Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1892-02-02
THE JAWS OF DEATH
-e-
Barely Escaped by the
Steamer Elder.
RUNS ASHORE ON A LEDGE.
Accident Close to the Spot Where a
Great Disaster Occurred.

LONDON. Feb. , -','bc steamship Elder,
OF the No.th German Lloyd Steamship
company, Captain llcinokc which left
New York Tor Ercmeu IN Jan. y, went
ashore at 10 O'Clock sunday night on the
Field rocks anr 'Gi,y west OF Nentnor,
Isle of Wight \ Lea,y fog prevailed at
the time, and he captain of the Elder had
calculated th7t the vc'sel was few
miles westward uf Tho SrtdlCs n cluster
of thr" rocks TO the west Of the Isle OF
Wight The steamer struck Just rs tho
lead was berg h,avCd. Suundings taken
only Eve miHGte- previously had indicated
ten fath1Ws o, water Neither The
Ncc3vs liz : aar the So GATHERINGS light
was visible when ~, Ed,r struck the
reef. She hsi ;nl passengers aboard.
The men ia ,,;rgc oi ~, GATHERINGS light
say the Fog .irrn was in full operation at
the time, aiid vas blowing all during the
four hours the fog lasted, ami that tho
electric, with which the st. GATHERINGS is
furnished. WAS burning at its. fullest
power. The Elder was
Only Three Miles Distant
from st. GATHERINGS, bat neither the sound
OF the siren nor the rays Of the light
reached the steamer. To judge from her
position, the vessel was carried 10y roller
about half way over the ledge and was
then dropped oa the rocks. She lies with
her bow and stern in comparatively deep
water, her midship section resting on the
ledge The passengers were somewhat
startled when the steamer first went
on the ledge, bat they were soon treasured
by the news that there was no danger
No confusion resulted from the accident
among the passengers, and no alarm pre-
vailed owing to the assurances of the
steamers officers that the vessel was safe
and that assistance was near at hand If il
was needed.
Among the officers and crew military
calmness aud discipline prevailed An ex-
animation showed thee was but little
water I'M the wells aud I'll, vessel did not
appear 10 DE damaged II was decided TO
jettison part of her cargo ami ffty-seven
bales Of cotton were thrown overheard.
Ropes were attached To the bales aud tied
To the railing of the ship so that the ship
was surrounded 10y sea OF cotton rising
aud falling with the waves, which were
running high i'hc cotton viii be saved.
Boats came out 20 the vessel, but the
captain declined their services until yes
terdly noon.- \ strong southwest wind
then rising, accompanied by rainstorm, he
signaiird 20 the shore for Help.
The vessel hal listed slightly To port as
the tide recedcI Although she appears to
be close To the shore, II was found impos-
siblc to reach Ter by double rockets. As
the tide ebbcd the wind fell: three life
boats were again launched, and as soon as
they reached the ship they began the work
OF rescue landing aS rapidly as possible
full boat loads "i passengers. Besides the
hotels number of cottages were placed nj
the disposal of the passengers, and there
all made comfortable At 10 o'clock last
evening all 'hc Passengers and mails had
been ln:t,l The last boatYoad of pas.
senGcgs reached shore amid the rejoicing of
n large crowd DI the beach The saving
crews received an oy1iina. BY nightfall
six tugs had arrived aud were awaiting
the attcnpt 10 tow the vessel of
During The day the Elder bumped on the
rocEs considerably, the seas breaking
over her J. j. thought, however, that the
vessel las NOT been seriously damaged
The crew Irnain aboard preparing for
the attempt to tow the steamer of
The Landing OF Passengers
by the liiebOats became omewhat risky
after = O'Clock when the wind, which was
blowing dead ashore, freshcned consider
ably and threatened to increase 20 gale.
The vessel carried 100000 in specie.
The captain ordered the bags contain
ins the money ia be piled on the
deck on the side of the vessel facing
the shorc Tho hig heap OF money
was 80 arranged y, 10 be ready imme-
diately, should the necessity arise, To he
sunk in a safe place among the rocks,
whence IL could aftcrward be easily re.
covered by divers. An attempt was made
TO get the Elder afoat with her own
power. The screw churncd the water at a
great rate but the steamer remained fast.
wber. the Accident Occurred.
Nentnor is about the most southern ex-
tremity Of the Isle of Wight, aud The
Needles are ABOUT of its most westerly
point. The Elder passed 10 the right Of the
the Isle Of Wight, instead of to the left of
II.
The spot where the Elder is ashore is not
far from where, In the autumn Of 1878. on
calm Sunday afternoon VI. VI. S. Euri.
dice, British government training ship,
while returning from cruise In the Pa.
cific and West Indies, ,capsizcd in a sudden
small and drowned 400 mon