The morning call., 1892-02-03
TIE Elder DOOMED.
Pounding to Pieces on the
Jagged Rocks.
l Valuable Steamship Meets Her Fate
in The English Channel.
Captain and Crew Leave the Ship-ThTil-
ling Experience Of The Crews Of The
Liie-EOatS.
specIsl 70 TIE MoRNrSs C,LL


the steamer Elder on Atherfsld ledge. The
place is exposed to the fun force Of The wind
and sea and is one Of the most perilous
points ln The channel. The wind continued
to freshen throughout the night and the
position II the Elder grew worse and worse.
She pounded quite hard upon the rocks, but
the crew staid by her The stern sank fur
ther, lifting the bows higher. Should she
slide off the ledge she would surely so to the
bottom. Marine men think she will almost
certainly be lost Captain Heinecke signaIed
that the 'eak IS fast gaining on tie pumps.
The Atherfeld life boat crew early made
preparations to 50 to the assistance of the
Elders crew.
A CRITICAL POSITION.
At1l O'clock in the morning the position
Of the Elder became most critical The tide
rising poured into the steamer, filing the
after-bo.d and pulling the stern down. Ieav-
ing the fore-hold dry. The sea was break
ing over the quarterback, ana il looked as
though sne would slide off at any moment
The pumps on the Elder were working at
their full capacity all night, butthe sea Kept
pouring through the hole ia her side where
the rocks had torn the iron plates. At day
light signals were run up asking for help.
Life boats were Immediately sent out and
after dangerous passage everybody was
landed in safety, The few bags Of mail and
2I7 passengers were taken to Southampton,
where al destined for Bremen vii. be trans
ferred TO the steamer Havel, which was ex-
pected to arrive at Southampton this after
noon. Al. the passengers concur IN deny
ing tie sensational reports that panic
prevailed when the steamer struck or alter
ward.
TIE STORM INCREASED.
A dispatch from Atherheld az 3 40 o'clock
this afternoon stated tie storm had really
increased IN severity, aud that the life boats
were again launched and we're battling their
way through the heavy seas ln tile direction
OF tile steamer. IHey were going % rescue
some OF the members OF the ships company
Sill aboard the vessel and whose position
has become very precadous, owing to the
increased severity Of the gale.
At O'clock this evening dispatch from
AtbeT6eld stated that tie life-U0ats, after
an exceedingly per.lOus voyage, had sue
CPeded Do bringing everybody from the sIID
20 the shore ll safety. As the tide wen
down tie storm Increased IN violence. The
North German Lloyd steamer Hayel. to
which tie agents Of the company a. South
ampt0u Intend 10 transfer all the passeu-
gers Of the + der bound for Bremen, was
sigma Oh NG-ttF l~IaNlS AlaiS dILrl Oh
J lie Elder HIS showed through tie teTrl bis
pounding she received that there was moth
ing faulty ll her construction. Hour after
hour to-day SHE stood the batterlnE from
the sea and rocks that in the case Of a
weaker vessel would have long before torn
her Co pieces.
Thrilling EXPERIENCE.
At The time tie lfe-boats set out this af-
teTnOCn 10 rescue the remainder Of the crew
remaining on the steamer, the storm had
gained terrible violence. The life-b boat crew
at AtheTheld had a tremendous strugg e
to get their boat beyond the breakers that
were piliug high up On the shore, and even
after they 20. past the bTeakers, they had a
difficult task. Their course was directly in
the eye Of the wind that was now blowing a
hurricane, but slowly, but surely, the boat
forged ahead. Some Of the times size would
appear on the crest Uf hlEn sea, and then
disappear IN the trough; thus 1t continued
until size gltunder the lee Of the Elder. A
line was taken from the steamer and
dropped alongside. The lfe-OOat took on
board as many as she could safely carry
and headed for the shore. The boats from
BIghtstone and Lewis had similar expert
eDCe5.
HOW THE SHIP WAS WRECKED.
The captain Of tie Elder was the last per-
son 10 leave the vessel. The voyage was
Captain ueiuecke's first one on the Elder
from New \ OTk In an interview one Of
ihe cnceTs OF the snip SAYS; Inc passage
was good one. We dId not see land
TIL we sighted The Lizard light and il
was difficult 10 recognize points 10 the fog.
The Elder steamed slowly along the En-
glish Channel sunday with a sharp lookout
for pilots, hut none were seen. Neither
were the Needles nor the southampton
lights seen. The captain had personal
charge Of the ship. At the time OF the ac-
cidrnt soundings were being taken every
five minutes and the vessel was going a the
slOWeSt speed. For 4 short time alter we
struck none OF Us realized the real state Of
affairs, but presently the fOE lifted some
what. revealing the ships position, close TO
the cliffs and firmly Graded in the rocks.
We still expected, however, 10 float unin-
lured with TIE tide"