The Portland daily press., 1889-04-15
VICTORY AT SAMOA.
Measures Taken for the Care OF the
shIpwrecked Mariners.
Apia Made a Prohibition Town by
Consul BlackIock's Orders.
official Negligence Indirectly the
Cause of the Trenton's Loss,

Copyrighted 1889 by N. Y. Associated Press.l
APIA, Samoa, March 80, via SAN FRAN
CISCO, April 14-After the storm Of March
10th subsided, and the officers and crews Of
the wrecked vessels had come ashore, evi-
dence Of awful destruction was presented on
every side. The German survivors remained
In the part Of the town where the property
of the German trading company Is located.
The Americans were seen everywhere. The
officers had lost their uniforms aud dressed
as common sailors. Admiral Kimberly was
the last to leave the flagship Trenton. He
went to the rooms provided for him In the
house Of an American resident. Here the
Associated Press correspondent found the
Admiral few hours later. He remarked
I'm all my experience on the sea, have
never seen storm to equal this one. can
hardly realize the extent OF the damage done.
My chief anxiety Is to get these 800 or eCs
sailors back to America. 1t Is Of no use for
them to remain here" The Admiral had
little to say Of personal nature in regard to
his experience during the storm. He con
tinued; "The fires OF the Trenton went out
at 10 in the morning, and her rudder and
propeller were carried away at the same
time. No one can realize the force with
which the rudder was struck. / suppose a
piece Of wreckage fouled II. The pilot
wheel whirled around with terrible velocity
and every spoke was broken. One Of the
men at the wheel had his leg broken. Great
volumes Of water poured in on the birth
deck through the hawse pipes, and the FIRE
room was soon flooded and the fires
put out. The hawse pipes should never
have been placed where they were 1t was
piece OF faulty construction that government
officials have been asked to remedy several
times. Ii located on the deck above, the
water would not come In. | consider this.
indirectly, the cause Of the loss of the Tren-
ton. After the steam gave out, we used a
storm sail and sent men into the rigging and
used them as sails. The ship was handled
sktllfully, but 1t would have been impossible
for us 20 steam out OF the barbor as the CAL
hope did, as our engines were not powerful
enough. We had on every pound OF steam
we could carry with three anchors out and
were not able to hold up against the storm"
Confusion was present everywhere In Apia
during the first few days after the storm dis
appeared. AT the end Of the week the quar-
ters OF the shipwrecked sailors were more
comfortable and a daily routine Of
duty was properly attended to-. Consul
Blacklock's orders prohibiting the sale Of
liquor to sailors had good effect and very
few drunken men were seen. The town Is
still under marine guard In charge Of Capt.
Huntington. Mataafa's police assisted in
maintaining order. The men from the Tren-
ton and Vandalia have separate barracks,
and have erected temporary tents for sheI.
ter. The Nipsic men are still living aboard
that vessel, The German survivors ara quar-
tered IN warehouse belonging TO German
nrm. working parties have been busy all
the time on the wrecks Of the Trenton and
Vandalia, and articles washed ashore from
the vessels are piled together III large yard,
Divers have been at work and many articles
saved that way. The safes from both yes
sells containing large amounts of money were
recovered. The smoke stack Of the Wanda
liza was removed and win be placed
lost her snokestack in collision with
the Olga. The divers examination Of
the Nipsic discovered that the keel was car
rled away. IL was not ascertained whether
the Nipsic viii be able to leave the harbor
Or not Admiral Kimberly Is most anxious
TO send her to Auckland or San Francisco
for repairs. She Is not likely to leave
however until the arrival Of some other men
of-war. The Monongahela and Mohican are
expected to arrive here soon.
King Mataafa came down from camp few
days ago. A light rain had fallen the night
before and water leaked into many of the
tents occupied by the sailors. Mataafa p0int-
ed out to Admiral Kimberly the danger Of
sickness breaking out among the men on ac-
own people. offered to vacate all
the Samoan houses in Apia and allow
the American sailors the use Of them. Ad
miral Kimberly thanked Nataafa warmly
but stated that 1t would be almost impossible
to control the menif scattered around among
the native houses. He promised to consider
the offer If the situation became more pres
sing. There is no immediate danger of the
supply OF provisions being exhausted. Sew
eral parties with whom contracts were made
for feeding the men have plenty Of proyi-
sions on hand. and the steamer LuDec will
arrive from Sydney in few days with
fresh supply. The officers and men Of the
Vandalia lost nearly everything, and great
many on the Trenton Jared but little better
Inc officers are scattered all over
tions as they can find. Many are living
In native houses. There has been no local
government in Apia for many months owing
to wars between the natives. Consequently
the sanitary condition Of the town Is very
poor, The men are obliged to work on the
wrecks In the hot sun and there Is considera-
bic danger OF fever. Although 146 men lost
their lives during the storm there have not
been more than 40 bodies recovered. For the
first day or two the bodies of Americans
were buried In the cemetery connected with
the London mission, and the bodies OF Ger
mans were buried in the French Catholic
cemetery, bat |. became impossible 10 identi-
fy the bodies and owing TO the warm climate
it was necessary to bury them where found:
Some of the bodies were terribly mutilated
BY beating for hours against the coral
reefs. Paymaster Arms's body was
reco yered two days after the
storm. 1t was positively Identified by
the clothing and ring which he wore. The
body was in terrible condition and was
buried in mats where 1t was washed ashore.
Some Of the natives also found body about
the same time four miles up the coast and
from the description which they gave 1t was
believed to be that Of Captain Schoonmaker,
put Identification was not positive. The
bodies Of Lieutenant Sutton and PAY Clerk
Roach were not recovered. American me-
mortal services were held Sunday, March
"a, in the large yard in which the Trenton
men nave their quarters. The services were
very briet and were conducted by Chaplain
McAlhster OF the Trenton. Over 700 men
from the three American men-of-war were
present, but none Of the German officers at
tended. The storm does not seem 70 have
changed the political situation Of Samoa so
far as the natives are concerned. Both par
ties are still encamped In the same positions