The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1895-02-14
STEAMERS. IN,
- . 50.
But the Much.Looked-For Ia Gas.
cogne Not Among Them.
Much Speculation Among Shippers as to
the Nature Of the Mishap Which Must
Have Befallen La Gascogne--strange
Vessel Anchors on Sandy Hook.

SANDY Hook. Feb fi.-At 9:3O D. m.
Sunday steamship was east of the
lightship, bound in. She did not sig
nal. At 1885 she was going off shore.
At 11:30 she anchored Another steam-
er is coming up over the eastern hori-
zon. AT l:35 Monday morning, the
steamer before reported east of the
hghtship. bound in, has anchored. She
looks like one of the French line steam
ers. She has not signaled. She is be-
lieved to be the La Normandie.
NEW YORK, Feb. IA number of
ocean steamships arrived at this port
Sunday reporting heavy winds and
seas. but bringing no news of La Gas
cogne. 1t is not strange that they did
not see La Gascogne. for on the gener.
ally accepted assumption that she is
seriously disabled she would, in all
likelihood, have been driven far out of
her own course and that of the other
liners long before any of the three
steamers passed that way.
One of La Gascognes sister ships, La
Normandie. will probably arrive Mon
day. She is more likely than the
steamers of the other lines to bring
news of La Gascogne, for she sailed
from Havre the day before La Gascogne
was due in New York, and, conse-
quently, her officers know nothing of
that steamers dentention.
La Touraine, on the contrary, which
Is now five days out for the Azores and
the Mediterranean. will use every eff
fort to get track of the missing ship.
The missing French liner is now eight
days overdue, and has been out sixteen
days in all.
The Taormina, from Hamburg, is al
so late, having been out nineteen
days. Her ordinary running time is
sixteen or seventeen days, but she has
sometimes taken as long as twenty
one. The Wittekind, from Bremen, is
at least two days overdue, and the
Llandaff City, from Swansea, January
Es, is also late.
Agents for the other steamship lines
express confidence in the ultimate safe
ty of the La Gascogne.
There was good deal of speculation
among shippers as to the nature of the
mishap which all are now agreed must
have befallen La Gascogne. 1t is hoped
that it. " nothing none serious than
arrangement of her machinery. and
the most common accident of this
kind is the breaking of the shaft.
They recall any number of ships to
which this has happened within the
last few years
II the engines are stopped in time to
prevent the broken end from thresh-
ing about and damaging or crashing
through the ships hult, the accident
is not necessarily a serious one in the
sense of involving peril to human life
1t is certain, however, to delay the
ship for number of days. -:
The famous break in the Umbria's
shaft, which kept her out two years
ago for week after she was due, is a
case in point. The passengers were
never in any real danger after the en-.
gines We're stopped and repairs begun.
except from the possibility of being
run down while drifting. u.
The Umbria sailed on December 1s,
1893, and was not heard of again until
December go She was then four days
overdue. On that date the Moravia
came into port with the news that she
had sighted her on December 21. when
she was pursuing her usual course.
The accident happened on December
90, due east of Sable island. A few
hours after she was met by the Bohe-
mia, bound east, which undertook to
tow her into port. After proceeding
thirty-six miles the towing cable
parted and the Bohemia was compelled
to go on her way alone. On December
80 the Galileo arrived in New York,
reported that she had sighted the
Umbria on Christmas Day 7O5 miles
out. She was lying to. and signaled
that she was not under command,
that is, was unable to steer. She
did not ask for assistance, and on De-
cember 81, the day after the Galileo's
arrival, she reached port under her
own steam.
During the same week the Noord-
land, bound east, broke her shaft, but
made port safely. The Spree also broke
her shaft two years ago, and last year
the Ems fell victim to the same mis-
hap The break IN the Ems shaft was
SO far aft that she lost her propeller
and had to be towed to the Azores.
It is not unlikely that La Gascogne
may fetch up there later, either in tow
or under reduced steam.
La Gascogne is a four-decked screw
steamer, and was built in 1856 at La
Seyne, near Toulon, by the Societe des
Forges ct Chantiers de la Mediterranee.
She is 4sO feet in length, SO. in breadth
and 3l.l in depth. Her tonnage is
6, 1000, and her engines can develop 10, OOO-
horse power. She has II water tight
collision bulkheads, and carries 22 life
boats. AS originally constructed
La Gascogne carried four masts, but
last May she was overhauled at St.
Nazaire and two of her masts were
taken out. At the same time new
boilers and machinery were put in.
with the purpose of reducing her run
ming time from eight to seven days.
She made but one trip each way after
she was reconstructed, arriving here
on December 81 and leaving for Havre
on January s.