The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-06-07

and the storm became more and more
furious until the Colima went down.
Before she sank she listed to the STAR
board side, and every time she would list
little more, never coming back to her
right position.
81 went below about 9 A. NJ. and went
into the storeroom, being pretty seasick.
While sitting there I noticed that the
water would come up to the starboard
scuppers and strike the deck on the inside.
| asked what it meant. 1 was told, 'Oh, it
will run off as fast as it will come in and
so it did.
While l was sitting there the quarter
master came and said somewhat excitedlv
That he wanted to see the engineer. The
cnlet engineer passed me while going to
MIN and came back in three or four min
utes
When l saw him-well, 1 guess he
knew what was up-he looked like a dead
man. guess was the last man who saw
tne chief engineer. The ship listed terri
bly, after that.
went to the steerage quarters and
most everybody had gone below by that
time. The crew of the Colima and the
steward and the seven men-of-war's-men
from the Philadelphia were endeavoring
to calm the passengers.
''The yeoman-a petty officer-of the
Philadelphia came to me and said. its all
up with us, old man.
" DO you think SOP I asked.
HE said yes, and held out his hand
and said 'Good-by' Then he went on
ahead and when l saw him again he was
on sack of -four, kneeling and praying.
~ went up the companion ladder on to
the deck. She listed so badly that all 1
could do was to get to the deck on the port
side
II am pretty sure that the third officer
had cut the lashings and let the lumber
slide off the deck.
when [ got up the side and made for
boat with one of the seamen looked down
and the ship was lying right on her beam
end and her smokestack was shipping
water. Her decks were all bullying out. L
thought the boat was no good and jumped
overheard into the water.
"After [ came to the surface 1 got hold
of box and subsequently was washed
from one thing to another until the weather
moderated. There was fearful squat
after the Colima went down. G. Rowan
was washed and knocked about pretty
much as l was, and three of the men were
badly burned with some kind of acid
which had escaped during the breaking of
the ships timbers and the rush of water
into her. We were battered, bruised and
cut pretty badly by the pieces of lumber
which beat around in the waves"
Here several of the men opened up their
coats and showed some ugly cuts and
gashes on their bodies which the floating
lumber had made. Mr.. Oriel continued:
eve finally got on to raft-fye OF US,
Juan A. Ramos, Bruno Cedio, A l.. Car
penter, Thomas Friese and myself. Captain
James ii. Long, who had left his ship, the
Willamette, at Panama, came out from the
San Juan in a boat and picked US up.
"Our raft was part of the bridge, so
Friese and Carpenter, the seamen, said.
We found the coat of Captain Taylor tied
to it by a sleeve. The chief steward was
killed by the flying lumber in the waves.
Zangarre had tried to get him out of the
meSsroom.
"The time the Colima sunk was about
1O:45 A. NJ. Monday, May q. We were in
the water and on the raft until about
O'Clock Tuesday morning following. G..
Rowan was the last man to be picked up.
He was rescued about l P. NJ. The San
Juan left the scene of the wreck about 80
P. NJ that day. Captain Long picked up
Rowan too.
"I'll swear that when the San Juan left
there was man on raft Jack Harmon,
a fireman, whose home was in this CITY.
He has recently been married and leaves a
wife here. L know he was on raft, be-
cause l had hold of his hand. | wanted
him to jump on to our raft, but he was
afraid. He thought he would be cut in
two if he tried.
Raymond Aviles saw several men and
women not far from his raft and two
babies. If Captain Pitt had cruised around
there for several miles he might have
saved many more.'
This George D. Ross corroborated, say
ing. "That's what he would" Mr.. OrieI
explained the prominent part taken in the
rescue by Captain Long, who was formerly
captain of the Colima himself. He said:
1.-THE first mate and boatswain of the
San Juan and Captain Long and a volun-
teer crew from the Aztec, a new vessel,
who were on their way up here, did most
of the saving of the shipwrecked men.
"Mate Hansen told Captain Pitts he saw
four men on a raft. | know the San Juan
must have left about the time said it did,
because I woke up about 80 or P. NJ. and
the San Juan was well on her way to Man.
zanillo.
"The story got from the sailors of the