Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1889-03-26
Il CHASTITY Craft.

1t was mentioned in the GAZETTE yester-
day that tho steamsr Colorado, which ar
rived AZ New York Sunday, had sighted a
raft ct sea with two dead bodies upon it
From the time the Colorado left Galveston
until IL on Saturday morning her voyage
$50 miles south CT New York, the man on
watch saw an object bobbing up and down
oc the waves about a mile away. There
was heavy sea ou. One moment the thing
could be seen on the crest OF wave, and
again it disappeared in the trough. He
could not make out what il was. When the
steamer got nearer to the object it was
found TO be u life raft, such as is used by
steamers. Ga it Icy two men with their
faces downward a boat was lowered and
rowed out to the raft, When both the men
were found to be dead, their bodies being
stiff as if frozen. Their faces were bloated
snd blue from exposure, so as to bs hardly
recognizable. One was tall and well built;
he had dark kinky hair, which made some
of the crew think he might have been
light colOred negro. He wore foe blue
flannel shirt, two psira Of trousers and
double. breasted coat. 10 hi5 pockets were
some pieces of hard tack There were
no signs of violence about him, nor did
his features wear the pinched express
sion that accompanies death by starvation.
A rough cloth cap lay under his forehead
He lay in the middle of the raft, with one
hand over the life lines and the other
stretched out toward his companion. The
though they had been clinging tightly to
ut
with smooth dark face and long black
hair. II was the common verdict that he
had been 6 fireman. The fingers OF both
men were stained with nicotine from cigel-
cite smoking The life raft was of the
smallest size made, and the only mark by
which it could be identified was small
steel plate which was fastened TO it and
which was inscribed, Captain Jonathan
Cone, builder, Wilmington, Dal" The raft
had sunk considerably on one side, making
it lopsded. On the high side lay the small
man with his feet dangling in the water.
His fingers were clenched over the life lines
as though he had been partly knocked off
the raft and had been making desperate at
Temps to get back to where his companion
Law. One hand ofthe latter was stretched
toward him, and it looked as if the tall man
had been engaged in assisting his compan-
ion when death overlook them both.
card bearing the name OF grocer in Havre
was found In the pockets of the taller man.
No mark by which either could be identified
having been found, CRATE bars were fastened
to the bodies and they were sunk into the
sea. The Colorado then proceeded, sharp
lookout being kept for boats. None was
seen, but for twenty miles the ships track
was strewn with wreckage. a part of an
extension table, g lounge, bottom.si up,
six cabin doors, piece Of y deck house, and
lot of heavy timbers were noticed. The
timbers had evidently been broken by some
strong shock, as their edges were jagged.
The opinion was expressed that the two
men belonged on some steamer and that the
steamer was wrecked by collision. Only
steamers carry such life RATS, and only on
steamers do they have extension tables and
inside cabin DOORS 1t is probable that there
were half dozen men at least on the life
raft when she was launched, and they were
probably washed off or frozen so that they
dropped off one by one. It is evident that
the men had been prepared for something of
the sort, as the taller one had on two pairs
of trousers and had stuffed some hard tack
in his pockets. They had evidently died
from exposure and had not been dead long
when discovered. 1t is believed that the lost
ship to which the raft belonged was the
| Conserva, the Haytian gunboat that left
New York for Samana last Tuesday, to en-
gage in the civil war there.