Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-04-15

| Won Erhard at once ran the Olga aground ON
| the mud hats In the eastern part of the harbor
without loss OF life, and she was subse-
quently foated and proceeded to SYDNEY.
y. =. W., to repair the slight damages
! sustained The Trenton after the COL
! lision with the Olga. drifted toward the Van
| daila, and for time il seemed certain she
would crush into that vessel and send to the
Dol'om the sailors who were yet clinging to the
Rigging. As she approached the yandalia the
| crew OF the Trenton gave three cheers for the
Nandalla that rose above the fury of the gale.
and feeble cheer for the Trenton came back
from the Nandalia. The Trenton's band then
struck up The Star-Spangled Banner" and the
Americans on the shore answered the patriotic
AR with wild shouts of announcement
"hen the 1renton's stem finally struck the
side OF the gandalia there was no shock
and she gradually swung around broad
side to the sunken ship. As soon as the
shlps touched the men on the Vandalia
escaped 10 the Trenton, those in the miZzen-
rigging Just IN time, for the last one left the
yards the mizZenmast Of the Vandalia fell, Sun
Gay morning, though the water was still very
fough, the men were gotten ashore with the
heip OF the natives, whose efforts were directed
Dy hing Mataafa, who came down from his
camp for the first time in several months By
noon there were nearly 800 American sailors on
the streets Of Apia. besides several hundred
more from the German ships. The sailors soon
commenced drinking, and Vice-Consnl Black
lock issued peremptory notice to all saloon
Keepers forbidding them to sell or furnish
] liquor to the American sailors
RECOVERING THE BODIES OF THE DROWNED.
A dispatch from Sydney, N. S. W., says that
the steamer Lubbock has arrived there from
] Apia, which she left April 2 The Lubbock re-
ports that the Nipsic is so badly injured that it
| is doubtful whether she will be able to return
! to the United States. Divers discovered that
1 her keel had been carried away.
| Hing Matdafa came down from his camp a
4 IL @l...l L
| own people he offered to vacate all the Samoan
! houses in Apia and allow the American sailors
i to have Use of them. Admiral Kimberly
| thanked Mataafa warmly but stated to him il
would be almost impossible to control the men
If they were scattered around among the native
I houses.
Although 146 men lost their lives during tho
storm, there have not been more than 40 bodies
recovered. For the first day or two bodies of
Americans were buried in Cemetery con-
nected with the London mission and the bodies
of the Germans were buried in the French
Catholic cemetery. but it soon became impos-
slble to identify the bodies and owing To the
warm climate, II was necessary to bury them
where they were found. Some of the bodies
were terribly mutilated by beating for hours
against the coral reefs. Paymaster Arms body
was recovered two DAYS after the storm 1t
was Ill terrible condition. and was buried in
the mats where it washed ashore Some of
the natives also found body about the same
tline four miles up the coast, and from the de-
serlpuon which they gave. it was believed to be
that OF Capt. SchoOnmaker, but the Identified
ton was not positive. The bodies of Lieut.
sutton and Pay Clerk Roach have not been re-
covered. On Friday, March 90. the Germans
held memorial services at the French Catholic
church Many American officers were present
The American memorial services were held SIM
! day. March "a. in large yard in which the
trenton men have their quarters. The services
were very PREF, and were conducted by Cham
! lam McAlllster, of the Trenton None of the
German officers attended
The screw steamer ROckton. of 1 1873 tons
Will proceed from Sydney to Samoa. where she
Will take on board the crews of the wrecked
American war-shIps and will convey them to
San Francisco
The above particulars of the great storm were
! brought to San Francisco by the steamship AL
ameda, which left Sydney on March 90 and
reached San Francisco SATURDAY. morning The
Alameda took on board at Apia Sc wounded
seamen, also Lieut. Ripley and 30 wounded sea-
men, to come up on the Honolulu steamer The
Alameda brought the following naval cadets
from the man-of-war Trenton: r. Stocker. F.
w hebbs, Il. I. Decker. L. W. Wells. W. s.
Cloke. u. ". Logan and r. jackson, and Naval
cadets ii. A. Wiley, L. A. Stafford and ]. A.
Lejune, of the yandalia.
TALK WITH ADMIRAL KIMBERLY.
The American officers who were saved lost
their uniforms and were dressed as common
sailors; Admiral Kimberly was the last to
leave the flagship Trenton. He went at once
to some rooms which had been provided for
him IN the house of an American resident. To
the Associated Press correspondent he expressed
hls great sorrow 1T the terrible disaster which
had overtaken his fleet. He said: In all NV
experience on sea / have never seen q storm to
equal this one. | can hardly realize vet the
full extent of damage which has been done.
My chief anxiety now is to get these 500 or 900
sailors back to America. The fires of the Tren-
ton went out at 10 o'clock in the morning and
our rudder and propeller were carried away at
the same time. The great volumes Of water
poured IN upon the berth deck through the
hawse-pipes, the fire-room was soon flooded
ana the fires were put out. The hayse-pipes
should never have been placed where they
were. IL was piece of faulty construction
which the government officials had been ask ed
TO remedy several times If they had been
located on the deck above, the water would not
have come IN. | consider this as indirectly the
cause of the loss of the Trenton"
Working parties are kept busy all the time
on the wrecks of the Trenton and yandalia
ana articles of every description are washed
ashore from the vessels and piled together in a
large yard. Divers have been at work. and
many articles were saved in that way The
safes from both vessels, containing large
amounts of money were recovered The
smokestack of the Nandalia has been removed
ana 1t VIII be placed on the Nipsic as the latter
snip lost her smokestack in collision with the
Olga. '''o
yINDTcATIoN OF AMERICAN OFFICERS
The San Francisco Chronicle, commenting on
the details of the wreck of the American and
German war ships at Apia, saws: This ac-
count settles all doubts in regard to the re-
sponsibility of the disaster; it proves that Amer
lean and German commanders did everything
that good seamanship could do to save their
vessels, and that the escape of the British shin
Calllope was owing to the great strength of her
engines. American officers proved their claim
to superior seamanship. and the saving of the
crews OF the Trenton and Nipsic was due to the
sk1llful handling of those vessels"
Mr.. Dunning, correspondent of the associated
press III Samoa, who wrote the above account
OF the storm and its results, was the only news
paper man who witnessed the disaster
THE POLITICAL SITUATION UNCHANGED.
The correspondent says the political situation
remains about the same it was before the
storm. The hostile parties retain their former
eneampments. The German consul, DR.
knappe, is still pursuing a spiteful course.
which has always characterized his administra-
lion OF affairs there. The associated press cor
respondent had an interview with Mataafa and
the principal chiefs prior to the storm in regard
| 10 the proposed conference III GERMANY
ming Mataafa discussed the matter freely but
answered All inquiries with great elaboration.
WINE Ne old not seem to believe that the con-
] ference would have any beneficial results SO
lar as the native Samoans were concerned he
expressed strong desire that the American
anu BRUSH representatives might be able Tn
chect soiutlOh OF the present difficulty and
ies'oIe the former Samoan government ana in