Arizona weekly citizen., 1895-06-08

| storm. Many or the woman and chll(
 ren must have remained in their oabinI
 The completely nude bodies of th
 stewardess and two other women cam floating by the deckhouse some tim
 after the steamer sank. All were deac and the sight was SO distressing ths Third Officer Hanson and the other
 pushed the bodies away with pieces (
 scautling.
 Professor Harold Whiting of the Un
 versity of California made heroic effor
 to save his wife, four children and th
 nurse. He got into a boat in whic
 were A. J. Sutherland and others. Tn
 boat was soon swamped. Then it wa
 lighted, but went over again. Fiv
 times she was righted after being over Turned.
 ! The women were soon drowned dee plte all efforts to save them. Som
 were killed or stunned by the flying de
 bris. At last only Sutherland wa
 left.
 To avoid the swirling wreckage h,
 climbed upon the seats while the life
 boat was overturned, and so floated wlti
 the bottom of the boat serving him as
 protecting shield. Air came to him
 through the broken sides of tue boat Sutherland says be was on the weather
 side of the steamer when she went or
 her beam ends, but slid over to the let
 side and fell into boat. As the steamer
 went down a mast or part of the rigging
 took the boat under water.
 When 1t came to the surface Suther
 land crawled into it again. Then hs picked up Professor Whiting. Mrs. 0
 Irving, and another lady, supposed to be Mrs. Whiting. Almost immediately the boat capsized again, and, as has been related, went over DO less than five times drowning Professor Whiting and the two woman. Then it was Sutherland came up under the boat and remained
 there, protected, as he tells, from the flying timber and dsshIng debris. The survivors drlfted about for twenty-four hours in what Captain Pitts says was the hardest storm experienced op the coast in twenty years. Of course none but the stoutest could survive. The weaker ones succumbed from hour to hour.
 Many of those saved were badly hurt by the wrecksge and lumber. Among those most injured isyounR c. H. Cush- ing, IT,, of Oakland. With another man ne foated about on an Improvlsed raft, out bis brother was drowned. His inju- fies are severe. Some of the others are in a pittable condition.
 The appearance of the San Juan kept up the spirits of those who were about ready to give up the unequal struggle as hopeless.
 The first notice of trouble came to the Hraf nff Of ho r-h0 a great quantity of wreckage and report ed the probability of great disaster during the storm. Captain Pitts imme- diately sent men aloft and soon some of the survivors were sighted. All the twenty one picked up were found within a radius of two or three miles.
 The Colima IS in 600 fathoms of water.
 The location where she went down is now given as degrees 13 minutes lati tude, longitude l degrees 14 minutes west. Though the direct cause of the disaster was the tremendous sea and the fearful southeast gale, it is generally be- lieved that the Colima was badly over loaded.
 She refused three lighters of freight here, having already all she could carry. It is supposed that at Msnzsnillo she some freight but that she some from the hold to the decks. making her top heavy and unable to withstand the head wind and cross sea. Then, it is thought the cargo was badly slowed and that it shifted as soon as the steamer began to keel over. 1t IS understood that within three minutes of the time Captain Taylor gave his farewell three blasts of the whistle the steamer had entirely disappeared. All the passengers prslse the captain for his neroism and coolness. The last they saw of him he stood at his post, the | waves and winds dashed water all about | him and the vail of that whistle will l sound through the dreams of many for | years to come.
 Captain Pitts of the San Juan put | on the mastheads and crulsed | through ana around the floating debris l Tor eight hours and then continued on her trip north, calling here and at Man. zanillo, leaving four passengersf from the wreck.
 Five more passengers drifted ashore 1t Cospayusna, sixty miles south from 1ere, yesterday. They are J. E. Ohil- berg, Louis Peters and Enrique Wider, ;abin passengers; Fred Johnson, sea- nan, and Robert Gonzales, mess boy. | They were thirty-three hours on life | aft without food or water. They saw he steamship San Juan but were not | seen by the lookouts. Captain Pitts | vas first attracted by seeing the sea covered with wrecksge in which were 'ound the survivors, all of whom were | nearly naked. Their account was heart | .endinR. Every attention was given to hem.
 A peculiar circumstance in connection | with the disaster is the fact that Pro- essor Harold Whiting, before starting | with his family on the Colima, drew up two wills. In one be provided that in | ,sse the steamship went down and he vas drowned hls esstate should revert to | he surving members of his family. He provided in the other that in the event | ,f the death of his entire family his should revert to his surviving | relatives in the east. Aftea executing he two wills, and but few days before tsrting on his voyage. the professor nailed the testaments to Attorney Brew ter of Cambridge, who was clsssmate It Harvard with both Professors Whit nR and Stringbam.
 Under date of City of Mexico, the Elk Iminer prints the following interview with John M. Thornton, one of the sur- Tivors:
 "After leaving the harbor of Manzan- llo on Sunday afternoon we encounter d heavy sea and head winds, which continued all plight. The passengers, whom there were about fity-six, includ- no 0hiIHran and coruapfo frat olose | md about eighty second class, were kept hside.
 "During the night the steamer con- inued on her course with only speed 'nough to give her steersge way. Snort liter daylight on the morning of the Eth I was on deck, and the mountains It the entrance of the harbor of Man .anillo bay were still in sight.
 "I went aft and found Second Officer Langhorne rigging up a temporary ,taarinO Oaar Rut faU pacoopnar, |