Morning journal and courier., 1892-01-29
GIVEN UP FOR LOST.

No Tidings of the Men Blown out to
 Sea-Hope of Rescue Abandoned
 Heroic Rescue of Fifty-two Italians
 on Four Scowsin Gravesend Bay.
 NEW YORK, Jan. 28.-Ouly the vaguest news of the eighteen men aboard the tug Webster and the four dumping scows which drifted out to sea in the terrible gale Tuesday morning has been received up to this morning.
 The steamship stranton, Captain Morri- son, which arrived yesterday, brought the first news of the missing boats. The Stran- ton left West Hartlepool on January 6, and arrived at the bar at 6 p m. Tuesday. She remained outside, however, until yester- day.
 Captain Morrison reports that at 3:30 p. m. Tuesday, four miles south of Long Beach hotel, he passed two patent dumping scows, and three miles further south he saw a tugboat apparently an chored or manageable. He was unable to extend assistance on account of the storm.
 At 5 p. m. yesterday dispatch from Rockaway Beach stated that large tug was visible off Rockaway towing two of the missing scows. They were covered with ice, but apparently undamaged. It is the general belief that the two scows and tug are the ones seen by the Stranton on the previous afternoon.
 On the other hand the Deassori, one of the tugs sent out in search of the missing boats, came back last night. Her captain reported that he had been of Rockaway IXt- bal NE the tug and scows. He was sure he would have seen them had they been there, and believed that the tug referred to in the Rockaway Beach dispatch was his own. That theory, however, would not account for the statement that the tug sighted had two scows in tow.
 The boats swept out to sea were the tug boat Webster and dumping scows 3, ,, 16 and F of the Barney dumping company. On these boats were eighteen men em- ployed in towing and working the dump ing scows, in which the street cleaning de- pertinent carries the city refuse to the open sea for dumping. Ten of the men were on the tugboat, and two were on each of the four scows.
 The tug Webster has sufficient provision and water on board to last week, but the men on the dumping boats had not more than days supplies on board.
 Tha tugs Edwin Webster and H. s. Nichols left the street-cleaning docks early Tuesday morning, each with two scows in tow.
 A quick run was made to the dumping ground beyond Rockaway, and the self Jumpers were quickly unloaded, but when the tugs started to return to this city, the gale was so strong thst slow progress was made.
 Of Rcckaway, about a. m., the Web ster suddenly stopped, and in moment lay rolling in the trough of the sea witt the ensign hoisted Union down as a signal of distress.
 The hawser had parted between the tug | and the dumping boats, and the tugs pro peller had apparently become entanglec l with the hawser's end, which the wave. | washed under her stern.
 The Nichols captain put in as near the Rockaway beach AS possible, and, anchor | ing her scows inside the shoals, put out tt the assistant of the Webster. l The high sea and wind, however, made l it impossible for her to hold on to the haw ser, which was gotten on board the Web ster, and, getting short of water, tn l Nichols put back to the city. | Meantime the Webster and boats snt F had drifted out to sea.
 The story of Captain Day of the tuI
 Runyan, which rescued the ffty-two 1ta
 Hans on the tugs of the street cleaning de
 partment aground in Gravesen bay, is a
 follows:
 "When we got there we found the fou
 scows aground, with all the Italians stand
 ing on dirt heaps and watching us. The
 waved their arms when they saw us com ing. We found we couldn't get near ther
 on account of the high seas, so we put ou
 to a schooner that had anchored furthe
 down and borrowed a yawl. Five me
 were put in the yawl and they rowe
 out to the scows. We made thirtee
 trips, taking four of them every time
 and some of them were so stiff that W
 had to lift them onto the tug. Our me
 got pretty stiff after rowing for half 8
 hour, and it was awful work. The whol
 job took us three hours. Some of th
 Italians said they had been out on th refuse all night long. They looked it: Yo ought to have seen the way they fell tc when we passed around something to eat