Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-07-04
SAVED FROM SAMOA.
The Arrival of a Party Of the
Wrecked Seamen at New York.
THEIR TALE OF THE DISASTER.
Heroic Efforts Made to Rescue Their Com
rades in Distress.
UNIFORMS IN rArTERED CONDITION

NEW YORK, July 3.-Boatswain j. Nc
Laughlin, late of the United States ship
Trenton, which was wrecked at Samoa, re-
ported at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, with
twenty three of his old shipmates, whom he
had brought from San Francisco 70 be paid
of here. When Mr.. Mclaughlin reported at
the Commandants office his uniform consisted
of service cap, weather beaten blouse and a
sword, on which the bright work was sadly
tarnished and the steel blade was rusted. 1t
was all he had saved from the wreck, and since
then he has had no opportunity to renew his
kit.
I'VE arrived at Samoa, he said, ION Mon
day.: On Thursday the storm came up. and
on Sunday we were on shore again, after such
an experience as few men go through and i've
to tell it.
when it came on to blow we made every.
thing as snug as we could. The topmasts and
all the yards were sent down, and three
anchors were got out and the ship was moored
stem and stern. 1t didn't seem possible tnat
we could be budged, but we were.
THE GALE AND THE WAVES.
"The wind kept piping up harder and harder,
and we had to get up steam to ease the cables.
thought had seen seas before. but hadn't.
Great masses of water, weighing tons and tons,
came smashing over the bows and tearing up
everything that could be torn up. They washed
into the fire room and put out the fires. and
then We began to drag The water. too, was
coming in through the hawse pipes in perfect
flood and we could not keep 1t out Those
pipes nearly broke my heart The big two-inch
chains were working through them, but
we stuffed the mattresses into them until
nearly every mattress in the ship was used up,
but it was no use. AS fast as we put them in
the water washed them out. At last the cables
gave way the three of them all at once. The
links were two inches thick and they were at.
tached to G0O0-pound anchors, but they went
like thread. We were drifting fast upon the
reefs, but we got the storm mizzen up and sent
the men into the mizzen rigging, and this threw
her off.
I'VE went ashore right alongside the Wanda
liza, and one of the 9-inch guns in that ship
punched hole in our side. The sight on the
Vandalia was the most awful ever saw. The
officers and men were in the rigging. From
many of them the seas had torn every vestige
of clothing. Every little while tremendous
sea would break over the ship and we could
see some poor fellow swept away We were,
of course, powerless to help them. Captain
ling gun, and we could see he was badly in
jured. but he held on bravely, giving such di-
rections he could, until the next sea came
and swept him away.
THE WORK OF RESCUE.
"As soon as we could we got a rocket and
threw a line to the mizzenmast Of the Van
dalia, and got the men of that were there. The
last man mad naroly got aDoaru the 1rentou
when the mast went Then we threw line to
the mainmast, Everybody but marine and
Chinese servant had been gotten of 1t when it
went, too. 1t hung alongside the ship for
little while and the men succeeded in getting
on the bridge. The marine was saved. but the
Chinaman was on the point of being swept OF
again, when he was caught by the queue and
hauled aboard nearly dead.
Only one man was killed aboard the Trenton.
and that was early in the gale. A sea swept
over the bows. tore up scuttle butt and 1t
struck one of the seamen, whose name forget,
in the head, smashing his skull
During the whole affair our officers did
everything that could be done. Captain Far
quhar and Lieutenant Commander Harry
Lynes, the executive officer, were everywhere
there was work to be done. and the admiral.
God bless him. stood up through it all, as calm
and cool as il there was no danger at all.
When at last we all got ashore the natives did
everything they could for us. We had six
weeks of mighty hard work there. We sue
ceeded in saving all the Trenton's battery and
nearly all the stores that were not ruined by
the water. We took the Vandalia's smokestack
and fitted it to the Nipsic, and Admiral Kim
berly devised a rudder for that ship. which we
built. The party which Mr. Mclaughlin
brought left San Francisco June 8, and came
by the Pacific Mail steamers.