Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1893-01-02
HER rKRILoUs VOYAGE.

\ Ahe W eICOme0 DF Large
and Enthusiastic Throng - Skilful
Work of Her Engineer in Repair.
Ing the Broken Shaft-Ihe Gallia OF
Her own Line Refused to Stand by
the Disabled steamer.
NEW YORK, Jan. with a broken shaft
that was skilfully repaired at sea, and with
everybody on board well, the great single
screw Cunard line steamship Umbria got
into port shortly after o'clock Saturday
morning, and before noon resohed her pier,
where che was greeted by great and en-
thusiastie crowd. The hearty reception
was deserved by the ship, officers and
| crew. Her staunchness and power. her
captains seamanship and her engineers
skill and energy combined to bring her In
safely through winter gales worse than any
known on the Atlantic ocean for many
years.
The Umbria was five and half days
overdue when she was sighted off Fire
Island at Eve minutes before 1 O'Clock
yesterday morning, and her safe arrival
lifted a great weight from the minds of
her agents here. They felt sure that Cap
tain Horatio Mckay, the vice-commodore
of the Cunard fleet, would bring her in all
extremely anxious about her.
The Umbria brought In a story which Is
only second in interest to her experience
with a broken shaft, and which will prob
ably lead to troublesome discussions in
the next few days. That story Is that
the Gallia, commanded by Captain
Ferguson, and belonging to the same line
as the Umbria, refused to lie by the dis
alb led ship and deserted her In fierce
northwest gale. If 1t Is true it was . most
heartless and reckless act on the part of
the captain of the Gallis. But the fact
that the Gallia was Cunard ship like the
Umbria, and that the captain of the Gallia
would have no known reason for refusing
aid, while his remissness would, as he
would naturally know, involve him in
serious trouble, is taken as proof that he
misunderstood the signals. The New
York agent of the Cunard line, Vernon q.
Brown, yesterday declared that he thought
this would prove to be the explanation of
Captain Fsssusen's actions.
The nature and extent of the Umbria's
damages are now being investigated, and
Mr.. Brown said yesterday that he did not
know how serious they were. The break in
the shaft occurred in the after end of the
thrust shaft near the engines, and 1t was
repaired at sea by Chief Engineer Law
renee Tomlinson in a novel manner after
seventy-two hours of the hardest kind of
work.
From all accounts, the passengers Of the
Umbria were not much alarmed at any
time, and almost all of them united in
in praise of the ship, officers and crew.
" hen the ship was being swung into her
pier, men and women seized Chief Engi-
nesr Tomlinson and kissed his cheeks and
hands in gratitude. Captain Mckay was
cheered from all parts of the chip till he
blushed. There were q few passengers
who felt differently about the matter and
abused the ship and everything connected
with it.
The Umbria sailed from Liverpool on
Saturday, December II, about O'Clock in
the afternoon, with almost 900 people on
board. Her cabin passengers numbered
$50, there being 131 in the first cabin and
1913 in the second cabin. She had 1871 peo-
pie in the steerage, and her crew consisted
of 121 men in the engineers gang, "a sea-
men, and 102 in the stewards department.
At Liverpool she took on 295 sacks of mail
and then started for Queenstown. She ar
rived there about 0 o'clock Sunday morn
ing and waited for the Irish mail. That
brought with it 1 ,040 bags of mail, huge
amount. 1t consisted largely of Christmas
letters and presents, for the big single
screw ship was to be Christmas ship, and
it was supposed would arrive here in time
for that holiday. Taking on this immense
amount of mail delayed her, and 1t was 2
o'clock on Sunday afternoon when the
Umbris finally steamed out of Queenstown
harbor and headed into the Atlantic ocean.