Evening journal., 1892-07-25
lNDERBILT IN A WRECK
S Yacht Alva Crashed Into by
a Steamer and Sunk.
.RROw EsCAPBFORA ALL ON BOARD

le millionaire and His Guests Arrayed \
lnly in Their Might Clothes TaIscn
aboard the Vessel whAh Run the
q Alva Down-Landed Safely in Boston.
Il 3osToN, July 25.-William X Vanderbilt
! party of friends were shipwreclSed of
Aallocks Rip shoals, Nantucket, and mar
B ivly escaped drowning Mr. Vanderbilt
a a party, including Frederick w. Van
s rbilt, George W. DeForest, Frederick S.
& pyt and Messrs. Pell and Riggs, left New
rt last Wednesday in Mr. Vanderbilts
Ram yacht Alva for a cruise, arriving at
II Harbor at noon on Friday. On Satur-
" afternoon they started on the return
! lip to Newport
They had fine weather until Sunday
orning, when at about 6 o'clock they ran
to a thick fog Off Nantucket and not
aeming it safe to proceed anchored in the
,annel. Officers of the Alva say man
as stationed at the fog bell and kept it
Nnging vigorously without ceasing, BE.
& yeen that hour aud S:aO two vessels passed
3 lem safely, hearing their bell
The officers on the Alva soon after S
3 clock heard the steamer H. f. Dimocz, of
be Metropolitan line, approaching, and
ontinued to keep the yachts bell in mo-
on. The Dimock, they maintain, au-
. .yered with her whistle and as she neared
& le yacht slowed down her engines, run
ing at dead slow speed. AS nearly as they
ould judge the Dimock seemed to go
+ round the yacht and then ran into her on
Z he port bow, cutting a large hole in her
s de and sinking her in twenty minutes.
4 Got OF just in Time.
4 At the moment Of the collision Mr.. Van
5 erbilt and his guests We're in bed, and the
. ude awakening and the imminent danger
1T them no time in which to dress
N Mr.. Vanderbilt threw his pajama over his
I ODE du chambre when ne rushed on deck,
nd, taking in the situation at glance, he
an forward, so it is said, and climbed up
he bow of the Dimock to the deck
y The people ON the Alva hailed the Dimock
nd said they We're sinking. Captain Cole
nan, Of the Dimock, after receiving an
ffirmative answer to the question whether
he boat remained intact, told the people
n the yacht that he would lay by until
yhey could be transferred to his vessel
4 A steam launch, four rowboats and a naph-
ha launch We're then lowered from the
Diva, which was rapidly sinking, and the
owner and passengers with the crew. We're
oon afoat and rapidly pulling away from
heir doomed craft. Their exit was none
90 soon, for when they were about a cables
length from their vessel she made violent
keel to port, and righting again plunged
.lown, bows first, and nothing but the three
nasts sticking out pf the wpter FHluNd
he presence Of themagnifcant pctsniot ~
hey had so lately dbserted.-i ~ NN
Everything bur Life Lost.
The party were all safelylanded on boapd
he Dimocls, which afthdttd uh TapdiAeh
F 'lntil the fog lifted aud a course was set for
Boston. So hurriedly were the occupants
4 Of the Inflated craft obliged to leave that
|they were all, with the exception of the
watch on deck, clad in nothing but their
|night clothes, and lost everything they had
In the way Of valuabes. None of the pas
'sengers had a shoe or stocking on when
banded in the cabin Of the Dimock.
The passengers on board the latter named
vessel clothed the people from the yacht as
best they could with the available spare
|raiment
The Dimock was going at a greatly re-
|duced speed at the time of the collision,
otherwise she would probably have run
right over the Alva and a frightful loss OF
life would have been the result, owing to
the fact that all the passengers and one half
the crew were soundly asleep at the time OF
the accident.
She Was Worth a Million.
Arriving in this city the Vanderbilt party
at once took a train for their home in New.
port.
The Alva is a steel screw steamer with
baIlSentiue rig. She is 2Sj feet over all, 25.
feet On the water line, 32.3 feet wide, and
has draft of is feet. The engine is OF
the three cylinder compound direct acting
type, the high pressure cylinder being 3.
and the low pressure cylinders being A
inches in diameter, with ~ inch stroke OF
piston. The boilers are 10 feet long by Ii
feet in diameter. A powerful dynamo en-
gine supplies the electric light with whicl
the yacht is lighted throughout. She is sup
piled with steam stearing gear aud steam
windlass.
The Alva was one Of the largest and fines
private pleasure steamers ahoat and witt
her fittings, it is estimated, was worth no
far from sl,OOO,OOO. She was under thu
command Of Captain Henry Morrison. Shl
was built in Wilmington, in 1886. Tn,
sunken vessel now rests on a sandy bottom
and divers viii be dispatched to see wha
can be done toward raising her.