The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1893-07-01

Eomarkabie Discipline In the Faee o.
Impending Death-The Loss NOW Given
as Three Hundred ana sixty Vivcs.
Admiral marI,ham's Fatal Delay.
NEW YORK june 95-The World p-ib-
Hshes on extra, in which d. The ipllo v'ug
special dispatch from 1'ripod, Sui9 re-
garding the sinking of her m-jcsty's Aat-
tleship Victoria
About 3 O'Clock last rbusad1y afternoon
the English feet came iu si, hi NJ Hl Nina
the port and town OF rrpoli The FIVE big
Victoria CamperdOwn, Ldin-
burgh, Nile and Sans parril-were drawn
up In full front The Victoria was in the
center, the Camperdowu ou her left and
the Edinburg on her right
When within avr miles Of shore Vice
Admiral Sir George TryJn siBnalad to
turn and form IN double line. This meant
that the Victoria and the Camperdown
were TO go ahead q little and describe a
turn, the Victoria turning to the left aud
the Camperdown turning TO tho right
Then they would advance side by side in
the direction from which they had come,
the others would swing into double col
umn order and advance two and two be-
hiud the leaders.
When the order was given the distance
between tho ships was less than two cable
lengths. The execution Of the order was
easy enough for ships further away from
center, but extremely difficult for the Vic
toria and the Camperdown, who in turn
ing their boats would pass within few
fsthoms Of each other, even If the move
ment was executed with the greatest pre-
cision. This movement is rarely made,
and is chiefly for the purpose of training
che ship commanders 20 move expedi-
tiously away from shoslinR waters
Admiral Markham, perhaps misunder-
standing the orders, did not move the
Camperdown quickly enough. AS aresult
the latter vessel crashed into the Victoria
with great force.
The twelve foot ram Of the Camperdown
struck the hull OF the Victoria just In
front Of the armored bulkhead. There
was a smashing Of wood and iron plates,
aud the ram and eight feet of the Camper
downE bow crashed twenty feet into the
bowels OF the Victoria. The Camperdown
was halted by the heavy armor of the Vic
toria, and as her screws were reversed she
at once began TO back away.
1t seemed that Admiral Tryon did not
realize the full extent of the damage TO
the Victoria, and she was at once pointed
| toward shore, so that, II she was to sink,
/ it might be in shallow water
When the Camperdown's ram struck the
| Victoria Admiral Tryon, the navigating
officer, two signal officers and the men at
the wheel were all upon the bridge. either
in full view or In the chart house Most
Of the crew were on the forward deck.
/ With the crash they rushed as far aft as
/ possible, but when the two vessels separ-
4 ated all returned TO their places
] So uoo1 WAS fba dfeafu1fpa fhaf xrtrhfu
| Ave minutes after the blow a diving suit
! had been brought on deck and diver was
/ getting iuto it to obey an order to go be
| low and find out the. extent of the dam
ages.
About ten minutes after the blow the
! Victoria, having got something like two
miles nearer the shore from the scene OF
the collision, all at once leaned away over
to starboard, and with great roll and
| plunge buried her bow beneath the sea. 1t
was almost instantaneous
Those on deck were plunged immedi.
ately into the water. The men forward
and below had no time to rush to the deck,
but found themselves groping for doors of
rooms filled with water and compressed
air
The huge huh was drawing in the water
as 1t went down, and several hundred men
hAAA Atu nAnhNAAAl lAAO Nllt WhltIt uAu LG
battle against the increasing suction. A
moment more and new peril, more horri
Bile, descended upon them. The great en-,
gine, deep in the heart of the hull and in,
closed in water tight compartments, was
still throbbing at full speed and the great
twin screws were whirling round up In
the air. As the vessel sank the screws
came nearer and nearer to the water, and
descended into the midst of struggling
human beings The poor creatures bat
tied in vain in the suction. They were
drawn down and thrown against the swift
blades Screams and shrieks arose, anC
In the white foam appeared reddened arm,
and legs and wrenohed and torn bodies
Headless trunks were tossed out of the
vortex to linger moment on the surfac,
and sink out of sight.
Suddenly there was a muflled sound o.
thunder, the waters were tossed up anC
the steam burst from them. Again tn,
sbrieks and screams burst from the swim
mers The boilers had exploded, the sea
had rushed into the furnaces and tn,
swimmers were beating waves Of scalding
water.
Thus IN less than ten minutes death II
three awful forms attacked the officer
and crew Of the Nictoria-death by drown
ing, death knifelike screws and death by
scalding water
With the first under plunge Of the Vic
toria all the boats were called away from
all the other ships and came straining ovel
the calm sea TO save the strugglers. Thesi
boats were soon picking mp the fortunat,
ones who had got out of reach Of the terri
BILE vortex So long as the vortex wa,
there the boats dared not venture near
but they did lift from the scalding watel
several wretched sailors who were horribly
burned. Il Is thought that more than hal
Of those drowned got out Of the ship, but
were caught in the vortex or scalded tC
death by the scalding water
Admiral Tryon did not leave the ship
He was the last man seen as she frs
plunged her bow under water He stood
on the bridge as long as It was possible tC
stand anywhere above deck. His body ha,
not been found.
All agree that Admiral Tryon showed
rare heroism. After he had ordered all tC
save themselves the coXswain ran up tC
him with iifeboat Tryon refused to tax,
it and told the man TO seek his own safety
He stood on the bridge, motionless ant
with folded arms, awaiting sure death
Without exception the officers and crew
behaved uobly.
So far as now ascertuined the lost mum
Der 30, comprising % officers and 83s men
Iha saved number PSI, including 20 OIL
GERS and 23l men.