Morning journal and courier., 1889-11-28
CAPTAIN PoTrRR,s STATEMENT


 The Fire Discovered on the 1esh when she Santiago Was Two Hun
 arsd and Eighty -Three milss From
 sandy Nook-How Panic was
 Aversod.
 NEW YoRx, Nov. 27.-Captain Potter, of the ill-fated steamship Santiago of the Wii-
 son line, which was destroyed by fire at sea on the night of Nov. 10, arrived at the
 steamship agents office at o:30 o'clock this morning. He, with the four passengers and
 the crew. were landed at the barge office from
 a tug which took them from their open
 beats. The A. J. Fuller lies off Bedloes
 leland and will be docked at Robinson's
 Stores, Brooklyn. at high tide to-day. As soon as Captain Potter had ceased to be con graduated by Mir. Ssnderson, the agent of the Wilson line, he presented his statement of the catastrophe, the peril experienced in 1 the lifeboats and their ultimate timely rescue by Captain Colcord and the good sailing ship A. J. Fuller.
 This is copy in part of Captain Potter's statement to the agent:
 "We left our dock here on the 17th. On the 18th we passed Sandy Hook, the sea be- ing smooth and the weather fine. At noon on the 18th we were 283 miles east of Sandy Hook. At 4:20 on the afternoon of that day we discovered smoke issuing from the seams and butts of the poop deck. The wind was southwest and the barometer was falling rap idly. In 0 few minutes smoke was seen pufiDg up from under the tarpaulins on hatches and 8.
 q took in the situation at once. con- suited my officers and we concluded that there was no time to be lost. The four pas- sengers wore in the saloon or on tho deck by this time. We wanted to avoid panic and we succeeded. It crossed my mind in . moment that coolness should be preserv- ed among the crew in order to do any good. The hatches were removed and blind ing volumes of smoke shot out. In twink ling we had five streams playing from az many hose on the burning cotton. "De. spite the streams of waiter, the flames soon spread under the hatches from side to side of the vessel. The cattle now began to show signs of uneasiness. They tried to burst out the side of their stalls, lashed their side with our axes we began tearing up the planking at the ships sides. At 8 o'clock we put the ship before the wind to lessen the draught. At 5:80 o'clock the weasel stopped. Her steering gear was burned away. From the engine aft all was in flames. The smoke blew in our faces, but we kept at our work. Every man was as cool as if he was on dry land. At 8:45 o'clock the beams of the aftsrdeck gave way and the deck fell in. "I then saw that we would have to adopt dernier resorts. I ordered the Iifeboats made clear of their davits and had them made ready at the lee bow. This was difficult task on account of the dark ness which had now set in, the high seas and the list to the ship caused by the water coming in. There was nothing left now for us but to lower the boats and man them. This was done at once, and I ordered them to lay to until daylight. Be- fore all hands had got into the boats the mainmast fell overheard. The wind had now increased to gale and the seas ran high, threatening to swamp us at any moment. Each boat had provisions to last about two days. To prevent laundering the life boats were headed toward the face of the gale. The rough seas compelled us to put away good distance from the burning ship. It was weird sight, that fine steamship go- ing up in flames In the Atlantic at night. It was well we put away a fair distance from tho. steamship. The cattle stalls having partly burned away, the maddened, half into the raging seas They snorted and beloved and made a terrible noise. If they had struck any of our boats in their madness and fright they would have swamped us. During the night the boats lost sight of each other. At daylight we saw the A. J. Fuller bearing down on us and our hearts leaped with joy. We began hugging each other.
 "It was difficult task, but the Fuller gathered us all up, and here we are. shall always remember the kindness of Captain Colcord and his amiabls wife, and the crow of the A. J. Fuller"