Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-04-01
THE SAMOAN DISASTER.
Further Particulars of the Awful
 Calamity.
THE SHIPS DRIVEN ON THE REEFS


 Render Assistance-What Is Said by
 Naval Officers at washington-oueen
 victoria's Sympathy.
 LONDON, April 1.-Particulars of the disas- ter to the German and American war vessels at Samoa have been received as follows: The Eber was blown ashore and struck the reef first, at an early hour in the morning. She sank almost immediately in deep water. Nearly all of the men who were below deck were drowned. When the Adler struck her masts were Shivered and her rigging parted. Several of her crew swam through the surf and were saved, among them the captain and a few officers After the Nipsic grounded her crew succeeded in lowering boats but six men were drowned by the capslzing of a boat in the surf. The captain of the Vandalia was stunned by being thrown against gun and was washed overboard before he became con- scious Several others were washed over board by the waves, while others were drowned in their endeavor to swim ashore. Many of the Nandalia's crew clung to the rigging, and the Samoans and others on shore tried in vain to rescue them. The bot tom of the Vandalla was completely stove in and the Trenton was thrown upon the Van- dallas wreck. The Olga withstood the fury of the gale for a day and a night, but at the dawn of the following day she went ashore The officers of the Eber, with one exception, were lost, and with them seventy-six men, The Nipsic lost seven men. The Vandalia lost her captain, four officers and forty men, The AdlerS lost fifteen men. The Nipsic grounded on a sand bank.
 BERLIN, April 1.-When the loss of the German and American war vessels was re- ported to the emperor he could not conceal his emotion at the disaster and was visibly affected for some time.
 WASHINGTON, April 1.-The Samoan dsas- ter continues to be the exciting topic of con- versation in official circles today, but no further information was received at either the state or the navy department.
 The first authentic information concerning the details of the disaster will probably not be received until the arrival of the Alameda, which is due at San Francisco April l5. Naval officers, speculating on the cause of the great disaster, suggested that in getting under way the vessels were driven on the outer reef of the harbor The large loss, comparatively on the Vandalia is accounted for by supposing that she must have been ground into pieces by collision with another vessel probably of the German iron clrds. The beaching of the Nipsic, 1t is said may have been due to the fact that she was closer in than any other of the vessels when struck by the storm.
 A cable message conveying to the presi- dent the condolences of Queen Victoria was received at the British legation.
 Count Arco the German minister received no information from his government concern ing the changes that may have been ordered in Samoa.
 Fewer lives were lost by the engulfing of the United States and German vessels at Samoa," said Admiral Porter, ''than if a battle had been fought for the ownership of the islands. Besides, I regard it as practic- ally settling the question regarding the coral reef which has caused much dispute, and both governments have been taught q Saiu- tary lesson. Although l have not mad a personal inspection of the Samoan islands, I have been to Tahita, which, like other islands in the Pacific, is the work of that industrious creature the coral insect and where dangerous reefs abound As Is frequt ntly the case, ill that part of the world, the hurricane must have come upon the ships 50 suddenly that neither officers nor men could take precautions for safety. My experience has been that neither steam or sail ayaliS much in such a storm and the probability is that the English vessel, the Calliope, was some distance from Apia headed for sydney and does not owe her S.fety simply to the fact that she had steam up. The navy department lays down no ex- plicit rules in relation to keeping up steam, or maintaining the supply of fuel on board a vessel. That matter Is left to the discretion of the commander. There seems to have been q shortage of coal, however. The sup ply ordered from Philadelphia recently, will probably not reach Pago Pago for three months, as it will have to go around Cape Horn in sailing vess I. :"
 SAN FRANCISCO, April 1.-The storm which caused the disaster at Apia was repetition on larger scale of the one by which the Constitution and number of other vessels were wrecked a month previously. At that time the gale came from the north, and the harbori being utterly unprotected from that direction, 1t was impossible for sailing vessels to protect themselves. The English man-of- war Calliope found herself in an extremely dangerous position on that occasion. For tunately she had been outside the harbor practicing her guns before the gale came up and had full head of steam on She was thus enabled to put to sea, where she rode out the storm ill safety. The German ship Eber was not so fortunate She was unable to make headway against the storm, and was in imminent danger of being driven on the reef, but the Olga sent the line aboard of her, and she was thus lowed into safety
 Capt. Holland, of the schooner Bonanza, now in berth for Tahita and who has had much experience in the south seas, says March was always a bad month for hurri- caneS, and that experienced ship masters were constantly on the lookout for them at that season. There is no harbor which offers refugs in case of such storms The only safety is in putting to sea. While there is some times warning before hand for as much as twenty y-four hours of the approach of a gale of this kind, at other times it comes en- tirely without warning. Capt. Holland did not consider for moment that the escape of the Calliope was due to superior seamanship on the part of her officers. She probably had steam up at the time, or perhaps lay on the outer berth, so that she could escape more readily. But if this hurricane came up as suddenly as they often do there would be no time to get up steam before the gale was at Its height.
 Rescue of Four Sailors.
 PORTLAND, Ore, April News has been received from YaQuina bay, Oregon, that