St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-04-28
TRACY TO KIMBERLY,
The Secretary's Official Letter
on the Disaster at
Apia,
In Which He Praises the Con-
duct Of the American
Commanders.
Acquitted Themselves Nobly
and Did Honor to Their
Country.
Civil Service Rules in the Mail
Service Take Effect
Wednesday.

WASHINGTON, April 27.-Secretary
Tracy to-day addressed the following
letter to Rear Admiral Kimberly, COM
manding the United States naval force
on the Pacific station at Apia, Samoa:
Sir: The departments is in receipt of your
cable dispatch on March so from Aucl-
land, and also of your letter ofsMarch
10, from Samoa, with accompanying
reports from Capt. Farquhar, Command
er Mullan ami Lieut.. Carlin. narrating
the circumstances of the overwhelming
disasters which have recently befallen
your squadron in Apia barber. l need
not say to you that this event has
caused the department profound sor-
row, which, as the appalling extent
and character of the catastrophe be-
came known, was reflected throughout
the country. Even if the navy were
possessed of an adequate number of
ships to supply the necessities of the
the service, the loss of three at
one blow would be a serious
diminution of the available
cruising force. To navy passing. as is
that of the United States, through a
stage of transition, when most of the
previously existing vessels have disap-
peared and its new fleet is only on the
threshold of existence, the blow comes
with crippling force. The department
learns with the deepest pain that the
wreck at Samoa resulted in the death of
four Officers-Capt. C. M. Schoonmaker,
PaymaSter Frank III. Arms, First
Lieut.. i. E. Sutton, of the marine corps,
and Pay Clerk John Roche, and thirty
nine men of the Vandalia. seven men of
the Nipsic, and one man of the Trenton.
However severely the destruction of
the vessels may be felt by the navy, the
loss OF so many valuable lives is
FAR GREATER
and more irreparable misfortune. Capt.
Schoonmaker died, as he had lived, at
the post of duty, a gallant and generous
officer and devoted servant of his
country to the last. Weakened by long
effort, he was swept by the sea from the
deck of his vessel, soon after she had
drifted to her final resting place. The
hurricane at Samoa has brought Attic
ton to many American house
holds, which will receive the
deepest sympathy of the govern
ment, yet it cannot be said that those
who died thus manfully facing danger
in the execution of their duy have died
in vain. The department., having
closely examined the reports of the cir
cumstances under which the disaster
occurred, learns that on the 18th of
March, when indications of bad weather
first appeared, every preparation was
made to meet the coming gale. The ships
were stripped and steam was raised.
The force of the approaching storm
could not be foreseen, and there was
every reason to hope and believe that
the vessels would ride it out at their
mooring in safety. The extraordinary
violence of the gale rendered this i'm
possible, while the crowded condition
of the harbOr where the vessels lay. eX-
posed to the full force of the wind and
the sea, yet shut in on both sides by the
sharp edges of the coral reefs, made
their position one of
EXTREME DANGER.
The Nipsic, Commander Dennis W.
fleet, was enabled to reach a place of
comparative safety, where a gigs crew
were lost while gallantly attempting to
run line to the shore. The Vandala,
commanded by Capt. G. NJ. Schoon-
maker. and upon his death by Lieut.. j.
w. Carlin, after skillfully avoididing a
collision as she dragged into the inner
harbOr, struck the point of a reef,
not far from the Nipsc. Here she re-
mained exposed to the fury of the
storm, her officers and men taking refuge
in the rigging. while the sea swept
over her and the spray and surf were
crew were lost in the attempt to SWIM
ashore. and one man, r. NJ. Hammar,
seaman, met his death in brave, but
frultless effort to carry line to the
NipSic. The survivors, after remain
ing for eight hours in mOmentary
expectation of death, were finally
rescued through the efforts of the Tren-
ton. The latter vessel, Capt. Norman
Farquhar commanding, had the misfor-
tune early on the morning of the 10th
to lose her wheel and break her rudder.
Soon after the heavy sea, forcing its
way into the hawse-holes in spite of OBJ
StructionS, filled the fire rooms and put
out the fires. The flagship, now with
out steam or rudder, her anchors drag
ging, drifted almost at the mercy of the
gale, along the edge of the eastern reef,
at times not more than twenty feet from
total destruction.
EVERY ENDEAVOR
was made to control her movements,
and her commanding officer states in
his report that, upon at least one occa-
sion, it was through the excellent judg-
ment of Lieut. r. M. G. Brown, the nav
igating officer, that the ship cleared the
reef and the $50 lives On board were
saved. The department notes with
satisfaction your cOmmendation of
Lieut.. Brown and also of Lieuten-
ant Commander Henry w. Lion,
the executive officer, for their efforts
to save the ship. After collision with
the Olga, the Trenton passed over to
the Western reef, where she drifted
with the current until she struck the
ground near the Vandalia. From your
own report, and from other accounts
that have reached the department, it
appears that the conduct of those under
your command evinced throughout
that courage, resolution and forti-
tude which the United States has
learned always to expect from the
officers and seamen of its navy. When
her Britannia majesty's ship Calliope,
fortunate in the possession of more pow
erful engines, succeeded in her gallant
effort to pass the Trenton and steam out
of the harbor against the hurricance,
the ringing cheer from the American
flagship, as her crew were standing in
the face of death, showed spirit alike
GENEROUS AND DAUNTLESS.
During the whole of Saturday. when
the Trenton was helplessly dragging
her anchors on the verge of destruction,
the officers preserved their composed
and heroic bearing, and directed her
NOV ementS with cOnSummate skill.
The crew were thrown into the rigging
as substitute for sails, and through