The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-06-07
The Sinking of the CoIima Was a
Mystery to the Store
t<Ranar

Mystery to the Store
keeper.
A. K. Richardson, the storekeeper, gave
a review of the voyage of the Colima from
the time she left this City as follows:
We had very rough time getting over the
bar. but after that everything went along
smoothly. We made the ports all right. After
leaving Manzanillo the sea was all covered
with brown foam; looked as though there had
been verv heavy squan somewhere and I'M
derstood that the mate had made remark
that we were going to have very heavy weather
that night, and got up two or three times in
the course of the night to see that everything
was all right in the wineroom.
In the morning, about or o'clock, the ship
commenced to roll very badly. About half
past the porter came to me in my room and
said that the captains room had been swept in
by wave and broken his lampshade and that
he wanted a new one, so l went down to the
sundry storeroom and got what he wanted At
that time the waves were coming over the
main deck against my room and the wine
room. had pretty close shave from getting
washed overheard. Just as 1 was coming out
there was big wave, and just after coming
around the corner 1t came alongside the ship
and hit the door of my room and the door of
the wineroom. very heavy wave it was.
After that returned to my room. Shortly
after that the water commenced to come into
my room over the Intel of the door and at
that time the waves were coming in every
room aud my room began to get nearly flooded,
but as fast as the water would come in there
seemed to be some place where it would run
out; it seemed to go below and otherwise IN
derneath my locker. Then very heavy wave
came and the water came in through the top
of the door, and began to get little fright
ened. l thought something might happen, but
10 St.>% u
any great danger. Shortly after that more
waves came in of the same nature over the top
of the door and then all of a sudden the ship
laid right over on pretty steep angle and then
rolled back.
A few minutes after that she went over on
the same angle again and stayed, and at the
same moment there was crash of the wood
work over my bunk, caused by the water COM
ing in, and l thought 1 was going to be
drowned because could not get out through
the door and did not imagine could get up
through the place where the water was coming
in, but gave a little jump and the next thing
1 remember was that was on top of the water
all right, holding on to piece of wood.
There was not a vestige of the Colima in
sight at that time with the exception of an
enormous amount of wreckage of the deck
houses. I swan few strokes to the largest
piece of wreckage 1 could see, which was
piece of the hatch, and climbed up on it and
looked around. 1 could see, should Judge
about seventy-fve people either on other
pieces OF timber (parts of wreckage) or in the
water and trying to make for two boats which
saw. Astride of one of these boats were two
men who were cutting the tarpaulin away and
| one OF them was my boy on the ship, and he
yelled to me to come over to him.
He said, Here is boat; you are safer here:
but it was so rough I thought 1 was safer
where ] was; that the boat would capsize
sooner than the piece of the hatch was on
| Shortly afterward / was attracted by the cries
of man-one of the cabin passengers-to help
him, but at that time could not, but eventu-
ally gave him some assistance in getting :onto
the raft.
When this boat 1 spoke of previously was
| ready and the tarpaulin was all of, about