Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-11-12
CLINGING TO MASTS.
A Ships Crew Doomed to Destruction
in Plain Sight of Land.
LIFE-SAvERs CAN'T REACH THEM.
The English Shore strewn With Many
Wrecks and Dead Bodies
WORSE THAN THE PREVIOUS STORM

land. Sailing vessels bound up and down
the channel, warned by falling ba-ometers,
put their helms up andsmade for harbor.
As the night grew older the wind blew with
hurricane force. Not alone were sailing
vessels in danger, but large ocean steam
ships, lacking sea room, were compelled to
keep off shore.
Already dispatches are being received
telling of wrecks by last nights storm. The
iron schooner Benvenue sailed two days
ago on voyage for Sydney, n. S. W. She
had made good weather down the channel
until last night, when she was caught in the
storm and driven ashore near Sandgate.
When the Benvenue struck her crew were
compelled to take to the rigging to escape
being washed overheard by the seas, which
were making clean breach over the vessel
The Frail Laeboae Is Launched.
The member of the hfe-saving boat crew
who was patrolling the beach near where
the Benvenue was dashed ashore, had seen
the lights of the fated vessel, and immedi-
ately called upon his companions to hasten
to the rescue of the imperiled crew. The
lifeboat was manned and soon started
for the wreck. Tossed like a cockle-
shell upon the waves, the lifeboat rose and
fell At times she could be seen apparently
climbing to the top of an enormous roller;
then for a moment would remain perehed
upon the crest of the wave, and then with
headlong pitch would disappear,from view
in trough of sea-
For time she was lost sight of alto
gether When she again came to view the
hardy life-savers were seen gallantly strug-
CLING against terrible odds. They finally ap-
preached the wreck, but the sea was dash
ing with such fury that if was impossible
for them to get near enough to attempt to,
take off the men in the rigging. Reluctantly
they pulled away from the wreck and made
their way to the shore, the return trip
being mad much more easily than the out
ward one.
Great CONSERVATION on the Shore.
There was great excitement on the beach.
when it was learned that the life-boat hadt
failed, but all hope of rescuing the ship
wrecked mariners from, their perilous posi- /
tion was by no means abandoned. Prepara- /
tions were Immediately made to shoot line.
to the wreck. When the first rocket fell.
short of the mark there was general ex- !!
preston Of dismay. Again and again the |,
attempt to shoot line was made, but eachi
time the attempt tailed
One of the sailors in the rigging appar-,
emily made up his mind that he could
reach the shore bv swimming He was seen
to dive from the rigging and to strike out
strongly in the direction of thc shore. On
he came drawing nearer and nearer to the
beach until it seemed as if he would reach
the land. A number of residents of the
town Joined hands, and their leader dashed
into the sea in an attempt to reach the
struggling sailor. When the swimmer had
approached to within two Yards of his
would-be rescuers, he threw up his hands,
and, with a groan, sank and was seen nod
more.
This afternoon the lifeboat crew made
another strenuous but fruitless effort to
reach the Benvenue. Some of the crew,
exhausted by their long exposure. became |
so weakened that they found it impossible |
to longer cling 10 the rigging. and sc were |
forced to let go. They dropped into the |
yeasty waters and sank from sight.
A Most Desperate Situation.
The others, some of whom are undoubted- |
" lashed fast, are still in the rigging A |
crowd numbering thousands of people is
gathered along the shore. watching every |
attempt to save the lives of the ship |
wrecked sailors.
The cargo of the Benvenue is floating out |
IL
strewn with all kinds o. wreckage Much |
of the cargo has drifted ashore and has been |
taken in charge by the wreck masters. The |
hull is gradually sinking. Already num- |
ber of corpses from the wreck have f1oated |
ashore and others viii certainly follow
A body of troops was sent to aid the life |
savers in saving the distressed. The storm |
has extended northward and now RACES with |
great fury from Wick, on the east coast of |
Scotland, to the Scilly Islands in the |
English channel This group of islets num- |
bers about 140 and constitute constant |
menace to vessels during stormy weather.
A telegram has been received from that |
point, stating that schooner has been |
wrecked there. The crew. however, were |
saved. A vessel named the Paramount has |
sunk off Lowestoft, in Suffolk. All hands |
except two sailors were drowned. The two
who were saved owe their lives to the |
Lowestoft Lifeboat crew.
Damage Done in London Also
In London the storm has done consider
able damage. In many places where build
ings were in course of erection the boarding
in front of them was blown out into the |
streets and temporarily stopped the passage
of pedestrians and vehicles.
A dispatch received from ST. Leonard's,
the well-known watering place in Sussex, |
SAYS the bark Amor is stranded near that |
town. When the vessel went ashore the sea |
swept over her and her crew would have
been drowned had they remained on deck. |
They clambered into the rigging, where
.bey lashed themselves fast.
They signslled frantically for assistance.
and the Gfe-saving crew responded, but it |
was impossible to get their lifeboat beyond |
the line of the surf that beat upon the
shore. When it was finally seen that fur
ther efforts would be useless, the lifeboat
crew tried to. get line to The wreck bv
means of rockets. The gale, however, was
blowing with such frightful velocity that
none reached the vessel
The storm has caused considerable dam.
age throughout the southern counties of
England and Ireland Rain has fallen in
large quantities. Telegraphic communica-
tion has been interrupted to great extent
in the section affected by the storm This
interruption seriously interferes with the
of cable messages between
England and the United States.
Flying Signals OF Distress.
A number of vessels have been driven
past Sandgate with their ensign hoisted
with the jack down, as q signal of distress;
but TO try TO give help to vessels that by
any means could care for themselves, would
have been foolhardy. The dispatches now
being received give the following list of
casualties at various points along the
coast.
The Norwegian brig Solertia has been
wrecked at Studland, in Dorset.
The fishing boat Star of the East, ,while
entering Lowestoft, crashed against the
north pier and was wrecked. Six of her
crew were drowned. One man was rescued,
but he died from exhaustion shortly after