The San Francisco call., 1895-10-15

tensely interesting, either in fact or fiction,
than her recital of the wreck of the chan
mel steamer Seaford, on which vessel she
was passenger, and later the prompt
manner in which she called the English
company down, finally making them pay
for every piece of baggage lost. Incl
dentally she pays delicate and well-timed
compliment to the efficiency of the Eng
lish seamen.
l"We, that is. my daughter Virginia and
myself, took the steamer Seaford at
Dieppe," said Mrs. Faltz yesterday, in
telling the story of her adventure. "Our
faces were turned homeward, by way of
London. Very naturally our trunks were
full of beautiful wearing apparel and brio
a-brac, obtained in the two great European
cities. For a short time l remained on
deck to enjoy the fresh sea breeze and to
catch the first glimpse of the English
coast. A heavy fog coming up, however,
/ went below, and on the way noticed the
captain ut one of the tables enioying q
hearty lunch. had scarcely reached my
daughter when heavy crash came, and 1
instinctively knew that something terrible
had happened. The Seaford had been run
into by the heavy channel freighter Lyon.
II cannot describe the feeling which
came over me, but something seemed to
say that the steamer was doomed, and so,
snatching up my golf coat and umbrella,
pushed my daughter ahead of me up the
steps leading to the deck. AS started up
the companionway l called to those near
est that the steamer was sinking, but the
stewardess severely reprimanded me,
assuring the passengers at the same time
there was no danger | did not mind this,
however, but again exclaimed that the
vessel was sinking, and that they must
lose no time in getting on deck. The
steamers heavy laboring convinced me
that this was so. On deck we found the
crew getting the boats ready with mechan-
ical precision. | called for life preserver,
which was promptly furnished me by one
of the crew, but as did not know how to
put it on my daughter he did it for me.
BY this time all the passengers, 365 in
number, were on deck, and the crew, like
so many machines, began to fit them with
life -preseryers. / had often heard of the
perfect discipline of these trained crews,
but their work on this occasion convinced
me that their knowledge of just what to do
was as perfect as human agency could be-.
They understand just such emergencies,
and are so trained that no orders are neces-
sary. Stokers and engine men, black with
coal dust and besmeared with OIL fell to
work without a word.
'It is matter of history now how the
passengers were saved from the ill-fated
Seaford, but Just the same there were any
and passengers. One incident recall par
ticularly. A woman attempted to Jump
aboard the Lyon, but the vessel sheered off
too far, and the poor creature fell be-
tween the two. Quicker than it takes
to tell it, a seaman plunged over
board and two more let themselves
down the side to the Lyon by means
of tackle. The woman was drawn up
first, and then the seaman who at the i'm
minent risk of his life had plunged be-
tween the two ships to effect her rescue.
In less than twenty minutes from the
time the Lyon struck us the Seaford went
down, and / shall never forget that sight
as long as / live. Hardly had the Lyon
sheered off from the poor old laboring Sea-
ford when the latter's boilers burst. The
sea was slowly closing over the deck when
there came tremendous upheaval amid
ships, and a column of water, a perfect
niagara of cascades, shot skyward. 1t was
a grand awe-inspiring sight and one I am
not likely to forget.
ST had some difficulty in recovering
damages for my lost baggage, but when /