Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-03-28
LOST ON THE OCEAN.
The Crew of a Norwegian Bark Miss
Their Bearings. and the
SHIP Is WRECKED In A STORM.
The Life Savers at Cape Henry Put in q
Whole Days Hard Work.
EIGHT OF TIE CREW LOSE THEIR LIVES

NEW YORK, March 27.-The Norwegian
bark Dictator, from Pensacola, Fla, to
West Hartlepool, England, laden with pine
lumber, with crew of 10 and the Captains
young wife and little boy of 8 years, came
ashore In strong easterly gale this morning,
four miles south of Cape Henry and two
! miles north of Virginia Beach Hotel. The
weather was so thick that the vessel was not
seen until 9 o'clock. and then she was in
the breakers, broadside On, within quarter
OF mile OF the shore.
Full crews from two life-saving stations,
those Of Cape Henry and Seatack, under
command or Captain Drinkwater, were
promptly on hand and began firing lines to
the ill-fated bark. The guns could not de-
liver the lines so far, though they were re-
peatedly fired. The ship finally succeeded
in getting line ashore tied to a barrel,
which the surf carried to the lite-savers.
The Sailors Unfortunate Ignorance.
The breeches buoy was quickly -igged
and sent to the vessel, but unfortunately the
bark's crew was ignorant of its use, and the
rescue was delayed until Captain Drink
water, OF the life-saving crew, wrote instruc-
tions. put them into a bottle and sent it to
the Dictator by the line connecting the YES
sci with the shore.
The men on board broke the bottle at
once, as could be seen by glasses from the
shore, and proceeded to carry out the direc-
tions. The first man was delivered ashore
in eight minutes, and seven others were res
cued before sunset, four of whom came
ashore in life-boat, which was capsized,
but the men succeeded in reaching the shore
in hali-dead condition, one man having
his arm broken.
During the entire dav the ship rolled and
PITCHED terribly, which made the work of
rescuing the unhappy sailors exceedingly
difficult and slow, as the life line would
tighten or slacken in response to the motion
of the vessel.
Survivors Brought Ashore Half Dead.
Once the line broke with a man midway
to the shore, and he was hauled back to the
bark half dead. The line was mended and
the same man was safely landed. The beach
was lined with people who had come from
the country houses and the hotel, and to the
spectators the anxiety and suspense was
awful, as they could plainly see the people
on the bark and hear their constant cries
for succor. At nightfall there were
still nine persons on the bark.
and among the number the captain, his
wife and little child. The captain had
urged his wife all during the day to take
tine buoy and come ashore, but she steadily
refused, as she would not leave her husband
and child, and only one could take the buoy
at time.
tinued, and the captain vainly besought his
Wi 70 IN t-o tho atfnmpt for life
The Names of the Rescued Seamen.
The bark soon went to pieces, and those
that remained on her were lost, including
the wife of the captain. Her husband, just
before the ship went to pieces, sprang into
the sea with his son strapped to his back
and reached the shore alive, but the boy was
lost, making Total loss of eight lives. The
list of the saved is as follows: Captain j.
M. Jorgonson; Second Mate Julius Ander-
son, Ampler Barrett, John Stevens, John
PATTERSON, Yelmer Olsen, John Mall, Carlo
Olsen (broken arm), Charley Joseph (col-
ored.)
The Dictator was trying to make Hamp-
ton Roads, having been disabled by hurri-
canes since the 18th inst. The sea is still
tremendous. By daylight tomorrow there
will be no vessel in sight. All that could
be gathered from the half-dead sailors as to
the cause of the stranding of the vessel was
that they did not know where they were,
the sun not having been seen for four days,
and the weather was so thick last night and
this morning that they struck the breakers
before they could see the coast
The life-savers have worked all day with
great heroism, without food since early this
morning. The apparently slow progress of
the work of rescue is due to the fact that
life-boat could not live in the surf, that
the guns would not reach the bark, and that
the crew could not use the breecbes buoy
until they were instructed from shore.