The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1895-02-09
ELBE DISASTER is GROWING
Three Hundred and Seventy
Four Are Missing.
A Nebraska Man Contradlcts the
Captain of the Crathie.
Carl Norman of Grand Island Says tho
Crathic Could Have Easily Saved
tho People on the Elbe II
She Had Stood by
Few Minutes.

ton as to the number of the lives lost
on the Elbe places it at 374. At least
that Is the number missing. and there
is very little hope entertained that any
of these will be heard from alive.
1t is true, however, that some Var
mouth and Lowestoft fishing smacks
which are out on cruises in the vicin-
ity where the Wildfiowcr picked up the
Elbe's boat containing the twenty sur
vlvors lave not yet returned to their
ports, SO that there still remains a pos
slbility that one or more of them may
have rescued some of the unfortunates
of the lost steamer. On the otherhand,
the weather is unfaVorable to the sur
vival of castaways for any consider
able length of time. a heavy north
east gale prevails on the North sea and
h weather at Lowestoft and there
about is very cold. The gale is In
creasing to almost a hurricane and is
accompanied by a binding snow storm.
Thus far III article of woodwork or fur
niture belonging to the .ost vessel has.
warned ashore on the Suffolk coast, n
fact in itself regarded by experts as
proving the sudden completeness of the
disaster and tending to diminish the
probabilities of further saving of life
being reported. A lifeboat of the Elbe,
it is true, was washed ashore at Var
mouth last evening, oars and life buoys
being found in 1t; but this is undoubt-
eddy the BOAT from which the Wild
flower rescued the survivors yesterday
and which was left adrift after it's oc-
cupants a been taken off.
1t is learned that the following IN
addition to those named in the list of
the first cabin passengers already pub
lished, We're drowned. Their names did
not appear on the printed list because
they did not take through passage,
but intended to go only as far as South
hampton.
Schrifre Dornan.
Anton Fischer.
A family named Misselaerez consisting
of two adults and two children.
Mr. Laeker and his wife, who We're
among the steerage passengers lost,
We're English people who went to
Bremen to take steerage passage for
New York. A tug sent OUT by the
Lloyds to cruise aroun in search of
survivors left Lowestoft early this
morning.
Statement of tho Crathie's Captain.
The owner, at Aberdeen, of the
steamship Crathie, which ran into
the Elbe, has received a brief telegram
from the captain at Maasluis stating
that the Crathie's bow was terribly
crushed by the impact of the vessel
with the IIlbe and that the Crathie was
in a sinking condition when she reached
Maasluis. The captain was below at
the time of the collision, the mate being
in charge of the vessel. The latter has
made a statement to the captain that
he has no knowledge whatever as to
| <In tln,,t;t&, 90 fln ,., ,.stl -
the Crathie collided. His own vessel
was so terribly damaged that it's condi-
ton called for the undivided attention
of the officers and the entire crew, all
of whom had to bend their energies to
saving their ship and their own lives.
There was, the mate adds, a dense fog
at the time of the accident and the YES
sci with which the Crathie collided was
lost in the mist almost Immediately
after the crash.
Refuted by n Nebraska Man.
Carl Hoffman of Grand Island. Neb.,
who is among the saved, refutes this
statement by making the statement
in addition to his statement already
published, that il the vessel which
came into collision with the Elbe had
stood by the sinking ship a majority of
her passengers might have been saved.
as the Elbe stood perfectly still for
many minutes after the impact. In
fact, she remained motionless until the
water which was pouring into her hold
caused her to lurch violently, after
which all vas confusion on board.
Prior to this, however. discipline was
maintained and there could have been
no difficulty in transferring the pas
l -n, ~ ra,.t, s, a., Dr51 IL ~
The Survivors.
The survivors who were brought to
Lowestoft are all recovering from the
effects of their shock and exposure.
Miss Anna Blocker, the only woman
known to have been saved. has so far
recovered that she will be able to pro-
coed to Southampton today.
The surviving officers of the Elbe are
very reticent in regard to the disaster,
r%eserving their statements pending an
official inquiry into the circumstances,
but it transpires that an officer of the
Elbe saw a green light on the port bow
belonging to an unknown vessel which,
1t Is alleged, was trying to cut across
the Elbe's bows. This light evidently
belonged to the Crathie.
A dispatch to Lloyds from Rotterdam
says the Crathie left Maasluis at 10
o'clock on the night of January % for
Aberdeen and returned to Maasluis at
1:25 p. m, January 80, damaged. h
reported having been in collision with
a large unknown steamer. which her Of
ficers thought was probably an Amer
lean liner. The Crathie's stem was com
pletely gone above the water line, hav-
ing been carried away to the third
frame, but she was perfectly tight and
had made 10 water. The collision, ac-
cording to the officers Of the Crathie,
occurred between 5 and 6 o'clock on the
morning of January 80. One of the
crew of the Crathie was injured by the
collision.
A blizzard like snow is prevailing to-
day off Lowestoft and Yarmouth, rem
dering the sea invisible from the shore.
Coastins traffic is wholly suspended.
shipper wrishts Story.
Lowestoft, Jan. s1.-William Wright,
the skipper OF the fishing smack Wild
Flower. says: I'VE were cast southeast
Of Lowestoft with our TRAVELLING gear
down. when, about II O'clock yesterday
morning. 1 saw a ships lifeboat a mile
away. The boats mast was naked, but
l saw something fiuttering from her
stern. The water was breaking over
the boat. I watched the boa closely.
Her occupants seemed to think I was
going to leave them, so / waved my
hat. 1t took us half an hour to get up
our trawling gear, and in the mean
time the boat was drifting away from
us. When we got close to them 7 cast
them a rope, hut they We're so cold and
numb that they could not make it fast
for some time. We pulled them around
to the side Of the smack and about
half of them jumped aboard, but the
strain caused by the heavy sea parted
the rope and the remainder once more
drifted away. Eventually we made
another line fast and four more of the
unfortunates We're dragged In. leaving
q woman and four men in the boat.
The woman lay in the water in the
bottom Of the boat. She wore a long
coat, but had on neither boots nor
dress. Pilot Greenham helped her to
get on board the smack. Just as all