Los Angeles herald., 1890-11-02
Survivors of Fridays Marine
Disaster.
Sixty-Seven Persons Reported
Missing.
A Graphic Description of the Col
lisi0n by an Witness.
Cowardly Conduct of Captain Allen of
the Lost Schooner-The Accident
Due to Carelessness.
Associated Press Dispatches.


after seven survivors of the Vizcaya dis
aster, picked up by a pilot boat, have
returned. They brought seven of the
crew OF the Vizcaya and one of the
schooner's crew. A dispatch has been
received from Lewes, Delaware, that
Second Engineer Arthur Gueralla,
Fourth Engineer Leopold Mediarall,
second boatswain, second cook, one fire.
man, and two sailors arrived there; also
that the body of the stewardess of the
Vizcaya came ashore.
Account of the Collision.
Second Mate Walker, of the schooner
Cornelius Hargraves, gives the following
account Of the collisions II lad just
come on deck; few minutes before Z
O'Clock on Thursday evening. l saw the
Vizcaya five miles off. A green
light shone on the port side.
l did not feel the least uneasy. Our
lights were burning, and must have
been plainly visible to those on board
the Spaniard. We were sailing at the
rate of eight knots an hour, and neared
the Spanish ship rapidly. l turned
flare light to show him sailing vessel
was nea, but he held on his way. l be-
gan to think we might strike him, or
he us if one OF us did not alter our
course. was in charge of the deck.
Finally called the captain. When he
came on deck, he looked at the cloud of
canvas on the Spanish steamship, then
at our sails, all of which were set. 'We
can clear him guess, he said, and we
held on our way. l watched the vessels
drawing nearer, and finally ventured:
Il think we will strike them, captain
Yes, by we will. Hard-a-port!
Hard-a-portn He shouted, but it was
too late. Like race horse our vessel
darted forward; we struck the Vizcaya
amidships. The Hargraves tore great
hole in the Spaniard' IS side. Then the YES
sells swung slowly about until almest side
by side then chorus of agonizng cries
burst forth. Men and women darted
hither and thither ON the steamship
and jumped down on our decks, but our
own. As Captain Allen heard the
deck, he shouted to me: Walker, keep
them back; let's save our own crew
first. To the boats, men, to the boats y
He himself cut away the fastenings of
the longboat and jumped in. The first
mate and three of our crew followed
Meantime I was fighting gang
of Spaniards bent ON getting to our
boats. Sud ,ly l looked around
and saw Allen showed off with four COM
panions. The boat would easily have
carried sixteen. l jumped into the
rigging and shouted: Captain, you are
not going to desert your second mate,
are you? For Gods sake come back =
He shouted something IN reply. l saw
him lwaving his hand in farewell, and
knew the coward had made off, leaving
the rest of his crew to perish"
Struggles for Life.
Walker then told in dramatic way
OF the struggles for life of the remaining
ten men of the Hargraves' crew, and the
crowd of Spaniards from the Vizcaya.
Walker threw gang plank over board
and followed it. A large number of
persons clung to it and it was capsized
again and again, each time los
ing some of it's freightage OF
human life. Finally the number was
reduced to five. They lost their strength
gradually, and one by one let go and
sunk into the depths, leaving Walker
alone. Again and again he was washed
overheard. but struggled back. He was
fast losing his mind and consciousness,
when he saw Barnegat light, and tried
to paddle toward it, but drifted out to
sea. Many vessels passed, but too far
away to see his signal. At 4 a. m. he
fell in with a Spaniard, who had raft
of spars, and joined him. Soon after
they were picked up by tug.
The Spaniard to Blame.
First Mate Perrin, of the schooner
Hargraves, arrived at Philadelphia this
evening, and told his story. He says
the blame of the collision
rests entirely with the steamer
people, as the schooner's lights
were burning, and she had the right OF
way. When the steamer was close
aboard, instead of putting her helm to
port, she put it hard a-starboard, and
before the schooner could be cleared the
crash came.
Captain Allen Exonerated.
Mate Perrin's story differs from
that of Mate Walker regarding
the actions of the captain. He
saws seven of the Hargrave's
crew, including the captain and
four of the Spaniards got into the
schooner's long boat, and three of the
crew and three of the Spaniards in a
small boat. They rode until early next
morning, when plcked up by the
schooner Davis, and were afterwards
transferred to a tug. Perrin adds
that when Captain Allen saw the Span
lard paying no attention to the schoon-
er's fare signals, he blew steam whis-
tie, when the Spaniard seemed for the
first time to see them, and then came
the fatal error in her steering.
Forty-Two Rescued.
The list of rescued now foots up forty
two, leaving sixty-seven missing.
Names of Survivors.
LEwEs, Del, Nov. 1.-Survivors OF the
collision of the steamer Vizcaya and the
schooner Cornelius Hargraves, brought
here last night are as follows:
From the Hargraves-Captain John
f. Allen, Fall River; First Mate Fl. G.
Perring, Philadelphia Seaman Andrew
Hansen of Boston; John Smith, En-
gland; George DurGnd Philadelphia; I;
John Anderson, Boston; Thor
aid Thoraldson, Norway; Harvey
Gamer, Philadelphia; Hans M. Holm
sen, Christiania, Norway.
From the Vizcaya-Orturo Gerak,
Santendor; Leopaldo Mediavilla of
Cadiz; Angeles Escandon, Santendor
Landro Caliera of Billoa; Andres Calda
of Potenerede; Alonzo Abartiela of