doomed. Sue was within q stones
throw of the reef and had only one
anchor left. Her only possible
chance to escape was to slip the re-
naming cable and to try to steam
out. This she did. 1t was the last
desperate resort and was only sue
cessful through the skill of her com.
mander and the fact that she was
a new, modern and powerful ship.
Her engines were put at "A speed
that In smooth water would have
driven her fourteen knots an hour.
As IL was she was driven against
those terrible seas for over an hour
before she got outside of the first
reef, which she barely escaped, and
during that hour she was only
forced ahead one knot. y little
misbap would have caused her
destruction.
"She was two days at sea and
experienced a most terrible time.
She was washed again and again
lost all her boats, part Of her spars
and upper works. As the speed Of
no other vessel in the harbOr ex-
ceeded ten knots it would have been
suicidal to have attempted to drive
them ont, as was the Calliope. This
explains away the slurs cast on the
bravery and skill OF our command
ing officers. The CalliOpe, in order
to keep to the channel in gong out,
steered direct tor the name on the
stern of my ship, the Trenton,
sheerng of only at the last mo-
ment to clear her. II was a mo-
ment of terrible suspense as we
saw the huge ram OF the Brltlsher
towering over our decks and max
inc direct for Us. It looked as il
she was going to cut rs in two, and
had she done so every one OF us
wOnld Lave been drowned tor a
certainty.
Gas she swung off, almost with
in touching distance, an inYOlun'
tary cheer was given her By our re-
prevel man, followed a moment
later by three cheers all together.
Afterward the captain Of the CALI
Ope stated that hose cheers saved
his vessel, az they put new hearts
into his men, who were ALMOST
ready to give up. AS she sheered
of Admiral Kimberly signalled, Il
have no fires" as the reason he
made no attempt to get out of the
way. After the storm our admiral
lent boats to the CalliOpe to coal
with and then gave one to her. In
return the British commander pre-
scented Admiral Kimberly with a
complete diving apparatus, ana
the officers of the CalllOpe present
ed to the officers of the Trenton
thirteen sheep. And welcome they
were, as we were living on canned
meats and cOcOanuts."
RETURN OF THE WOUNDED.
SAN FRANCISCO, April 2O.-The
steamer Umatilla arrived this
morning eight days from Honolulu,
having on board Lieutenant Ripley
aud twent, nine injured men of the
UnI;ed States steamers Nandalla
and Trenton, who were left at Hon
olulu by the steamship Alameda,
which arrived last week. They
were transferred to the hospital at
Marie Island Navy Yard this after
noon.
Came TO Life in his Coffin.