The morning news., 1889-04-14

shouting of the officers and men on board
| came family across the water and struck
| terror to the hearts Of a.all who listened. 1t
could be S cen that the vessels were drag
| ging as the lights were moving slowly in
| different directions and apparently crossing
and recrossng each other. Every moment
| it seemed as though two or more Of the
| great war ships were about to come to-
| gether, and the watchers on the beach
waited in breathlesS anxiety to hear the
crash of the collision and to see the vessels
| go down to destruction.
A STARTLING SPECTACLE.
A little after O'Clock the first rays Of
| dawn broke upon the scene and revealed a
| spectacle not often witnessed. The positions
of the vessels we're entirely changed. The
wind, which was blowing from the north
east, had swept them from their former
moorings and they were all bearing down in
the direction of the reef. Black smoke was
pouring from their tunnels showing that
desperate efforts were being made to Keep
them up against the wind. The decks
| swarmed with men clinging to the masts or
any other object where a hold could be
obtained. The hulls of the war ships were
tossing about like corks.
| TOSSED LIKE CoRKs.
| One moment the vessels seemed TO stand
| almost upon their beam ends, and the next
| instant their sterns would rise out of the
water, and expose to view their rudders,
and rapidly revolving propellers. Then the
| prows would be lifted high into the air only
to plunge into the next wave, and delnge
| the ships with torrent of water. Several
small sailing vessels had already gone
ashore in the western part of the bay. The
| Trenton and Vandalia being farther out
| from shore than the other ships were al
| most obscured by the blinding mist. The
vessels most plainly visible were the Eber,
Adler aud Nipsic. They were very close
together, and only few yards off from the
| reef The little gunboat Eber was making
desperate struggle for life, but every
moment she was being drawn nearer
and nearer the reef, and her doom was Ger
tain.
| A LAST FRUITLESs EFFORT.
Suddenly she shot forward as if making
a last struggle to escape destruction. The
| current, however, bore her off to the right
and her prov struck the port quarter of the
| Nipsic. The shock carried away several
feet of the Nipslcs rail and one boat. The
! ioer then fell back and fouled with the
| Olga, but neither vessel sustained much
damage by the collision. The two collisions,
however, had checked the Eber's progress,
and she seemed unable to make any further
| effort to save herself. She swung around
| broadside to the wind and drifted slowly
| toward the reef. Awful seas broke over
the little vessel and forced her on to de-
| struction.
BRoADsIDE ON THE REEF.
In moment a great wave rolled in
| toward the shore; the Eber was lifted high
| on its crest and carried broadSide on the
| reef. She came down with awful force and
| in an instant there was not vestige to be
| seen. She struck fairly upon her bottom,
| rolled over toward the open sea and disa D.
| peared from view. Every timber of the
gunboat must have been shattered and half
the poor wretches aboard crushed to death
before they felt the waters closing above
their heads. Hundreds of people were on
| the beach by this time and the work of de-
struction had occurred in full view of them
| all.
CRY OF HORROR.
They stood for a moment
appalled, by the awful scene and
then cry Of horror arose from the lips of
every man who had seen nearly hundred
of his fellow creatures perish in an instant,
| Then, with one accord, they all rushed to
| the waters edge nearest the point where
| the Eber had toundered. The natives ran
into the surf far beyond the point where
white man could have lived and stood
waiting to save any poor creature who
might rise from the waters. There was no
thought of war between German and
| Samoan. There was no sign of enmity
against tho people who carried off their
XII G and banished him on a lonely island
| 1000 miles from his native land. The savage
fought the oppression which civilized peo-
pie placed upon him, and he now held
| out his hand to save human life,
caring little whether it was that of friend
or foe.
ONLY FIVE SAVED.
At first it seemed as If every man on the
| ill-fated steamer had gone to his death. Not
even a hand appeared from the depths
| where the Eber sank. But the breakers on
the reef had hidden o few struggling men
who had come to the surface and struck
| out feebly for shore. Five of these, Lieut..
| Gaedeke and four sailors, were rescued by
the natives and provided with dry clothing
at the American consulate 1t was about
\o'clock in the morning when the Eber
foundered. During the excitement attend
! ing that calamity the other vessels had
| been for the moment forgotten; but it was
soon noticed that the positions of several of
them had become more alarming. The
Adler had been swept across the bar, being
for a moment in collision with the Olga.
She was now close to the reef, about
POO yards west of thu point where the Eber
struck. Like the Eber, she was approach
| ing her doom broadsde in.
| HURLED ON THE REEF.
| In half an hour she was lifted on top or
the reef and turned completely over on her
side. Nearly every man was thrown into
the water. Fortunately, however, the Ad-
| ler was thrown so far upon the reef that
| when she turned over on her side nearly her
entire hull was out of water. Her deck was
at right angles with the water and was
facing the shore. Consequently that por-
tion of the vessel was well protected from
the storm. Most Of the men struggling in
the water had but few feet to swim to
reach the deck, where they clung to the
| guns and masts in safety. OF l30 officers
and men aboard, twenty men we're drowned
or killed when the steamer capsized.
ALL THE OFFICERS SAVED.
All the officers, including Capt Fritz who
was in command of the German squadron,
were saved. Many on the Adler were b ,diy
injured, among them being Capt. Fritz,
who received a severe shock and a number
Of cuts and bruises. The natives stretched
a rope from tho shore to the deck Of the
Adler during the day, and number of
sailors escaped in that way. But the rope
parted before all had left the vessel, and
the others were not taken off till the next
day. Just after the Adler struck, the at
| tention of every one was directed
toward the Nipsic She was stand
ing off the reef with her head to the wind,
but the three anchors which she
had out at the time. were not
holding The steamer was beating back