Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1895-06-05
THE COLIMA DISASTER.
Some Particulars Of the Awful
Wreck Are Given.
The Big Steamer Was BADLY Overloaded
Officers Were Brave and Stuck
to Their Posts-Struggle
for Life.
SAN FRANCISCO, June A special
telegram from Maztlan saws.

SAN FRANCISCO, June "A specia
telegram from Maztlan says:
| 1.-THE steamer San Juan has arrived herr
with the twenty-one passengers picket
| up Tuesday from the wreck of the G
lima. All the rescued people ar,
badly bruised. They were picked up from
| pieces OF wreckage and RATS. The,
are not in condition to tell connected story
of the wreck and the experiences OF thei
| escape, but many interesting particulars have
| been obtained.
1.-THE steamer was heavily laden and had
large deck load of lumber. When the storm
struck her she made bad weather of it. the cap
tain having great dificulty in keeping her heat
to the sea- The wind increased in fury unit
it is said to have been the fercest storm
known along this coast in twenty years
Waves washed the vessel and started
the deck load. The gale tore part
of the deck load of lumber from its
fastenings and whirled the heavy planks about
with appalling violence. Many people were
struck and MANNED AS least one passenger
was killed by having his head crushed by one
of the flying timbers.
"ln their terror the passengers made few
mental notes of their surroundings at this
juncture. The survivors say, however, that
the officers of the steamer were brave
and active Capt. Taylor stood upon
the bridge, his first officer, D. E. Grit
rushed aft to superintend the launching of
lifeboat No. 5. Second Officer Langhorn was
at lifeboat No. 3, and succeeded in getting it
launched and filled with passengers. Then
do En went the ship and Langhorns boat was
capsized All in the boats were supposed to
have been drowned
capt. Taylor went down with the
ship AS the ship pitched downward he
blew three blasts of the whistle, sup
posedly as signal Of good by. Then
he disappeared beneath the waves. The
engineers and firemen remained at their posts.
Freight Clerk Berry was in his room at the
time of the final plunge. Third Officer
Hanson was saved. AS the steamer
sunk he cut some Of the lashings of
the deck lumber. Then he jumped or
was thrown overheard on the weather
side of the vessel and reached the top of the
deck house This had been torn off and washed
away There Hanson chung for twenty-one
hours He saw men and women sink about him
but was powerless to aid them. Hanson says
that as the steamer foundered the boilers
burst. The deck blew out under his feet as he
left the ship. Ten other men were thrown into
the sea with him. The bursting of her boilers
tore off the deck and threw part of it over at
least dozen men who were struggling in the
water killing them all
1.-Two life RATS were seen to be af1oat. On
one were eight men and on another six, includ-
ing j. A. Childburg, of Seattle, Wash, who
seemed to have been leader in the
work of launching the RATS. There
was no hope for women or children and
small chance for men in such storm. Many
of the women and children must have re-
manned in their cabins. The completely nude
bodies of the stewardess and two other women
came floating by the deckhouse some time
after the steamer sunk
prof. Harold Whiting of the California uni
versity made heroic but futile effort to save
his wife and four children and the nurse. He
got into boat in which were A. J. Sutherland
and others. The boat was soon swamped.
Then it was righted, but again went over.
Five times she was righted after being over
turned. The women and Prof. Whiting were
soon drowned, despite all efforts to save them
Sutherland f1oated with the bottom of the
boat serving him as a protecting shield
1.-The survivors drifted about for twenty-four
hours in what Capt. Pitts, of the San Juan
says was the hardest storm experienced on the
coast in twenty years. OF course, none but
the stoutest could survive. Many of those
saved were badly hurt by the wreckage and
lumber Among those most severely injured
is c. S. Cushing, Jr., of Oakland. His brother
was drowned.
1.-THE Colima is in 900 fathoms of water The
location where she went down is given as 18 de-
yrees 3s minutes latitude, longitude 1O4 degrees
IA minutes west Though the direct cause of the
disaster was the tremendous sea and the fear
the Colima was badly overloaded. All the pas
sengers praise the captain for his GOODNESS and
neroism. The last they saw of him he stood
III