The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-06-07
STORIES OF THE SURVIVORS.
THE TALE OF THE LOSS OF THE
COLIMA RETOLD.

officer Made Fatal Mistake in
Cutting the Lashings of the Deck
VOad of Lumber-A Belief That the
Steamer shifted Her Cargo-Stag-
gered by an Enormous Wave, She
Gave One Mighty Lurch and Went
90 the Bottom.
san Francisco, Cal, June 6.-The steam
er san Juan arrived this afternoon from
Panama and way ports with survivors OF
the wrecked Pacific Mail steamship Co
ported the ship two miles out the water
front became the scene Of considerable ex-
element. The Pacific Mail dock was be-
sieged by a curious crowd that blocked the
street. As the revenue cutter bearing the
customs officers and newspaper men
reared the ship, some Of the Colima's res
lued passengers. with bandaged heads.
we're seen leaning on the bow rail. Just
prior to the arrival of the reporters, how
sver, the Pacific Mail Company's tug Mil
en Griffith came alongside the San Juan
md took off Third Mate Hansen Of the lost
hip. who. more than any one else, could
throw light on the cause of the wreck.
There was a general disinclination among
the surviving passengers to give any in
formation, the only reason given for their
refusal to be interviewed being that un-
der the circumstances they did not feel
disposed to talk.
George d. Ross, formerly boatswain's
mate on the cruiser Olympia, who was
on his way to his home in New YORK,
gave the United Press representative the
following graphic account of the wreck
I'VE left Mazatlan Sunday May 26, at
o'clock d. m, with fair breeze blow
irg. Toward Q clock in the evening the
wind increased a little and continued
flowing pretty fresh all night. Next morn>
ing at 6 o'clock the wind moderated I'M
i'll about o'clock when 1t again came up
and steadily continued to gain in violence
Until it acquired the proportions or hur-
ricane. The wird blew in great gusts.
ctusiug the ship TO list badly to starboard.
The Colima labored heavily, and 1t was
evident that Wa were in very preearious
predicament The greatest excitement
prevailed on board and the faces OF the
passengers plainly showed that they were
keenly alive to their perilous position.
Unfortunately just at the last moment
fatal blunder was committed by the third
officer, who cut the lashings of a deck
load consisting Of $1,000 feet of lumber.
Some of this was washed into the sea and
what remained on deck was driven about,
knocking down and manning those whom
II struck. A particularly heavy sea struck
the ship, tumbling the foremast and
smokestack. Shortly before this, however,
~ Rf ha1 anh han
Q hole in our starboard bow, through which
the sea poured. Women screamed and
rushed up the companionway imploring
the men to save them The ship gave a
couple of heavy rolls, an enormous sea
climbed on us, smashed the hurricane
deck and with one mighty lurch the ship
went down. AS she was making her last
lurch, dove into the sea and when l came
up she was out of sight. People were
floating around, clinging to all sorts of
wreckage, and some sinking under our
very eyes. Some who had managed to
grasp hold of boxes or panks were
knocked senseless and drowned The
force and effect of this floating mass of
lumber cannot be described. 1t caused
the death of many who might otherwise
have been saved.
TT is a difficult matter to say to what
cause the wreck of the Colima is attrib-
tablc. She must certainly have shifted
4fI Cargo, as neT SlTOIlg lSl TO port snow
ed. firmly believe that but for the Shift
ins of the cargo the ship would have rid
den out the gale.
L had been in the water some little
time. clinging to one object or another
when finally l managed to get hold of
good sized piece of the hurricane deck
upon which climbed. l drifted about for
some time, when observed a rather effem-
inate-looking man on another piece of
RreckaQQ n mo "a Ha oh
done up, so 1 seized his raft and hauled
him onto mine. We made the rest of the
Trip toward shore together. He turned out
to be Thornton. We were the closest in
shore of any of the survivors and were
picked up by the first officers boat of the
San Juan, after being % hours in the
water"
Ross was severely cut about the head by
noating wreekage and had numerous other
cuts about the body.
1, j. Oriel, an electrician on his way to
Mexico. gave about the same version Of
the commencement of the storm. He said
the Colima during the hight of the storm
listed so badly after each succeeding rush
OF waves that she did not recover. About
clock on the morning of the wreck, he
said, Il went below to the steerage quar-
ters and noticed water coming into the
starboard scuppers. Shortly afterward a
quartermaster came down, saying the
captain wanted to see the engineer. The
latter went on deck. but returned to the
engine room in three or four minutes, look
ing like dead man. His face was ashy
pale. That was the last seen of him."
While Oriel was telling this part of the
story, a relative of the engineer, who had
boarded the steamer with the reporters,
broke into tears and shook convulsively.
By this time" Oriel went on, "the steer
age passengers had all gone below, when
the seven men-of-war men from the
american cruisers Olympia and Philadel-
phia tried to console those around them.
one of these finally told US we were
doomed. We shook hands, said goodbye,
and he knelt on sack of flour and said
prayers. then started to go on deck but
the ship listed so badly could scarcely
make my way upstairs. At this time the
thlrd officer cut the lashings that bound
the lumber deck load. The smokestack
mad toppled over. L madesfor a boat in
tending to cut it loose from it's fastenings,
put was unable to do so. The ship was on
her beam ends, and the decks bulged out
and were finally rent. 1 then jumped into
the water, seized box and was washed
ABOUT from one float to another like many
others. The heaviest squall came just fol-
lowing the disappearance of the ship.
w nile 1t prevailed many of those who were
struggling in the waves were raanpIad apd