New-York tribune., 1894-06-25
DEATH CAME ON THE WIND
Continued from First Page.
IS tnrned into a COMPANY Of death and mourn
ing. .,o.r.>-C.r- l,,,,t, O1-1Cxrv


When the tug sank assistance came quickly.
given by a boats crew from the Clyde Line
s,eamsbip Algonquin and the crews Of several
,ugboats fortunately nearby Forty-nine men
were rescued. but twenty-sx. who are missing.
are supposed to have been drowned. Several
bodies were recovered by the rescuing crews.
The passengers were a motley gathering Of
mechanics. truckmen and laborers. many Of
whom were boys. 1t a peculiar fact that
few were acquainted with each other.
Captain Samuel c. Platt. OF the Algonquin, who
was on the bridge Of his steamship, suddenly
heard the tugs whistles Of distress, and
promptly ordered lf-boat to be lowered The
boat was manned by First Officer \. NJ. Rich
and four seamen. Christopher Hansen, q. Nei-
son A. Nelson and John ThorgensOn. Before the
ufohoat could be fully lowered the tug had
disappeared from view. having sunk III ao'u,
nine fathoms of water. The boats crew TSScueu
nine men and took a drowned man from the
tugs Nfeboat which had caps.zed several times
and in which he had become entang.od IN hSh-
ing lines and ropes ,..
which had put about. but the sea was then
running 50 high tnst it would have been dan
ecrous 10 attempt 70 take the boat ana her
iraye crew with the rescued men on board so
che WAS towed aStern till smoother water was
reached when the rescued men were placed IN
the frerorm of the steamer To get warm ana
drv their Watcr-soaked garments Whlle 'dplali
platt ordered a generous supply OF Whlskey ana
food for them. The boats crew We're lusuN
cheered by the AlgonQuns passengers ana the
mon teaifClly embraced and thanked thelr res
cueys.
While the Algonquin's crew We're saving the
nine men several tugs which had responded 10
the whistle Of distress saved forty others IhirtN-
four we're saved by the tugboat Robert h. Sayre
and six by the sammy. Other tugs that Joined
in the lfe-saving were the Wallace T. Fhn'' H.
! Moran Governor, and G. l.. Evarts.
When the Ncol sank the top or her pilot
house was torn of and was the means of
number being saved
GOOD WORK BY THE ROBERT H. sAYRE.
The loss Of life would have been more than
double but for the prompt and gallant work of
,he big Iehlgh Valley barge-towing tug Robert
u Savre There was desperate struggle for
he among the James d. Nicors passengers when
the Sayre came 10 the rescue. The submerged
Nfeboat belonging to the sunken tug was sur
rounded ~ gasping. struggling men. The life
boat was too buoyant TO sink. but it was too
small by half to hold those who Jumped into It
when It was cut away as the Nicol sank. When
# filed with water scores Of desperate hands
grasped its sides Every minute or two owing
10 the eagerness Of the imperilled pleasure-seekers
- pull themselves up into it. It would take roll.
This occurred two or three times while the Sayre
was approaching it at full speed The Sayre
was mile away when a deckhand saw the Nicol
lurch and begin sinking. \ full head Of steam
was crowded on and in five minutes the dis
tance was traversed The story Of the rescue
was dramatically told by the Sayre's captain.
Joseph Slattery OF No 636 Hcks-st. Brooklyn,
u The Tribune reporter:
I'VE We're of Seabright with about eighty-siX
people bound fishing and pleasure trip on
board. The sea was rough and We had had
n luck and decided to rus inside the Hook and
try the fishing there. We were on our way
around the point OF Sandy Hook when we
sighted the Nicol and witnessed the accident.
II was about 1:45 p m. A man named William
Wright gave the alarm The Nico went down in
two minutes We turned on full head Of steam
and soon came up to the people struggling in
the water The Nic0l was out Of sight before
we got half way to the scene Of the accident.
Her Nfeboat was swamped and had been turned
over once or twice drowning some Of the people
clinging 10 its sides. When we got TO within
quarter Of mile Of the place we got all our NE
preservers and seven or eight life lines
ready We had good deal Of trouble con-
trolling our own people but our crew behaved
coollv. and seemed TO realize that we had 10 90
The most Of the life-saving. We steamed up close
ard threw the life lines and life preservers. They
were grasped eagerly. Only one man uro"Heu
after we reached the scene.
4 PLUCKY FIREMAN'S ANSWER
..rae fireman Of the Nicol was hanging TO the
side Of the boat. l called for him to come over
n the side of the Sayre. and would pull him up
He said Go ahead and get the rest IN Never
mind me- I'm all right" He had nara uhe
e,vin, a friend Of his This friend gave out
twice, but the fireman grabbed MIN with one
hand each time and pulled him back up to the
edge OF the boat. The engineer Of The Nicol
saved an old sea captain one Of the party. The
hi he
him up. Our passengers were all excited. They
rushed to the stern Of the boat and stood on the
stern line We had great difficulty IN getting
the stern line over. and It was during TINS shgHt
DELAY that a man was drowned inside me SUD
merged Nfeboat He was about exhausted ana
when we threw the line he got tangled up IN the
rope and was pulled face downward into the
water-alled boat He drowned in plain sight OF
MS all. in spite Of all could do, ana Il was
the most pitiful sight l ever witnessed.
At this time Of our passengers Jumped
into the swamped lfeboat 70 rescue the drowning z
man tangled up IN the ropes, ana ne eoi tdisIv
I'd and was drowning when one OF our deck
hands threw him knife and told him 10 cut
himself loose. This he did. and was rescued JUST JUST
in time We had a hard time resusctaung some
Of the people We rescued. Some OF them Were iuII
Of salt water and they lay on the decks as heIp-
less as logs We got the water out ol mn mn, a., %9
quickly as possible and gave theN WhlSNeS
and hot coffee and got them into the frerooin'
They came around all right before we got 10
New York"
20 disembark its passengers and survivors Oh
the Nico three rOu:ing cheers were given LOT inc
crew while the chilled but happy fishermen
who had been face 10 face with death crowded q
around the Sayres crew, and with eyes uHtu
with tears OF gratitude wrung the hands oi th"ir
rascuers This is the second life-saving eXpe-
rience Of the Sayre's crew. Last summer inc
tugboat Laura B Trcusch was run down DN
a New-Jersov Central ferryboat and instantly
sunk The crew was picked up while strug-
Cling in the water by the Sayres crew
The life line used by the Sayre in pulling the
Ncol.s rasrcn gers on board cut up into bits
and distributed among the survivors, and pas
sengers and crew Of the Sayre.
wRECKAGE ASHORE AT THE HIGHLANDS
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