Daily Kennebec journal., 1895-06-03
Told by Survivors Of Wrecked
Steamer CoIima.
The Ship was Heavily Loaded and
Could Not be ControIIet.
Old MOI Strike a Reel But Fouedered i'
Trough 0. Sea.

wrecked Colima From them your cor
respondent has learned some Of the par
ticulars Of the dreadful disaster, when
the Colima was about % miles out of
Manzillo and 10 miles from shore. All
the rescued are badly bruised. They were
all picked up from pieces Of wrcckage
and RATS, with the exccpcion of A. j.
Sutherland, who chung to boat after 1t
had capsizcd five times and drowned all
the other occupants. AS all were afloat
In the ferccst gale of the year and buff
fetcd by the waves for "a hours, they arc
not yet In u condition to tell q connected
story Of the wreck and the experiences OF
their escape, but many interesting particl-
lars have been obtained.
The steamer was heavily laden and had
large dcckload 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 llerccst storm known along this
coast in 20 years. The sea rose rapidly,
waves washed the vessel and started the
deckload. As the waves rose and the
storm increased the managing OF the
steamer became impossible. About Eoon
her head could no longer be kept,up and
she brccched to.
Once in the trough OF the sea, q mighty
wave struck her and she was thrown on
her beams end. This wave struck her
with such force chat the steamer trembled
as ii she had ran upon n reef, and most of
q the passengers thought this the cause Of
Z the shocks. This gave rise to the first re-
ports that the ship had struck on Il reef.
Whether, because of the heavy dcckl0ad,
the shifting of the coal and cargo, or the
force OF the storm, the steamer would not
right herself. The passengers We're pretty
badly stunned by being pitched about, but
rushed upon deck in panic. Here they
met another danger. The gale tore part
of the dccbload Of lumber from its fastcn-
ings and whirlcd tho heavy planks
about with appalling violence. Many We're
struck and manned. At least one passen-
Senger was killed by having his head
Crushed by Failing Timbers.
The survivors say that the officers Of the
steamer were brave and active. Captain
Taylor stood upon the bridge, his tiIst Off
GER, Dc Grifiths with him. At an order
Griffiths rushed aft to superintcnd the
launching of life boat No. 5. Second Off
Ger Langhorne was at boat No ,, and sue
cecdcd in getting it launched and filled
with passengers. Then down went the
ship, and Langhorne's boat was capsized.
All in the bouts were supposed to have
been drowned
Captain Taylor went down with the
ship, sticking to his post. AS the ship
pitched downward he blew three blasts cf
the whistle, supposedly as a signal of good
bye. Then he disappeared between the
waves. Down went the engineers and fire
men at their POSTS. Freight Clerk Berry
was in his room at the time of the lna!
plunge.
Third Officer Hanson was saved As
the steamer sank he cut some of the lash
tngs of the deck lumber. Then he Jumped
or was thrown overheard on the weather
side Of the vessel and reached the deck
house This bad been torn off and washed
away by the great wave which threw the
Colima on her beam. There Hanson cung,
butfeted for II hours. He saw men and
women sink about him, bur was powerlcss
to aid them.
Hanson says that rs the steamer found
cred her boilers burst The deck burst
under his feet 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
u dozen men who were struggling in the
water, drowning them all. Flying debris
hit others. Hanson says the deck fairly
burst under his feet as he left the ship
Two life rafts were seen to be a0oat On
one were three men and on another six,
including J. Achilberg of Seattle, Wash,
who seemed to have been II leader in the
work Of launching the raft
Those in n position to take in their sur
roundings saw many who clung to bits of
wreckagc and the lumber from the deck
load. The gale caught this wreckugc
from the crests of the great waves and
beat the struggling unfortunates with ii.
One mans skull was crushed by whirl-
ing plank as he was about to Chamber
upon life raft The dash of the sea made
each timber II menace as well as hope.
So tho Fight For Life Began.
There is no hope for women or children
and small chances for man in such storm
Many Of the women and children must
have remained in their cabins. The COM
plctcly nude bodies of the stcwartless and
two other women came floating by the
dcckhousc some time after the steamer
sank. All were dead and the sight was so
distressing that Officer Hanson and the
others on the dcckhouse pushed the bodies
away with pieces of scanrling
Professor Harold Whiting of the Cali
fornia university made "a heroic effort to
save his wife and four children and the
nurse. He got into Il boat in which A. j.
Sutherland and Others We're. The boat
was soon swanpcd. Then it was rightcd
after being overturned. The women were
soon drowned, despite all efforts to save
them. Some wcrc killed or stunned by the
flying debris. All last only Sutherland
was left. He climbed upon the seats while
the lifcboat was overturned and SO fioated,
with the boat serving rs a protecting
shield. Air came to him through the
broken sides of the boat.
Sutherland says he was on the deck on
the other side of the steamer when she
went on her beams end, but slid over to
the lee side and fell into boat. As the
steamer went down mas; or part of the
rigging took the boat under water. When
it came to the surface Sutherland crawled
into it again. Then he picked up Mr..
Whiting, Mrs. 9. Irving, and another
lady, supposed to be Mrs. Whiting. AL
most i1nmcdiately the boat capsized, and
as has been reported, went over no less