The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1895-01-31

A despatch to Lloyds from Rotterdam
says the Crath;e left Maasluis at ten
o'clock on the night of January % for
Aberdeen, and returned to Maasluis at
1:25 P. NJ, January 80. damaged. She
reported having been in collision with
large unknown steamer which her Off
GERS thought was probably an American
liner. The Crathie's stem was complete
| ly gone above the waterline, having
been carried away to the third frame,
but she was perfectly tight and had
made no water. The collision, according
to the officers of the Crathie occurred
| between five and six o'clock on the
morning of January 80. One of the crew
! of the Crathie was injured by the col
lision.
Additional dispatches from Rotterdam
the officers of the Crathie report that
the ship with which the Crathie was in
collision was a large steamer with two
tunnels.
| A HOPELESS SEARCH.
The name of the tug which started
| from Lowestoft to search fer any possi-
bic survivors of the Elbe is the Despatch.
The search was to be made in the vicin-
| ity of the Hook of Holland.
| A blizzard-like snowstorm is prevail
| ing this forenoon off Lowestoft and Var
mouth, rendering the sea invisible from
the shore. Coasting traffic is wholly sus-
pended.
| The tremendous wind. heavy sea and
| binding snowstorm drove the tug Des-
patch back to Lowestoft at noon today
after she had proceeded only short
distance on her way. The storm moder-
Of cd of
the afternoon she started again.
The Efeboat of the life-saving station
at Ramsgate has returned after being
out fifteen hours searching for possible
survivors of the Elbe. but found no
trace of either boat or. wreckage. The
Broadstairs life5oat also returned this
morning. Upon nearing the station the
boat was blown ashore by the violent
gale and the crew were dashed into the
surf Several of them We're injured. A
binding snowstorm is raging at the
mouth of the Thames and navigation is
suspended.
THE PILOTS STORY.
Greenham, the English pilot on the
Elbe, who was one of the survivors, said
in the course of an interview
when I came on deck of the Elbe the
captain was in charge. The first order
given was:-'Swing the boats out; don't
lower The next Everyone on
deck crew to their stations. This was
followed by:-'Women and children to
the starboard boats. to be saved
first
"These orders were given by the cap
tain himself and were repeated by the
chief officer. The next oroer was:--
Lower the boats There was no con-
fusion whatever among the crew or in
the giving of orders, nor was there any
panic among the passengers A high sea
was runningand there was a strong
east-southeast wind There had been
an average of IS degrees below the freez
ing point since the morning. The Ian
yards of the boat grips were frozen and
were chopped away in order to save
time The ship went down two minutes
after we left her."
THE WILDFLOWER'S SKIPPER.
VIM. Wright, the skipper of the smacl;
Wildfower, says-"We were east-south-
east of Lowescroft with trawling
gear down when. about eleven O'Clock
yesterday morning, I saw ships life
boat mile away. The boats mast was
naked, but I saw something fiuttering
from her stern. The water was breaking
over the boat. I watched the boat close
1y. Her occupants seemed to think
was going to leave them, so waved my
hat 1t took US half an hour to get up
our trawling gear and in the meantime
the boat was drifting away from US.
When we got close to them I cast them
a rope, but they were SO cold, wet, eand
numb that they couldn't make it fast for
some time. We pulled them around to
the side of the smack and about half
of them jumped aboard, but the strain
caused by the heavy sea parted the rope
and the remainder once more drifted
away. Eventually we made another line
fast and four more of the unfortunates
were dragged in, leaving a woman and
four men in the boat
1.-THE woman lay in the water in the
bottom of the boat She wore a long
coat, but had neither boots nor dress.
Pilot Greenham helped her to get on
board the smack. Just as all had board
ed the smack the line again parted and
below and asked all the others to go
to the engine room while she took off
her clothes and wrapped herself in dry
posure in the boat would have killed
some of them, for there was six inches
of ice on my deck
The survivors of the Elbes crew start
from Lowestoft for London at $40 this
afternoon.
SURVIVORS, STORIES.
Steerage Passenger Bothen says that
after the strange vessel struck the Elbe
she sheered off and steamed in a semi
circle around the Elbe but did not come
near her. though had she done so she
could have rescued a large number of
those on board the sinking ship.
Jan Vevera, one of the survivors, says
that when he last saw the Elbe as the
boat in which he was pushed away from
her, she was canted over to port and her
bowes were high in the air
WERE SIGNALS EXCHANGED?
Dy Cable to the United Press.
no --y,r> o1 1oa- M