The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1890-11-01
Twelve Men Cling for Hsurs to
the Vessels Spars.
The Nu@bef Lost Will Reach About
SeVenty-Fige Persons,

| could give the name OF the schooner wnlcn
caused the disaster or tell how the accident
| happened. Fhe first news Of the disaster
reached the city by the steamer Humboldt,
| from Brazil. which arrived having on board
| the survivors of the catastrophe who had
| been picked up at daybreak this morning.
| Capt. Black of the humboldt said that while
| off Barnegat light he suddenly heard cry
| for help Through the mist the officers saw
three masts sticking out of the water and
| people clinging to the yards and rigging. A
| boat was lowered and rescued II sailors, all
| Of whom belonged to the steamship Vizcaya.
| Among them were the first officer, second
| officer, first engineer and surgeon. The
men .were chilled to the bone from exposure
| to the wind and wave aud could have held
out but little longer. On reaching this city
| they were taken to the Office OF j. Nj. Cebal-
los & Co.. 90 Wall street, owners OF the
| Vizcaya.
None of the survivors could talk English
| and for some time it was impossible to OBJ
| tain from anv of them correct account OF
the wreck. 1t was learned that all the pas
seDgers of the Vizcaya were lost. Their
names are:
Senior JUANAEDRo, partner of the firm of
j. M. Cbeallos & Co., this city, one Of the
owners of the IOst steamship.
M. A. CALvo, wife and son.
NJ. PURR and two children.
A. RUIZ.
JOSE ACADIA.
RAMON ALVAREZ.
JUAN +. HEDMAN.
OSCAR ISLAM.
LUIGI PELSION.
JOSE M. GARCIA.
Twelve of the crew Of n were sayed from
the steamship. The fate Of the crew Of the
schooner is unknown.
A Survivors, Tale of Horror.
DR.. Rico, Of the survivors, gives this ac-
count of the disaster: "The weather was
fine and the moon shone brightly. The sea
was smooth. At about eight, when l was
on deck, did not see any vessel near us.
The ship was in charge of the first officer. l
went down to the saloon and met Mrs. Cal
vo. We began talking, when suddenly l
heard the gong in the engine room signal
to stop. Before / could even wonder what 1t
was for, there came an awful shock, and
crashing, scraping sound on the deck over
our heads. The Steamer rolled well over on
the port side. and everybody in the saloon
was thrown down. All was excitement, men,
women and children shrieking for help.
| Mrs. CalyO begged me to find and save her
boy. / started up to the deck to find him.
when L got out OF the companionway, the
bridge, deck house and foreriggiDg were all
| torn away. There was a great cash in the
starboard side, just abaft the coal bunkers.
| Through this opening the water was pouring
| in. Close by on the starboard beam was
| big, four masted schooner, her bow
spirit and @ forerligging ., gone. and and
| filing rapidly. Men were running all over
our decks, shouting all kinds of orders. The
crew of the schooner were doing the same
| thing on their vessel. The next thing |
knew the steamer was fast sinking. Several
| port forerigging. Down, down went the
| steamer, and up we climbed. We reached
the fore-gallant-yard and Just then the hull
reached bottom. This left us just out of
/ huf fha lor xuould xua
our legs. Twelve Of us were on the yard.
Some of crew tried to reach the schooner but
she sunk almost as quickly as had the
ViZcaya. So far as we could see, not soul
but ourselves was in sight. One of tne men
on the yard said that while CLIMBING the
| rigging he had seen boat lowered from the
| schooner and seven men get in and row
| away. We looked all around but could not
see anything. In the hope Of attracting the
attention Of passing vessel or some one on
| shore, we cut the tarred ropes on the yard
| into pieces foot or two long and lighting
these waved them in the air as long as they
lasted. No one came to our aid, and all
through the night we clung to the yard,
growing colder and sitter each hour. To-
| ward daybreak cold fog settled and made
| matters worse. Wnen one of the men en-
| the yard said he thought he heard a steamer
passing we all halloed as loud as our numb
condition would permit. A boat soon made
its appearance and we were taken on board
the Humboldt. We could not have held out
much longer"
The Captain Instantly Killed.
The second officer was on the dock stand
| ing under the bridge when the collision oc'
Cured. He said the steamers lights were
burning all right and the watch on deck
were at their posts. He did not see the
schooner until the first officer on the bridge
rang the signal to stop. cat the time he
rang to STOP" said Second Officer Covas
"Capt. Cunill had just come from supper and
was going up on the bridge. Before he had
time to move, the schooner struck us, her
bowsprit striking, and as far as l could see
way carried us along and the b0wsprit
knocked down the bridge house and rigging.
was covered by the debris and badly cut In
the head and side of the neck. got out OF
the tangle about the time the water com.
menced TO run over the decks, and took to
the rigging with the others. stayed there
from nine in the evening until five O. clock the
next morning. was completely exhausted
when taken off by the crew of the Hum
| boldt."
Late this evening, one of the shipwrecked
men was seen. He said at the time of the
collision nearly all the Vizcaya's crew were
asleep, being worn out with the hard work
attendant upon leaving port. Only those on
duty were up. He said before the iashings Of
the boats could be taken of, preparatory tC
lowering them, the Vizcaya's decks were un
der water, He saw several persons In the
water clinging to floating debris, spars
matches and wreckage. all of whom soor
| sank.
AT the Office of the company, but little in
formation could be obtained. No interviews
Could be had with the survivors, and those
obtained were gotten outside of the office
1t ls stated that Senor Calvo, who persisted
with his wife and son, was partner in the
house OF Franck q Co., Havana, the biggest
ana rlcnest sugar house in Cuba. He was
on MS way home with his family. The VIZ
caya was one of the steamers Of the Com
pania Transatlantica, owned by J. NJ. Ceoai
los q 20. She was of iron She tormelS
piled between New York and MediteTraneal
ports. She was Of 1888 tons register, ZoI ice
long, barkentlne rigged and had accomnoua
tlons Tor fifty passengers. Inc eaIgo Wa Was
general one, comprising lumber, pIoHlsiV,rhS ,h,
hardware, furniture and macndneadnS' nan nv hS
whole cargo was valued at Sl5oOoO lnNt N
| vessel was insured 1t is expected some OF
the bodies NAV be washed ashore at barne
gat. a.,
Captsin Cunill, who. commanded in'
old aSd bad wsS been in the employ OF the com
many 9o wears. He leaves a widow II
Havana. Juan Pedro was special partner II
the Spanish transatlantic Line: he wa
worth several million dollars. MIS- Cdly(
after the collision came on ueck bearing II
tried to as list her to the mast but the rush ol
u,ater ne the ship went down tore her from
Nc Grasp She sank claSping the baby
This is not the first time the vessel has me
disaster. About three years ago one of he
hoiIers burst killing nearly all of the nigh
watch, After the accident, the vessel wa
oyerhauled and reftted.
No Bodies Came Ashore.
|