The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1889-04-24
The Wreck at Samoa.


The full account of the Samoan dis
aster, received last week from the New
York associated press agent, shows that
the loss of the American vessels was not
due to any negligence on the part of
the officers, or to lack of fuel, as some
have supposed. The storm was the
most terrific ever experienced at Samoa
and steam was as powerless as sail
against it. The English war-ship
"Calliope," the only vessel in the
harbor to escape uninjured, was saved
solely by the greater strength of her
engines, which enabled her to steam
out into the open sea. The struggles
of the many ships against the furious
elements, and their gradual yielding,
one after the other, to their fate, was
witnessed by hundreds on shore unable
to render assistance. The German
ship "Eber" was the first to strike,
crashing broadside on the reef. Five
men only out of seventy-siX passed
through the surf alive. The " Adler"
soon followed, but was fortunate
enough to strike in such way that
only twenty of her men were lost.
The next victim was the Nipsic."
Her captain determined to waste no
time in a fruitless battle with the
tempest and boldly ran her, head on,
upon the beach. The officers and crew
were, with few exceptions, dragged
on shore by natives and sailors. The
larger vessels, the 4" Trenton" " Van
dalia," " Olga" and Calliope,' were
in the meantime bucking the biz
gard" in the outer bay, The last
named, after a collision with the
4" Vandalia," decided to trust wholly
in her engines, cut her anchors, and
after time of doubt steamed steadily
out to sea. The Vandalia struck
the beach soon after. Her position
was unfavorable and only small part
of the crew were rescued, by means of
a line from the shore. Others remained
dashed in the rigging, and dropped off
one by one as their strength was ex-
hausted by the exposure to the cold
and rain. The officers and men dis
played great GOODNESS and heroism dur
ing the conflict with the storm, but
none bore themselves more bravely
than the gallant crew of the " Tren-
ton" the last vessel to drift down upon
the terrible reef. Lieutenant B. G..
NJ Brown, the navigating officer, saved
his ship from total destruction by
crowding the crew into the port rigging,
so that the condensed mass of hui
mainly could be used like sails in keep
ing the vessel off the reef, at the same
time throwing the weight on the right
side. Saved from this danger, the
"Trenton " drifted on to the Olga"
and as she seemed now doomed, and
was determined to 90 down with colors
flying, the stars and stripes were
raised, the first flag shown that day.
The collision was, however, compare
lively harmless, and the "Trenton p"
again drifted on straight toward the
Vandalia" Then, as it seemed GER
tain that both vessels were about to be
crushed to pieces, the four hundred
fifty men of the 4" Trenton " united in
three hearty cheers for the poor fellows
who had been clinging for twelve hours
to the Vandalia's " rigging, arousing
a faint cheer in response. AS the
vessels came still closer, the "Tren-
toms" band broke out into a rendering
of the "Star Spangled Banner" which
reached the ears of the thousand in
tensely excited people on shore. The
collision proved the salvation of the
men in the " Vandalia's " rigging, as
they dropped to the Trenton's deck
and were rescued with her crew the
next morning. The conduct of the
natives during and after the storm
was most noble. They saved many
lives, were most active in their efforts
to relieve the distress of the ship
wrecked sailors, and finally, as a toker
of special friendship for the Ameri
cans, procession of several hundred
= natives marched to the American con
r sulate, singing, each bearing in his
hand presents of chickens, yams, tara
cocoanuts and other offerings.
3 JUDGE KNAPP of Middlebury has
r been appointed governor of Alaska by
President Harrison. 1t was probably
thought that some Vermonter might be