The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1892-12-10
THE OCEANS PeRIrS

The OCEANS PERil&
Terrible Experience OF the Pnsssnesrs -
tho North German lloyd Steamer spess
Disabled at seA BY . Brokea ShsH-
stout rimbers and Good sssmanship
Averted Disaster. and . Friendly Tow
Carried the Vessel Safely to Pert
LONDON, Dec. 5.-The North German
Lloyd steamship Spree, which left
southampton November Is for New
York and was due In New York No
vember so, arrived at Queenstown
yesterday in tow of the British steam
ship Lake Huron, disabled with
broken shaft. Rev. Dwight L. Moody
and Gen. o. o. Howard, U. s A., and
family are among the Spree's passen-
gers
Dreadful Experisnee.
QUEENSTOWN, Dec. 5.-The Queens
hotel is filled with the passengers Of
the steamship Spree and many have
been obliged to go to Kilmurray's, the
European and other small hotels OF
lodging houses. Most Of the passen-
gers have thrilling stories TO tell Not
few, however. acknowledge that
they had no conception Of their peril
until they had been landed. Twice. at
least. the officers gave mp hope of saw
ing the ship, yet each time they be-
lieved it would be impossible for the
boats to live in the tremendous seas. On
Sunday night oil the officers were con-
vinced that to abandon the ship for tho
boats would be certain death.
Everybody is eloquent in praise OF
Dwight l. Moody. His services did
more than anything else. all say, to-
ward steadying the courage Of the pas
sengers. In every group Of foreigners
during the preaching sat somebody who
translated the evangelist's words as
they came from his lips
Mrs, J. W. Robinson, of Chicago, to-
day told correspondent of the In
ternationai Telegram the story of her
experience on the drifting steamship.
She said: when the shaft broke I was
sleeping in my stateroom- was
aroused by q crash, then felt q heavy
shock which almost threw me from my
berth. knew that something serious
had happened. Igot up Immediately,
dressed as fast as could, and ran into
the corridor, where I found the rest
of the passengers frightened and hud-
died together. When we learned the
cause of the trouble, none of us rea-
liZcd the danger we were in. When
we got on deck, however. we saw q
frightful scene. Hundreds were strSg-
Cling for life-preservers, shouting or
groaning. or running about as II crazy.
Preparations to lower the boats in
creased their terror. For two DAYS and
nights vc were tossed and drifted away
from our course. We did not go to bed.
The sea was terrific The ship rolled
so that we had to cling to the tables or
chairs to prevent our being dashed to
the floor or against the partitions.
A German lady who tried TO leave the
cabin when the sea was Mt its worst,
was thrown against pillar so vio-
lently that she broke her arm. Tho
surgeon set IL with great difficulty, rs
il was almost impossible TO remain
quiet, even in ones berth. The suicide
Of n young man from Vienna de-
pressed US ALL He was wealthy and
was engaged to marry vienese
young lady. Four women in the sec
ond cabin became temporarily insane
from anxiety and lack of sleep"
Miss NJ. L. Merriman, of Boston. was
i'll in bed at the time of the accident;
in fact too i'll to realize her danger.
She was nearly thrown to the floor by
the shock. She dressed herself slowly
and was one Of the last TO get on deck.
81 never before saw such a scene"
she said. The ship was at the mercy
of the sea and the waves were dashin9
upon the decks. The passengers wero
huddled together in the passagewaysor
on the stairs, or were running about as
best they could on deck. Most of them
had been calmed by the time got up
stairs, but the faces of all were white
with terror. We had a terrible Sunday
morning The sea was worse than /
had ever seen it We feared the bulk
heads would not hold out and at night
had become so frightened that we
would not go to bed, but laid down in
the companionway."
The captain of the Lake Huron says
that when the Spree made her first
signals of distress he thought that she
was on fire.
Seventeen of the Spree's passengers
have started for America on the steam
ship Etruria. The rest will wait until
this evening for the Havel, which
was Immediately dispatched by tho
steamship company to take the place Of
the Spree. In transferring the mails Il
was found that $50 bags had been 80
soaked that their contents
were worthless