Evening journal., 1890-11-03
Then tho Crash Came.

bidlne Oh tnb uiaaSIef upon ine AlHcayh. |
Mate Perring tells the story Of the disaster
after the collision occurred:
Then tho Crash Came.
"Assout o'clock in the evening Mate
Walker, who was In charge of the deck
came to the companionway and called
down that there was a steamer showing a
green light on our port bow. The captain
was sitting in the cabin reading and was
lying in my bunk, but when the mate
called out we both went on deck.
About an eighth Of mile away was the
green light Of a steamer. When the cap
tain saw her he exclaimed what the -
does the fellow meant Turning to Walker
he asked, Have you shown him a torchs
He then ordered Walker TO 60 forward and
make q fare. The steamer paid no atten-
tion 20 the light, and as we had the right
of way we kept on. When no attention
was paid 10 our signal the captain ran for
ward and blew our steam whistle BY this
time we were close aboard the steamer and
for the first time she seemed to see us, for
she put her helm hard starboard to cross
our bow. whereas she should have put Il
to port, luffed and gone clear OF us. When
the steamer put her helm to starboard we
also put ours to starboard and tried To
clear her, but 1t was too late and we
crashed into her, our jibbOom going in
between her fore and main rigging.
Went Down with His Gold.
"At the time / had no idea we would
sink, and ran forward and called out to
the people on the steamers deck, asking
what her name was. for / wanted TO be
able to hold somebody responsible for the
damage done us. When we fell of and
laid alongside the steamer her crew began
to pour down on our decks. From the
rate az which they dropped down on our
deck think there must have been thirty
or forty Of them there inside OF few min
utes. The confusion was very great. /
saw one man, whom have since learned
was the purser Of the steamer clasping
two bags Of gold in his hands and begging
our sailors TO save him and the money.
They told him to throw it overheard, but
he refused and went down with the bags
In his hands.
They Took to the Boats.
II began to feel the schooner settling and
knew then she was sinking. / said to the
captain: We have got 70 take to the boats
He assented and seven OF our men, includ
ing the captain aud myself and four Of the
| Spaniards, got into the long boat, aud
three OF our crew and one Of the Spaniards
got into the small boat. When we gol
away a short distance two Spaniards sprang
into the water and the men In the small
boat picked them up. We rowed about
until $780, when we were picked up by the
schooner Sarah IA Davis"
The vixeaya's Version.
Chief officer PHILIPPE Hajas, Of the Viz
caya, paid a visit TO his shipmates aboard
Of the Ciudad Condal yesterday. To re
porter he told the story OF the fatal col
lision. lie was corrObOrated in every par
ticular by Second Officer Gabriel Cara,
and Chief Engineer Francis Sierra. 'Wher
our vessel was struck by the American
schooner was ia the second officers room
engaged in conversation. All at once tn,
engine room gong sounded. | knew tina
something unusual had occurred anS
rushed on deck. The night was dark an,
the weather misty, but it was not foggy
just as reached the deck the collision &c
/ Cured"
"Where was the captain?'
Il really cannot say. He may have beef
on the bridge The third officer was OF
the bridge and in charge Of the vessel. H
was knocked overheard in the collision
We did all we could to save the passen
| gers. We tried to clear away the boats ant
rugged one out on the davits. Before W
had time 70 lower it, however, the vesse
sank. was in the foretop when the viz
caya struck bottom. There were larg
number of people aloft at first. They be
gan to fall overheard soon after. and W
could see men struggling in the water an,
the air was filled with the cries of th
drowning"