Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1895-06-05

FIERCE GALES BLEW.
SURVIVOR OF THE COLIMA TELLS
ABOUT THE WRECK.
Plenty OF Time To Find out What Was
CominS-NO Measures Taken For Safety
Cargo Badly Slowed, Which Shifted.

City of Mexico. June John II.
Thornton, the railroad contractor, one
of the survivors of the Colima wreck
gives the following account of the dis
aster and the rescues.
After leaving the harbor of Man
zanillo on Sundey afternoon we Ell.
countered heay sea and head winds
which continued all night. The pas
sengers, of whom there were fifty-six
including children and servants, first
class, and about eighty second class we
kept Inside.
During the night the steamer con-
tinued Oh her course with only speed
enough to give her steerage way Short
after daylight on the morning of the27tb
| was on deck and the mountains al
the entrance of the harbor OF Manzanill
10 bay We're still in sight About 1C
O'Clock the next mornig the storm reach
ed its height, and the wind was blow
Ing a gale and the waves runpig noun
tain high About this time the ship
seemed to be in the trough of the sea,
the waves, one after another, striking
her on the port side and keeling her
over to starboard. Every time she list.
ed she seemed to recover less and less.
Idu d Sldle IOOn On the main OecK
well aft and on the port side, opening
on the deck, and my sister-in-law had
the second one forward, opening into
an interior passageway. The room be-
tween Connected with Mrs. Thronton's
and also opened on the deck and was
occupied By Mrs. Thronton's maid.
AT about IL o'clock the storm SEEM
ed at its worst and the ship was lying
over to starboard, and 1 left the deck
and stood in the passageway talking
to Mrs. Thronton. The deck seemed
to have an inclination of about 40 de-
grees, and every wave washed over the
deck, Hooding the state rooms To d
depth of two or three inches: a heavy
sea broke over the ships bow; crashing
thorough the main saloon and star
board cabin, and wrecking them as if
they were made of cigar box boards.
| then, with some difficulty, opened the
door above me, for the ship was now
nearly lying on her side, and climbed
out on deck. AS soon as 1 was outside
l forced open the window of my sister
inllaw's room and found her and her
maid together with life preServerS on.
Il told her to give ME her hands and
l would helps her out, but before ]
could touch her, great wave struck
the ship. a huge wave washed over
me and l noticed four or five men on
the upper deck above me, but when !
could again look about, perhaps ten
seconds later, not a soul was in sight,
and then everything under me appear.
ed to melt away, and / suppose thai
was when the ship went down.
What l remember next, was that
I was going down, down until l thought
l would never stop going down. When
L came to the surface through the
wreckage and lumber l was by myself
within fifteen or twenty feet of a life
raft with two men on it. 1 got close
enough to reach rope they threw me
and they pulled me aboard. Then we
helped aboard a SDaniard and wo-
man and within minute. more there
We're seven on the raft. Within fifty
or sixty feet of us was another life
raft with eight people, among whom
was Isaac Chiiberg, and close to US
was life boat full of water and with
out oars. with two men and two women
clinSing to it. There was another boat
full up with men clinging to it.
Our raft turned over four times
The first time the woman was lost, but
generally the men managed to get on
1t again. The fourth time the raft
turned over l was thrown thirty or
forty feet away and could not get to it
again, but could see that there were
three or four men on it. 1 then got
hold of couple of pieces of scantling
and f1oated with one under each arm
until about 4 o'clock, when / found
three heavier pieces of timber, which /
lashed together with strips torn from a
pillow case which l had found floating.
ON this managed to set astride un-
I'll the life boats and RATS had drifted
out of sight of where was, but I could
see number of men floating on wreck
age, and besides there was at die.
| tance Of about 400 feet away A large
piece of deck, about ten by forty feet.
with five men on 1t. After two hours
hard work, L succeeded in reaching It,
but the men would not allow me to go
aboard, say ing that they had enough
passengers for the size of their craft
he criticized the manner in which
the cargo of the Colima was stored and
the tact that the life boats and RATS
mad not been gotten ready about dark
l got hold Of an orange, OF which I took
suck, saving the rest for future uss
and Ross got turnip. which he said he
would save for breakfast and which he
| put in sack he had tied about his
! body. i'i9
Ross proposed that one should
watch while the other slept, but as the
| waves covered us to the neck sleeD was
out of tie question. In the morning
Ross put his hand in the sack to bring
out his breakfast and exclaimed in
most tragic tones, My God, have lost
my turnip.' and so we went without
| breakfast.
ION Monday evening we could see
the shore lines indistinctly and in the
morning we had drifted so far that the
| land did not look more than ten miles
away and we began to paddle for 1t.
Half mile distant we could make out
a piece of deck with three or four men
on 1t. After padding about two hours
we saw the smoke of a steamer which
| proved to be the San Juan. We made
signals with the sack and about 10
o'clock were picked up by the life boat.
We were twenty-five hours in the water
| The boat before reaching us had al
ready picked up two survivors badly
hurt, and before we reached the ship
rescued two more. 1 saw three women
! but no children. When I got aboard
the San Juan broke down and went to
| bed in the purser's cabin.
| After the vessel sank we had about
an hour of heavy. driving rain, and the
water at night was very chilly. As far
| as l know there were no orders given
| to get ready the life boats and RATS or
| for the passengers to put on life pre-
servers, and in this particular all the
| survivors 1 have spoken to agree with
me-"
HOW A BURGLAR WAS ROBBED.
Shot by a Man, He Arrested and His
4 Money