The Kootenai herald. [volume] (Kootenai, Idaho) 1891-1904, 1895-06-08
Survivors Tell How The Steamer
Went Down.
THE HEAVIEST GALE IN YEARS
Foundered in the Trough of the sea
With the Officers at Their
Posts.

San Francisco, June 1.-The Examin-
er special from Mazatlan says
The steamer San Juan has arrived
here with 81 passengers picked up on
Tuesday from the wreck of the Colima.
AS all were afioat. dashed by the fierc-
est gale of years, and buffeted by angry
seas about "a hours, they are hardly
yet in a condition to tell a connected
story.
The steamer was heavily laden and
had large deckload of lumber. When
the storm struck her. she made bad
weather of it. The wind increased in
fury until it is said to have been the
fiercest storm known along this coast
in 20 years. The sea rose rapidly.
Waves washed over the vessel and
started the deckload. AS the waves
rose and the storm increased, the man
agement of the steamer became impOs-
sible. At last, about noon, her head
could no longer be kept on, and she
preached to. Once in the trough of the
sea, a mighty wave struck her and she
was thrown on her beam ends.
The wave struck with such force that
the steamer trembled as if she had run
upon a reef, and most of the passen-
gers thought this was the cause of the
shocks. The gale tore part of the deck
load of lumber from it's fastenings and
whirled the heavy planks about with
appalling violence. Many were struck
and manned.
In their terror the passengers made
few mental notes of their surround
ings at this juncture. The survivors
say that the officers of the steamer
were brave and active. Captain Tay-
lor stood upon the bridge, his first
officer, d. E. Griffiths, with him. At an
order, Griffiths rushed aft to superin-
tend the launching of lifeboat number
| five Second officer George Langhorne
was at lifeboat number three, and sue
ceeded in getting it launched and filled
with passengers.
Then the ship went down, and Lang
horne's boat capsized. All in the boat
are supposed to have been drowned.
Captain Taylor went down with the
ship, sticking to his post. AS the ship
pitched forward, he blew three blasts
on the whistle, supposedly as a sigma
of goodbye. Then he disappeared be
meath the waves. The engineers anC
firemen died at their posts. Freight
Clerk Berry was in his room at the
time of the final plunge. Third Officer
Hanson was saved.
Hanson says that as the steamer
foundered her boilers burst. The decl
burst under his feet as he left the ship
Ten other men were thrown into thu
sea with him. The bursting of thu
boilers tore off the deck and threw par
of it over at least a dozen men VIII
were struggling in the water, drown
ing them all.
Two life RATS were seen to be aflOat
On one were three men and on anothe
six, including j. A. Chilberg Of Seattle
who seemed to have been a leader il
the work of launching the raft.
So the fight for life began. Their
was no hope for the women or child
ri and small chances for the mer i
such a storm. Many of the women an
children must have remained in thei
cabins. Professor Harold Whiting c
California University made an heroi
effort to save his wife and four child
rem and nurse. He got them into boa
, in which were A. J. Sutherland an
l others. The boat was soon swampe'
Then it was righted but went owe
=, again.
Five times she was righted after b.
Ing overturned.
> The women were soon drowned, d.
: spite all efforts to save them. Son
were killed or stunned by flying debri
= At last only Sutherland was left. ]
avoid the swirling wreckage he elm
ed upon the seats while the lifebo
v was overturned, and so fioated, the DO
tom Of the boat serving him as a pr
l. tecting shield. Air came to him throul
the broken sides of the boat.
o The survivors drifted about "a hou
J. in what Captain Pitts of the San Ju'
J. says was the hardest storm expe
r enced on the coast in 20 years.