The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-06-25
DAILY, $40 A YEAR,
5 CENTS A copy.
WEEKLY, e-TIMES-A-WEEK, 81 A YEAR.
A TUG GOES TO THE BOTTOM
Twenty five Lives Lost OF the At
laltiC Highlands.

The Tug over-orowded With Fishing
Party and is Said to Have Been Top
heavy, Old and Rotten-A Differences
of Opinion as to the Exact Cause of
Her FOundering.
New York, June 24.-The tug James d.
Nichols, owned by William Reeves of
s7th street, this city, foundered off the
Atlantic Highlands shortly before L
O'Clock this afternoon The Nichols had
on board party of excursionists number
ing 81 persons, and also carried crew
of five men. As near as can be learned
at this writing As persons were
rescued by the steamer Algonquin OF the
Clyde line and the tugs Governor, Wal
lace B. Flynn and r. ]. Moran. This
leaves twenty-five persons unaccounted
for, and these have probably been
drowned. The names of the victims
have not all been learned yet, and it will
probably DO several days before a com-
plete list Of the dead can be gathered.
ON A FISHING FRoL1o
The tug Nichols was chartered by an
association known as the Herring Fishing
Club, whose headquarters are at No. 55,
First avenue, this city The tug, with
the party on board, left the foot of Sixth
street. East river, this morning at Z 80
O'Clock. She stopped at Pier on her
way to the fishing grounds, and of Sea-
bright, where several more persons were
taken on board, making 90 in all
The fishing was indifferent and the
weather threatening, and the tug started
homeward.
CAUSE OF THE ACCIDENT.
Stories differ as TO what happened on
board the tug. According TO one chapter
Of the narrative, the fishermen, TO avoid
getting wet, moved around on the dry
side of the vessel-that is, the side where
the waves did not strike with such force,
II is claimed by some that this action on
the part of the passengers resulted in the
laundering Of the vessel
With the increased weight on one side
she toppled over, and the water ran into
her to such an extent that it was there
after impossible to navigate her. She
struggled for a short distance, and then.
as the water continued to run into her,
she sank further and further into the
swells and went down
SAID TO HAVE BEEN OLD. AND ROTTEN.
BY others 1t Is claimed that the shifting
of the passengers had nothing to do with
the accident, These allege that the tug
was an old aud rotten affair; that she
was terribly overcrowded and conse-
quentlg top-heavy, and that when she got
into the heavy sea she simply turned over.
She blew her whistle and attracted tat
tention on board of the steamer Alqon.
quin, which was mile away. The Al
gonquin lowered life boat, but the tug
sank before either the life boat or the
tugs named came up AS she sank out OF
sight the top of the wheel house, together
with a raft and life boat, remained
floating on the water.
ESCAPE OF THE SURVIVORS.
To every particle Of wreckage cIung one
or more of the remaining throng. The
life raft was the most sought for, and
those who were so fortunate as to make
it were saved.
The tugs lifeboat was found afloat, but
full Of water. In it was the body of a
drowned man tangled up in the lines.
The water was so rough that the Algon.
quin made no attempt TO pick up her life
boat, but gave it line and towed il
astern until quarantine was reached.