The record-union., 1895-02-01


and drenching its occupants, who had not
morsel of food. Miss Buecher lay in
the bottom Of the boat half drowned and
semi-conscious. The lights of many ves-
sells were seen around. but no one ap-
preached, though after daylight steamer
and two fishing vessels passed. Their
crews. however, did not notice the sig
nails Of the liteboaI. Finally the waving
of shirt from the boat attracted the at
tention of the crew Of the fishing smack
Wildflower, which rescued the survivors
with extreme difficulty. After the COLI
sion an unknown steamer passed under
the stern of the Elbe and proceeded on
her course without paying any heed to
the cries of the people on board Of the
sinking steamer"
The agent of the North German Lloyd
Steamship Company this morning sent
the harbor tug Dispatch to the scene Of
the disaster, but owing to the bad
weather prevailing the men on board the
tug were unable TO see anyth ing. In al
dition, the messages ofinquiry have been
sent TO all places along the coast asking If
they have any news of the missing craft,
aud ii is hoped that the Lowestoft fishing
smacks, which are expected to make this
harbOr this afternoon, may bring some
news.
AS far as can be ascertained 374 of the
passengers and crew Of the Elbe are
missing.
A strong northeast gale blew through
out the night, accompanied by a severe
frost, but this did not deter the coast
guards and customs officers from keep
ing up an active watch all night long for
any signs of other survivors of the EIbe.
The majority of the people here have
abandoned all hope of hearing of the res
cue OF any more of the Elbe's passengers
or crew, as many of the Yarmouth and
Lowestott fishing smacks are known to
have been plying near the scene OF the
disaster and they have not yet returned,
which they certainly would nave done
| had they picked up any of the survivors.
Although it Is asserted that the Elbe
sank Immediately after the collision some
survivors assert that they did not see her
go down and they express the hope that
she may still be atlOat.
The agent of the Northern German
Lloyd Company announces that the En-
porOr and Empress of Germany have
telegraphed their coincidence TO the COM
pany and asked TO be promptly informed
ii any more Of the passengers or crew of
the iIl-1ated EIbe are rescued.
Carl Holman, one of the cabin passen-
gers of the EIbe who was rescued from
the lifeboat of that vessel, says that had
the vessel which collliGed with the Elbe
stood by the latter steamer, the majority
OF the passengers and crew might have
been saved, for, says he, the Elbe re-
manned perfectly steady for many min
utes after the collision before the volume
OF water poured into her and caused her
to lurch. Then all became confusion
| w hen the survivors were informed that
the Crathie was supposed to be the ves-
sci which sunk the ElDe, they strongly
denounced her crew for their apparent
inhumanity in not making an effort to
assist the disabled vessel or to rescue her
crew. Mr.. Hoffman this morning, speak
=
were drowned suffered less that we, who
were saved"
Sobs shook the strong frame of the
man as ne made the statement. He is
German American, about 50 years old, of
the type common IN the western part Of
the United States. His face was streamed
with tears which wet his sIeepIess pillow
all night.
Continuing, Mr.. Hoffman said: "There
was no confusion among the passengers.
! They behaved well, ana the only con-
/ fusion was with the crew, who tried TO
save themselves. 1t seems strange, sir
but TO see that those who are so few out
OF the small numb saved, there are hl-
| teen mem mbers OF the crew. But many
more might have been saved. oh, God
my wife my boy! Both are dead, and
cannot go TO their graves"
Here the unfortunate man burst into
tears, Alter few minutes he continued:
~ es, many OF the passengers had life
| belts, but they were useless. The noise
OF the collision sounded no louder in my
! staterOom than the single beat of big
! drum. But when l rushed on deck l
found passengers crOwding about the
boats ana the crew running here and
there and cutting the ropes about the
tackles with which they were lowered.
They We're too proud on that ship,
! painting ropes that should have been
| tilaI. than thaU wOul1 noVa keaD ljD1rOa-
l saw no other vessel and no other light
except the Elbe's light. When entered
| the boat they took my boy from me. oh,
God, my 7-y ear-old darling, sir. Had
known it was not the Captain who
ordered the woman and children to the
| star board side of the ship, they would
never have taken them from me. But
! you see, l have been a military man, and
! Obeyed ORDERS"
Where did you serve?"
! ''In the Fifteenth Prussian Uhlans for
! three years"
Were you married in Germany"
"No. in America. My wife was only
| woman, sir. She was born in Nebraska,
of German parents. Her mother is now
at Grand Island. 1t was all so sudden.
! We had all been so happy the night be-
! fore. There was young fellow from
Berlin who was going TO Mobile, Ala,
/ III OIuSI " Dl COLiOu-S0Gu OIL. lie WAS
! comlcal, sang songs and told funny
! jokes in the saloon. The boat got
away with great deal OF trouble, the
! Elbe being right on top of us at first; we
had hardly got hundred yards from
! the ship when L saw a woman floating
! IN the water. l tried TO throw some
/ thing to her, but somebody shouted:
| no, save ourselves l could not do
! that, sir. Finally they got the boat up
! TO her, and with the help of another
| man 1 drew her into the boat, which
was an ordinary ships boat, fifteen feet
| long. l afterwards found that her name
! was Annie Boecker. Poor girl, she was
| almost dead with fright and cold. We
put her III the bottom of the beat and
/ did all we could do TO help her. We
| were all wet with the water which
| was pouring III at our collars and de-
! scending to our boots. We first tried to
/ row, but we found that we made no
/ headway, and therefore rugged up sort
/ OF a mast and with a small sail tried to
| keep the bow of the boat to the wind and
seas. After While we saw a smack,
and did all we could to signal to
| her, although we failed to attract
her attention. We had cut q piece
of canvas and made a small flag, which
we used for signaling, and soon after
ward had failed To let the smack know of
our distress. This flag blew away, and
the smack sailed oil, causing us despair.
We made new flag with our handk err
chiefs and an undershirt which some
body pulled Oft. l held them up against
the mast, and we eventually sighted the
Wildttower, but a long, terrible hour
elapsed before we were taken aboard.
She had her nets out, and it was difficult
to approach her on account OF the heavy
seas. After live of the persons in our
boat had been transferred to the smack,
the lifeboat seemed to slide back
into the water, and it appeared as if the
! others must be lost, but rope was
| thrown to us from the suack'S stern and