New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-10-24
ST. AUGUSTINE.

tha burning wreck told the story Of II to a Trib-
une reporter yesterday: 1T was on Iuesoay
morning" said the officer. about O'Clock, we
were looking for the Hatteras light which shouid
soon be on our port bow. Shortly light wncn
we at first mistooh for that on Hatteras, showed
but we soon made out that 1t was vessel ahre
and bore down TO her. We were then ABOUT
thlrty-two miles to the southwark AL a. III
we were nearly abeam Of The wreck. ana we
then discovered that 1t was steamer. aDiaze
from stem to stern Her masts gone, as
we're all the deck-houses and the only thins
standing was the funnel. From her appearance
she must have been burning four or five hours
1--WE lay to until daylight and then ran under
her stern. where we discovered her name, City Of
ST. Augustine ST. Augustine, Fla Had we been 80
minutes later the name would have been wiped
out by the flames, for they were then breaking
through the stern tmbers and only part Of the
name was dlscernbe. We were then about
IS miles southeast by east from Cape Hatteras
We found no lie aboard the burning huih anu
after carefully scanning the horizon ABOUT
a m we continued on our course. AT tnat uihe
Uatteras light was just dipping, northwest by
west and the lookout there must undoubtedly
have seen the light of the burning vessel
at the time we left the steamer she was
mere shell and must have sunk shortly after
ward The burning ship lay right in the line OF
everything going north or south and nave no
ing vessel
TT was magnificent sight" continued the
first officer. "but dreadful one to all sailors
have seen several vessels afre at sea, but that
blazing wreck. II lit up the sea for miles was
one OF the grandest marine sights / nave ever
witnessed during my many years Of experience
AT the time the OrZaba WAS lowering near the
doomed ship there were also tramp steamer
and coastng schooner in its vicinity, but they
took off no one and did not approach the steam
ship as closely as the Ward Line vessel The
- ,ho tr,fth
officers OF the Orizaba think 1t likely that the
crew of the City Of st. Augustine were rescued
by a southward-hound vessel, as If they had
taken to their own boats 1t Is likely that tney
would have remained in the neghborhood Of the
wreck for some time There were no signs of
cargo wreckage in the vicinity Of the burn
ing steamship. Everything betokened quick
fire and rapid desertion by the crew.
The City of st. Augustine was wooden screw
steamer Of 3s1 net ana 564 gross tonnage. and
built at Wilmington Del. in 1890. She was
owned by the St. Augustine Steamship Company
and was the only vessel they possessed. She
piled between this port and st. Augustine, bring
ing lumber here and carrying back general mer-
chandse Her agents In this city were Ray Il
Pickett, of No 62 SOuth-st Captain =. II. Gas
kill the skipper. Crowel the mate and
Murphy the first engineer. besides crew OF four
teen men. At the office OF Ray & Pickett the
names Of the crew and the first names OF the
officers were no, known as the men were shipped
at ST. Augustine The vessel was valued at
$4,000 The value Of the cargo, OF about 800 tons,
is unknown.
The City Of st. Augustine had rough expert
ence last winter during The heavy gales then
prevalent She was bet nd from Jacksonville for
New-Yori and was reported missing for some
time until she was heard from at Bermuda. hav-
ing been blown far out Of her course. she came
into port with a novel and ingenious steering
gear
The OrlZaba yesterday brought in eight dis
tressed seamen from the Norwegian bark Stats
Minister Stang. who were taken on board at Pro-
greso The bark was blund from Paramaribo
for Progreso. in ballast. and OH September q
went ashore on the Mexican coast. She
anchored at the time and was sent ashore by a
stiff norther which parted the cable and COM
pletely wrecked the vessel on the rocks. The
Staatsm.nster Stang Duilt in 1874 and regis
tered 4O6 tons She hailed from Kragero.