The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1891-03-24
WATERY GRAVES.
FIVE HUNDRED ITALIANS DROWNED
AT THE BAY or GIBRALTAR.

IfiVG 7UNDheO ITALIANS DhOWNEO
! At THE BAY OF GIBRALTAR.
Tho Loss OF Life by tho Sinking OF the
Utopia Worse Than Reportsd--rhe Air
FiiIed with wild, Horrible Appeals
ana shrieks OF Terror.
GIBRALTAR, March 18.-It is now be-
llieyed that the loss Of life by the sink
Ing of the Anchor Line steamer Utopia,
which collided yesterday with the Brit
bay here, was much larger than at first
Destimated. it is calculated that of the
100 Italian emigrants and crew on board
the steamer $40 persons were drowned.
Several bodies of those who lost their
lives in the disaster have been washed
ashore on the Spanish coast.
Another account of the disaster attri-
butes it to the fact that the British war
ship Anson was drifting before the gale
and rammed the Utopia abaft the fun
mel. After ramming the Utopia the
gines, which caused her to back away
from the Utopia, which vessel was
practically impaled on the spur of the
Anson's ram, and the Utopia almost i'm
mediately afterwards sank. Everything
| possible was done by the officers and
seamen of the British war ship in their
efforts to save life, and four seamen
were washed over board and drowned
from one of the war ships steam
launches while taking part in the work
of rescue. Among the Utopia's officers
and petty officers who were saved by
the boats of the war ship were Captain
hOK fha obi it,S,, n Apof hno re, in,
chief steward and carpenter.
The scene after the collision has pro-
badly never before been equalled in the
history of miritime disaster. On one
side was the passenger steamship
crowded with about 700 emigrants, who
filled the air with wild, horrible ap-
peals for help and shrieks of terror,
overhead the clouds rushed furiously,
driven along by a strong Southwest
gale, which had been one of the causes
Of the calamity. TO the right and left
of the sinking vessel were the two
monster battle ships, Rodney and An
son pouring the light of their powerful
electric reflectors upon the disabled
steamship, lighting up the agony Of her
passengers and showing too clearly the
terrible position in which they were
placed. Here and there were the war
ships small boats, manned by sturdy
blue jackets, who strained every nerve
striving to reach the drowning passen-
gers.
The rescued, estimated to the number
of $50, were most kindly cared for on
board the ships and were taken ashore
and housed In different government
buildings. AT 3 o'clock the loss of life
was placed at 400 or under.
A naval court of inquiry will be con-
yened on board the AnsOn. 1t is ex-
pected that the Anchor line people will
shortly take steps to forward the Uto-
pia's survivors to their destinations in
the II nited States by another steamship
of their line. Some of the Italians, how
ever, are so badly scared by their expe-
riences Of last night chat they announce
their intention of never again Drawing
the dangers of an ocean voyage.
The official report of the number of
persons on board the Utopia shows that
when she left Naples the steamship had
$50 souls on board, including passengers
and crew. OF this number only 311
have been saved. Thus $50 of her pas
sengers and crew are either drowned or
missing.
Not until now (5 p. ny has it been
possible to give full and authentic ac-
count of the appalling catastrophe, fail
Ing light making it difficult last night to
see from shore what was going on at the
scene Of the disaster, and terrible gale
making italmost impossible to com mu-
nicate with the vessels until a late hour
to-day. Early last evening the Utopia
was seen steaming into the bay in the
of the ironclad Anson strong gale,
combined with the current, swept the
vessel across the bows of the Arson and
her hull was pierced by the ram of the
ironclad. The Utopia, after pulling
clear of the ironclad, drifted about be-
fore the wind and sea and settled down
in five minutes from the time Of the
first impact.
The Anson's boats were lowered i'm
mediately as were also boats from other
vessels of the British Channel Squad
room, the Swedish man-of-war Frega,
and the cable ship America and Iron
clads turned their powerful electric
search lights on the scene of the disas-
ter to assist the rescuers.
On shore the news spread quickly and
an enormous crowd soon gathered on
the parade and great excitement pre-
vailed. The .shrieks of the Utopia's
passengers and crew could be plainly
heard above the roaring gale. The sea
was so heavy that the boats of the
resouers could not with safety approach
the wreck, so they were compelled to
turn toward land where they picked up
the. people as they were swept from the
decks.
AS the Utopia's bows settled, terri.
BILE scene was witnessed from the boats.
| Those still on board the sinking steamer
made sudden rush en- m0SSe to the
forecastle struggling for their lives, and
yainly seeking place of refuge. Twen-
ty minutes later the forecastle was sub
merged and the large number of persons
gathered there, who had not dared to
leap overheard with the hope of being
rescued by the boats and who had failed
in their efforts to ascend the rigging,
were carried away by the waves. The
recuers, blinded by the wind and rain,
saw nothing but a confused struggling
mass of human beings entangled with
the wreckage.
| A steam pinnace rescued all those
who had taken refuge in the main
rigging, but the last ones were not taken
off until ii o'clock at night. Both
British and Swedish sailors did plucky
and vigorous work. While the steam
pinnace belonging to the British iron
clad Immortalite was engaged in the
work of rescue, her screw fouled and
she became helpless and drifted on the
rocks. Two of the sailors aboard the
pinnace were drowned. The remainder
were rescued. The total number of
lives lost is now placed at 578. Divers