The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1889-05-01

uging seas that broke over them, a few
would drop from the rigging to the
water, from time to time; most OF
them being lost, only four or five being
thrown upon the beach alive.
But, the best of all in harbor, the
United States ship Trenton, was max
ing heavy weather all this time; fires
put out by overwhelming seas flooding
her, anchors all gone-and at 4 p. M,
fast drifting towards the reef where
the E6ea' lay buried. The bowling of
the gale and the roaring of the sea
added to the horror of the hour.
Again did the Olga collide with an
American n-of-war,-this time RAM
ming the Trenton astern, carrying
away propeller and rudder and tearing
open the admiral's cabin. Alas! the
poor 1renton-the pride of the navy
for many yaars,-a palatial War-shlp-
this blow settled her fate, and all that
could be done was to give her snug
berth to die in. This was done by
working her alongside the sunken
Tandakia, and settling her down as
easily as possible. A masterpiece Of
seamanship,-for, to "bring her round"
a sail was needed, but as none could
he set, the men were ordered to the
rigging, where they packed them
selves closely together until the wind
was caught and the ship veered proper
ly. Her position near the Vanaalid
was the salvation of the latter's people,
as they were able to climb to the 1re'a-
TONS rigging, thence to her decks, and
secure comparative comfort and safety.
The night of the sixteenth of
March was an horrible one, and never
TO be forgotten by any OF US. 1t was
dark before the Trenton struck, and
many of those in the Vd,llatia'S rig
ging would not try to make the other
ships, preferring to stay where they
were and take their chances. All but
one mast gave way before midnight,
and it was q dismal sight to watch
those still remaining in the fore-rig-
ging. Some became exhausted and
dropped off and were lost; others
made leap for life, some of them sue
cessfully, some not. All night we pa
trolled the beach, picking up live and
dead bodies as they came ashore.
Death in many horrible phases became
familiar to me, and soon could drag a
cold, swollen corpse from the surf
without q shudder running through
HE as had been the case earlier III the
day. Rolling men on barrels to get
the water out of them became almost
hourly work, sometimes resulting III
resuscitation. Frequently men just
picked up from the water begged plte'
ously not to he moved, only to be al
lowed to die at once.
The Olga was beached near us ABOUT
five D. M. She suffered considerable
damage, but altogether she behaved in
beautiful style, although, unfortunate
ly, she certainly occasioned the wreck
Of the Nipsic, and probably Of the
Trenton, also.
The following is list of the lost Of
licers and men from the United States
ships:
Nipsic-Henry Pontseel, John Gill,
Geo. w. Callan, Joshua Heap, Will
liam Watson, David p. Kelleher, Thos.
Johnson.
Vundalia-Captain C. n. Schoon-
maker, Paymaster Frank H. Arms,
Pay Clerk, John Roche, Lieutenant of
Marines, F. E. Sutton. Crew-George
Merrage, E. M. Hammer, NJ. Craigin,
William Brown, F. G. Downey, B. F.
Davis. NJ. H. Joseph, N. b. Green, H.
p. Slallman, G. II. Hawkins, w. Bris-