New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-04-01
DISCUSSING THE DISASTER.
PLENTY OF ROOM FOR EXPLANATION.

HOW WILL THE sHIPwREcKED MEN FAREf-A
VERDICT OF UNAVOIDABLE"
Commodore Ramsey and other officers of the Navy
Yard read yesterday mornings papers with almost
as much interest Is did the relatives and friends Of
those who were attached TO the Trenton vandalia and
NsTgie, for they had direct means of obtain
ing the latest information es to the details connected
with the unfortunate ending Of the career OF those
vessels. supposfng that Commodore Ramsey might
receive direct nfOrmsion from tae Navy Department
as to the disaster at Samoa, several people called
At tte NsT Yard yesterday TO obtain he latest hs3s.
but Sesp Disappointed. The oaccrs discussed The 10.
s6ess pretty thoroaghiy and decided that It was q
aisaster that no human being could have sverted
Rn3er the circumstances The escape OF the British
warvcssel caliope was learned to be due to the hot
that she had set March 1e, on which to depart for
cruise to Sydney, and had really left the harbor
whom she hurricane came up. Otherwise her bones
would have been The coral reefs with those of the
ythsr vessels.
Tho genorl expression Of opinion was thai che
wreck Of 50 many vessels SO wen oaseered. was the
natural result Of whirlwind which came mp sud
denly that no human force could avail anything
It Is not believed that the loss Of e due 10 drown
ing, but that the vessels hurled to destruction
upon the reefs, and as the hurricane struck
them without warning the officers and men were
killed by the falling OF the spars. 1t is one Of the
fcBuauOns OF Tho service that al snch instances
shall be inquired into thoroughly, and a. promptly
as possible. 50 as to Ax the bIssso. IL any and 10
punish these who ere At fault. Even, though tbs
samoan disaster be decided 70 hare bean unavcd
able, still there must bo investigation, and many
of the officers. including Rear Admtri Kimberly ana
tho commanders Of the vessels. VIII probably DO
brought homo without delay to appear before court
Of inquiry so that the Of the disaster may be
investigated and given to the public.
The officers at the Navy Yard are at present most
Interested to know how the shpwrocked people are
10 live until they are sent home until tho store
ship Monongahela arrives there with provisions OF
course all OF the stores the Trenton and the Van
dalia and the three German ships were destroyed,
and the island does not furnish much moro provisions
than the natives consume.
The Trenton Was the first cruising man-of-war In
the world to be fitted with the incandescent electric
light, and the experiment proved such success as
practically settle the question for the United states
Navy This was put in In 1883, and since then the
electric light has been put In the Omaha, NewHamp-
shire, Dolphin, Atlanta, Boston and Chicago. That
on tho Trenton was heavy and cumbersome as COM
pared with plants now mannfant tnrsd, but has been
board.
The statement published yesterday that Captain
SchoOnmaker, who was lost on the Vandaua was
brother OF Augustus Schoonmaker, tho Interstate
Commerce Commissioner, is not correct. Tho CAP
tain was not related to the Commissioner.