The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1889-05-17

out and with astonishing grit. He
swan toward me and I pulled him in
TO the boat, and set his stump into a
keg and tied it so the salt water
couldn't beat on it.
"Then took two of the oars and
made drag of them to keep the boats
head to the wind. The moon was
shining dimly through the clouds and
I could see that many Of the crew had
piled pell NELL into the boats and were
pulling away"
"We had no provisions of course, ex-
cept few crackers and no water: we
were In that boat for all those weary
hours, and to my dying day I can
never forget that terrible experience.
I am too exhausted to describe these
things in detail"
II stood by till dawn that morning,
and as soon as things got plain
enough to see / looked and looked,
but could see no trace of the vessel"
"The first saw of Captain Howes
again was just as the tug Vigilant was
coming up to take us of. He was
sitting on q sort of float, the water up
above his knees and his back toward
me. The men on the tug shouted to
him to get into the boat. and then he
turned and saw me. I got alongside,
got him into the boat and shortly
afterwards we all got on the tug, more
dead than alive. We steamed slowly
along. George Shurman, the man
with the foot cut of, died soon after
we got aboard"
"We made Tillamook rock at eight
o'clock last night, when we lay to for
the Columbia to which we transferred
this morning, and here we are; thank
God"
CAPT. HowEs' STATEMENT.
Capt. Howes, who had charge of the
vessel, was next interviewed. So far
as hardship and exposure went he had
about as tough bit of experience as
any Of them.
He stood by his ship till the very
last: staid there with his hand on the
wheel, with the storm sounding in
his ears and the spray dashing over
him, and death staring him in the
face, till the vessel broke in two and
sank in the sea. He sank too.
81 don't know how far I went down, u
said be to an Historian reporter
on the o. r. & N. dock as he
landed from the Columbia yes
terday noon, "but know l held on to
something and when l came to the
surface of the water, I got hold of q
bit of the upper deck, where I built a
sort of float. The chief engineer
SWANS got on with me, and we hung
together though nearly drowned. As
day broke we picked up boards that
tossed by, and I reached and got @
ladder on which Stairns and I crept
and kept alive. When the vessel broke
and went down l saw three others get
on another float, and three more get
on the wheelhouse. We never again
saw the three poor fellows that were
on the float, but shortly after sunrise
we saw the wheel house with two oi
the men still on it. Stairns said: i
guess I'll go there You'll drown, ]
told him, but he struck out, saying
its dryer with them than it is here, SC
I'll try it. With that he struck out
I never saw him again, but the men
on the wheelhouse said he didn't make
it, but was swept past them by big
sea. AS he went past they tried to
reach him, but were too exhausted
and he looked sideways at them as he
disappeared.
Il do not think it probable that the
others who are still missing are
saved"
It was useless to attempt further
interviewing OF either Capt. Howes OF
pilot Wood, as they were thoroughly
broken down and spoke with great ef.
fort.
All those who were aboard were tel
egraphed for by the o. r. & N. author
tiles in Portland and went up, though
Messrs. Howes and Wood were very
sick men and needed rest and refresh.
ment more than further travel.
Concluded on Second Page.