Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1895-02-01
OVER $50 PE0RLE DROWNED.
Of the Passengers and Crew
Not More Than a Score
Are Saved.
LITTLE CHANCE FOR ESCAPE.
Vessel Foundered in Twenty
Minutes After Collision
Occurred.

LONDON, Jan. 3l.-Ihe North 0er-
man Lloyd steamer Elbe, Captain Won
Gossel, from Bremen for New York via
Southampton, has been sunk in COL
lision with the British steamer Crathie,
bound from Rotterdam for Aberdeen.
At the time of sending this dispatch the
exact loss of life is unknown, but re-
port has it that it was enormous. The
disaster occurred before daylight at
spoint some 80 miles from the Hook OF
Holland.
The first intimation of the disaster
came from Lowestoft, Suffolk, one OF
the chief English fishing ports. Late in
the afternoon q dispatch was received
from that place saying that it was re-
ported there that a transatlantic line
steamer had been sunk in the North sea
and that the
Loss of Life Was Very Great.
The first dispatches stated that there
had been $50 persons on the Elbe and
that only ~ had been saved, the res
cued having been landed at Lowestoft
by fishing smacks. Later dispatches to
the Exchange Telegraph company and
to Lloyds confirmed the report OF the
loss of the steamer, and still later 1t was
learned that the Crathie, the steamer
that sunk the Elbe, had put in to Mas
Luis, Holland, in damaged condition.
She reported that she had been in COL
ision with an unknown ocean steamer.
It was at first hoped that the reports
of the disaster had been exaggerated
and that most, if not all of the passen-
gers and crew, had escaped, either by
means of the ships boats or by being
picked up by passing vessels. But, as
time wore on, it was apparent that the
First Reports of the Sinking
of the steamer had mininlized the hor-
rors of the disaster. Many dispatches
were forwarded to Mas Luis to the
commander of the Crathie asking him
if he had rescued any Of the Elbe's pas
sengers. Up to a late hour, however,
no answers were received to these dis
patches and the belief grew that the
Crathie, after the accident, had rather
sought her own safety than to rescue
the people on the doomed Elbe.
From the details now at hand, it is
learned that the Elbe was proceeding
along at her usual rate OF speed and
keeping the ordinary lookouts. The
night was dark but there was no gale.
Suddenly the forward lookout on the
Elbe reported to the officer on deck that
The Lights of q Steamer
were close aboard over the port bow.
Before the course Of the Elbe could bo
changed so as to sheer her off from the
approaching steamer tho latter struck
her just about the engineroom, going
through her plates as though they were
pasteboard and sticking her nose almost
completely through the hull OF the
Elbe. For time the Crathie held the
Elbe on her nose, but then her engines
were reversed and she backed out OF the
aperture she had made. AS she did so
the water rushed into the Elbe in a tor
rent and she began Immediately to set
tie. The officer in charge Of the ship at
once
Saw That She Was Doomed
and gave hurried orders to clear away
the lifeboats for launching. Three OF
the boats were cleared and lowered, but
one of them, shortly after it got clear of
the steamer, capsiZed, and it is thought
all the occupants were drowned. The
first boat contained the third officer,
chief engineer, purser and about 20 of
the passengers. These are the persons
who were picked up by the fishing
smack and taken to Lowestoft.
From the survivors it is learned that
as soon as the Crathie backed away
from the Elbe, that inrusling water
flooded the aft of the engineroom SO
quickly that nobody below decks in that
part of the ship had
An Opportunity to Escape.
The shock OF the COLLISION was cOmpara-
lively slight in view Of the damage
done, but this is explained by the fact
that it was a direct cutting blow.
Nearly all the passengers were asleep at
the time, but many of them were awak-
ened by the shock, slight as it was.
They could hear the rush of the rapid
inf1owing water, and with cries of ter
Tor sought to make their way to the up
per uecA. The steamer beng loaded by
the stern water naturally rushed aft,
and this allowed many of the passen-
gers forward to reach the deck. In the
case of the saloon passengers, however,
The Result " as Fatal.
As they rushed from their staterooms
into the saloon they were met by the
torrent, against which it was impossible
for them to make Roadway. They were
aff TOR mil kon