The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1895-06-01
THE COL|MA HORROR
Details of the Disaster
Coming to Light by
Degrees.
WAS SHE oVERLADEN !?
Deck Cargo Shifted and the
Vessel Became I'm
manageable.
WAS SHE OVERLADEN !?
Bravery of the Captain--There
May Be More Survivors
The Deadly Wreckage.

the following from IT'S correspondent at
Mazatlan. Mexico
MAZATLAN, May 81 (via Galveston,
May 3D.-The steamer San Juan has ar
rived here with the twenty-one passen-
gers picked up on Tuesday from the
wreck of the steamer Colima. From the
passengers your correspondent has learn
ed some of the particulars Of the dread
full disaster which they say happened
on Monday at noon. when the Colima
was about forty-eight miles out of Man
zanillo and ten off shore. All the res
cued are badly bruised. They We're all
picked up from pieces of wreckage and
RATS, with the exception of A. j. Suther-
land, who had clung to boat after it
had capsized five times, and drowned
all the others who attempted to escape
from the wreck in her. AS all were
afioat lashed by the tiercest gale Of
years and buffeted by the angry seas
for about twenty-four hours, they are
hardly yet in a condition to tell a con-
nected story of the wreck and the ex-
periences of their escape but many in
teresting particulars have been obtained
WAS SHE oVERLADEN?
The steamer was heavily laden and
had large deck load of lumber. When
the storm struck her she made bad
weather of it, the captain having great
difficulty in keeping her head to the
SEA The wind increased in fury until
it is said to have been the fiercest
storm known along this coast in twenty
years
The sea rose rapidly. Waves washed
over the vessel and started the deck
load AS the waves rose and the storm
increased the management of the steam
er became impossible. At last about noon
her head could no longer be kept up
and she preached to. One of the seas,
a mighty wave, struck her with such
force that the beams trembled as if she
had struck on reef, and most of the
passengers thought this te cause of the
shocks. This gave rise to the first re-
port that the ship had struck on reef.
Whether because of the heavy deck
load. the shifting OF the coal and cargo,
or the force of the storm, the steamer
would not right herself.
PASSENGERS IN A PANIC.
The passengers were pretty badly stun
ned by being pitched about, and rushed
upon the deck in a panic. Here they
met another danger. The gale tore parts
of the deck load of lumber from its
fastenings and whirled the heavy planks
about with appalling violence. Many were
struck and MANNED. AT least passenger
was Killed by having his head crushed
by flying timbers. The survivors say
that the officers of the steamer were
brave and active in this crisis. Captain
Taylor stood upon the bridge with the
Chief Officer Grifflths. At an order Grif-
fiths ran forward to superintend the
launching of life boat No. s. while Sec
ond officer Langhorn was in charge of
boat No. 3. The latter was successfully
launched and filled with passengers. Then
the ship went down and Langhorn's boat
was capsized. All in both boats are sup
posed to have pershed
A SAD GOOD BYE.
Captain Taylor went down with the
ship, and as the vessel sank he blew
three blasts of the whistle as a good
bye signal The engineers and firenen
went down at their posts. Night Clerk
Berry was in his room and went down
with the vessel. Third Officer Hanson
was among the saved. He sprang from
the ship as it went down and succeeded
in reaching piece of wreckage. There
he clung for twenty-four hours, washed
and buffeted by the waves. He saw men
and women sink about him and was
powerless to render aid. He saw naked
and mangled bodies floating by, and the
horror of it made him sick. Hanson says
that as the steamer foundered her boil
ers burst. The deck burst under his
feeet as he left the ship. Ten other men
were thrown into the sea with him.
The bursting of the boilers tore off the
deck and threw part of it over at least
dozen men who were struggling in the
water drowning them all. The flying
debris hit others
CLINGING TO wRECKAGE.
Two life RATS were seen to be afioat
On one were three men and on another
six, including J. A. Chlberg of Seattle,
who seemed to have been a leader in
the work of launching the raft Those
in any position to take notice of their
surroundings, saw many who clung to
bits of wreckage and the lumber from
the deck load. The gale caught this
wreckagel from the erests of the great
waves and beat the struggling unfortun-
ates with it. One mans skull was
crushed by whirling plank as he was
about to Chamber upon life raft. The
dash of the sea made each timber
menace as well as hope. So the fight
for life began There was no hope for
women and children. and small chance
for men in such storm. Many of the
in their cabins. The completely nude
bodies of the stewardess and two other
women came floating by the deck house
some time after the steamer sank. All
were dead, and the sight was SO dis
tressing that Third Officer Hanson and
the others on the deckhouse pushed the
bodies away with pieces of scantling.
Prof. Whiting. of the California Univer-
sity, made a heroic fort to save his
wife. four children and the nurse He
got into a boat in which were A. j.
Sutherland and others. The boat was
swamped, then it was righted, but soon
went over again.
UNAVAILING STRUGGLE.
Five times she was righted after be-
ing overturned. The women were soon
drowned, despite all efforts to save them.
Some We're killed or stunned by the
flying debris. At last only Sutherland
was left To avoid the swirling wreck
age, he climbed upon the seats, while the
lifeboat was overturned and 50 aoated
with the bottom Of the boat serving