The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-06-07

fifteen people at least climbed into it, and the
last saw of it it riding on very heavy
swell and the people all standing up. I sub
sequentlv learned from one of the man-of-wars-
men, who was in her, that she capsized, and
he was the only survivor.
Twas washed Off the hatch twice but managed
to get back as 1 secured a life-preserver, and
then saw the purser at some little distance
away and 1 managed by clearing some of the
wreckage away and with the aid of long piece
of wood to haul him toward me and onto the
hatch. He had not been there five minutes
when wave came along and took us both off
the hatch into the water. I managed to get
back, but the purser could not. He yelled to
me to help him but told him could not as he
was too far away
Shortly after that l was washed overheard
for the fourth time from this hatch and was
unable to get back but secured a smaller piece
of the deck and stayed there drifting around
until about P. NJ, l should say, when I
sighted the raft with the third mate, engineers
storekeeper and Mexican whom they had
taken onto their raft. They took me on and we
eldeavored to paddle in shore, as the
third mate had sighted a boat which he
thought we could get. We were unable to
reach the boat, as darkness set in, and at that
time we stopped making any endeavor to row.
In the meantime we had secured another raft,
and we placed this underneath our own so as
to be more secure, as ours was sinking at the
time. About II o'clock at night our raft upset,
pitching US all into the water, but we man.
aged to get back, and we passed the night
holding on the best way we could and watch
ing where we were going and wondering what
was going to become of us.
In the morning, as soon as it was daybreak,
we started to paddle again for the shore with
some pieces of wood we had secured, but made
no progress at all until we sighted a raft with
a iris 70 hut
not, and were still padding away desperately
when the Mexican on the raft turned round
and shouted, Gel vaporp' We looked around
and saw the San Juan about mile and a quar-
ter away. Fifteen or twenty minutes after
that boat came up and picked us up.
My storeroom was on the port side of the
ship about amidships on the main deck. The
door opened onto the deck itself. The water,
after coming in in various quantities over the
Intel of the door, eventually burst in over the
door, and after that heard the crash of the
woodwork, and Immediately the waters rushed
right through the partition right into the
room itself and lifted me out of the room into
practically what part of the engine-room,
because when l came up on the water the
clothes had on-a pair of drawers and pa
jamas-were completely blackened, and so was
my face. must have gone down into the fire.
mems quarters below in some Of the coal be-
cause was just as black as l could be, my
clothes and all.
did not hear anything when the steamer
left San Francisco about the stowage OF the
ship. This is my second trip on the Colima
She did not appear to act differently to me
from my previous trip. l did not check her
cargo. No one said she behaved badly at sea-
EThe wind was very heavy after got into the
water, and mist and fog came down so that
it was impossible to see more than fifteen feet
ahead of you. The wind was so heavy that it
would blow the wreckage out of the water and
hurl it through the air, striking the people,
1t this time the wind increased in violence.
So far as my experience goes the Colima was
we'll loaded.
never experienced any heavy weather
this point before during the previous trip
made.
The brown material saw on the water was a
brown foam. The only unusual thing about it
was that 1 noticed it was that color. By the
way-I forgot to mention it before-just the
moment that the water poured in through the
side of my room 1 heard the steam whistle
blow.
did not see or hear any explosion on board
the ship after she began to list nor did hear
any breakdown OF the engine. The lumber
! was all forward Of the pilot-house.
A. K. RICHARDSON, Storekeeper.
Subscribed and sworn to before me, this 9th
day OF June, 1895. GEORGE T. KNOX,
Notary p11hIio