Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1890-11-21
is STORM F0UN4RED.
THE BRITISH TORPEDO
SERPENT.
BOAT
Gu. of To,a, of $50 Souls ON lara Only
Three Are Known tn To Savotrhe Com
strnction of the Vesscl Criticize by Eng
-l,sh Authoritses-The Particuts.

LONDON, Nov. i3.-Thc Britt torpcdo
cruiser scrrent has foundercd ofhe coast
OF Spa'a. The Serpent was II twenty
liles norsh of Cape Finisterrd Out Of q
total Of ESQ souls on board only toe we're
saved. The serpent went on thelcks dur
Ing the storm Monday night. Ohg to the
violence OF the storm it was in1ssiblc to
send assistance from the shore. temend-
Gus seas swept the decks OF the d{,cd ves-
sci, carrying away group after gtp OF tho
unfortunate men on board. Thterpent's
complement was 40 officers andSn. The
others were going to relieve menAw at an
African station.
Later dispatches say the threchryivors
are of the opinion that none of others
got ashore. -Four bodies have dc upon
the beach. three of them women.
The duke of Edinburg was att)ing the
Patti concert at plymouth whcnAe news
OF the disaster reached town. HAS i'm
mediately informed and at cndeft the
concert hail. After reading alhe dis
patches that had been received ceerning
the disaster, he Went directly honkithout
returning to the concert hall. Hebressed
the utmost sorrow.
The newspaper offices Mt Plymdh were
bcsicged by crowds OF people dious to
hear further news Of the disaste3Among
these were sobbing wives and da{ters of
many OF the lost seamen.
The Serpent was built after thdeas of
Admiral Cooper Key, who insistedlo inn
mense horse power, which, acding TO
previous notions, was out OF all portion
to her displacement. She could nhtain a
speed OF seventeen knots an hid Lord
Brassey, in the Naval Annual, kersely
criticised the vessel. He said thelonomy
OF weight had been carried to exc&n her
construction; that her plating wabo thin
and the armament ovcrdone. Ijeaway
her heavy top weight would be &iment
to speed and would unduly strain hull,
The vessel was 225 feet long. Wilde had
draught of only fourteen and h-half
feet.
The relatives of the crew of theerpent
at Plymouth and the dock yard p@e are
full OF gossip about the lost cruis| 1t is
claimed she was unscaworthy aibroke
down on all trial trips. The Serpahas
bad record. She broke down M than
once in the mancuvers of 1SSS.everal
admirals have condemned vesse1f her
class.
Lloyd's agent at Corunna telegrk: .It
appears the Serpent was running fheltcr
in one of the bays north of Finis}e. If
she foundcred nobody need be surbd but
the admiralty. If shc grounded the
reefs she could not stand minutehtter-
ing in a heavy sea-
Additional details regarding th{ss of
the British torpedo cruiser SerpentIeived.
from Corunna, state that when tkessel
struck her keel was torn off and great
hole stove in her bottom. She slid off
the rocks into deep water and im1tately
foundered. The majority of the offs and
crew were below when the vessel stk, and
she sank SO quickly afterward thsbne of
them had time to reach the deck. Tlsaster
was SO sudden and complete it was hssible
for those ON deck to get the boat4o the
water. The three sailors who mabd to
reach the shore were badly cut an(inred
by being thrown on the rocks. y adj
mtralty will investigate the circumhces
attending the loss of tho Serpent
Official statement shows that the7s of
life was 1T3. A reward is offered the
Spanish government for the recovebf the
bodies.