Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1895-02-06

been cruising near the spot where the
Elbe lies, arrived at Lowestoft Thurs
day afternoon. Not one reported see
ing any signs of the wreck or the pas
sengers. Their reports Danish the last
hope of finding the second life boat.
Statement from the Crathie.
The owner, at Aberdeen, of the
steamship Crathie, which ran into and
sank the Elbe, has received a brief
telegram from the captain at Maasluis,
stating that the Crathie's bow was ter
ribly crushed by the impact of the
vessel with the Elbe, and that the
Crathie was in a sinking condition
when she reached Maasluis. The cap
tain was below AT the time of the col
lision, the mate being in charge of the
vessel. The latter has made state
ment to the captain that he has
no knowledge whatever as to
the identity of the vessel with which
the Crathie collided. His own vessel
was SO terribly damaged that it's con-
dltion called for the undivided atten-
ton of the officers and the entire
crew, all of whom had to bend
their energies to saving their ship and
their own lives.
Might Have Been Saved.
Mr.. Carl Hoffman, of Grand Island,
Neb., who is among the saved, refute
this statement by making the assertion,
in addition to his statement already
published, that if the vessel which
came into collision with the Elbe had
stood by the sinking ship a majority of
her passengers might have been saved,
as the Elbe stood perfectly still for
many minutes after the impact. In
fact she remained motionless until the
water which was pouring into her
hold caused her to lurch violently,
after which all was confusion on board
Prior to this, however, discipline was
maintained and there could have been
no difficulty in transferring the passen-
gers in an orderly manner.
Elbe's Crew Criticised.
A great deal of adverse comment is
caused by the fact that of the twenty
persons saved from the Elbe, fifteen of
them belong to the ships crew, and
that the boat in which they saved
themselves contained only one woman
and no children. Attempts have been
made by some of the survivors to ac-
count for this, but in no case in a
way. Even the solitary
woman who was saved was not orig
inally taken into The boat, but was
picked up in the water after the boat
had pushed away from the sinking ship,
greatly against the wishes of some of
the occupants of the boat.
Mr.. Vevera said in an interview with
a Daily Graphic reporter: 1.-THE pas
sengers saved were few enough in
with the number of sea-
men. They wanted to keep me out of
the boat, but I jumped down on their
heads, otherwise should not be alive,
Hoffman's Experience.
In an interview survivor Hoffman
made this explanation: 81 heard the
captains orders to send women and
children to the starboard side. have
been used to obeying orders as 1 have
been under military discipline. So l
even let my boy go, although he had
got into the boat with me. 1t was the
engineer who took him out, and sig
the engineer is still alive"
The Elbe's course at the time IF the
collision is given as south-southwest |
Ind her speed as Is knots. The other
Vessel was seen approaching about
~ points off the Elbe's port bow.
She was showing green and mast
lead lights and was steaming appar
entity west-northwest. She ought |
therefore to have ported her helm and |
passed under the Elbe's stern.