Telegram-herald., 1891-03-20
COUNTING THEL0ST
The Victims Of the Utopia D.sas-
ter Number 569.
tfeArtrendiag Scenes Attendant Upon
Inc horror 7 oid ns Some 81
the Survivors.

GlBRAIrAK. March - The Official
report ~ tie number 81 persons On
board the leSt Anchor lias steamer
Utopia shows that when She LETT Naples
tie steamship had Ssa souls or beard.
including passengers and crew. OF sais
number only 81 were saved Thus
5es Of her passengers and crew are
either drowned or missing The freya
picked up IS. the Rodney 80, the An
son SIS the lnlnortalits = the Curlew
si. the Camperdoers so, the Amser &
Tea have eied since their reseee. and 9th
ert xhe are sur sriag are eeri,hed "a the
naysl and colonial hospitals and the
ssuors home A sailor from the kci-
pey leapeG into the water In the height
OF the gale and rescued drowning
woman The people were In the rig
ging % the Utopia til II TUESDAY night
The bravery displayed by the sesmen
OF the aeei was unessnpiea. The coast
lins Is still slTewn with S0FPses
Divers who have made an examine
ton 81 the wreck 81 the ltopls report
that there arc hundreds Of bodies In The
steerage and betv zen decks. During
the course 81 the day the bodies of IS
men and ] woman were recovered
here, while al various other paints
along the coast The bodies 81 9 ae.,
70 women. boys and ] gir were
washed ashore one Of the women
When her body was tSlzea from me
water was found to haze her arms
firmly locked around the corpse Of her
Z y. 4
people were taken 10 . cemetery IN tie
spanish lines. where al inquest VA
held
Not until now has il been possible a.
give an Gcoouf- Of the cause 81 the
catastrophe Eariy Tuesday evening
tbs Utopia was seen steamsng into the
bay in the direction Of the anchorage.
When abreast the ironel al Anson the
Utopia staggered as though uD,
able to make Roadway against
the terrible current Suddenly
the strong gale, combined with the
current, swep, the Inflated vessel
across the bows - the Arson. sno in =
moment its hull was pierced and cut
by the ram Of the ironclac The
Utopia after pulling clear Of the
ironclad drifted about before the
wind and sea. The rapid thrush
of water through the rent in is
side caused IL 10 settle down in FIVE
minutes from the time Of the fret
crash. The sea al 60 heavy that TIC
boats of the reseuers COZ. not with
safety approach the wfeeA. 10 4 v
were compelled 10 lie TO leewsrd. whei y
they picked up the people Is they were
swept from the deck
Petersen, a Swedish euarter-nastcr.
says tina, while on board the Utopls
after the collision he was surrounded
ey terrible mass Of human beings.
fighting their way desperately and saw
agely. regardless of sex OF age. to-
wards the boats. Men, women and
children tumbled and elm bed over each
other in that horrible fght for q chance
Of escape from drowning. One poor
woman. who was rescued by Anson 9
blue jackets, went rsving mad whe n
she was convinced that her children
were drowned There were similarly
distressing incidents by the score, the
most awful Of all occurring when the
Utopia. with a final desperate lurch.
sank with lis human freight olingiss
about it and drew hundreds Of living
persons down with IL. Many Of those
who had sprung into the sea a. they "a W
that the steamship could not fost
many moments longer. were then also
drawn down in the whirlpool csused
by the Utopsas disappearance- Some
came TO the surface again for
a few moments before ssnking
finally in their watery TEN ns
Others. more lucky, were able 20
cling TO psece. OF wreekage, fosting
spars. oars. grstings. hstchways, boat.
life belts. etc. and Thus kept them.
selves above water until rescued by tie
warships bosts But IA usual 10 such
cases. the weaker suecum BED morc
readily. shriesing. PRAYING womsr'
sunk TO rise ne more. with their terri
fed offsprings clasped 10 their breasts
Children clunr 10 their parents p,
desperately 50 20 in many case.
cause the desth Of both. where
both might ave escaped had bet
ter judgment hcen used. Husband:
and wives sunk while grsspiBg
each other in frantic effort~ 10 ke>T
each other sAosL end many a good
swimmer went down with some hor.
rifed. fesr-msdden~d person clinging
to him with the tenacity OF the desp~rs-
ton Of death.