Omaha daily bee., 1896-06-19
DETAILS or IL OCEAN HORROR.
English Liner sinks and Only Three
Gnrxixe

Copyright, 1896, by the Associated Press)
BREST, France, June 1S.-The details are
slowly being obtained of the loss of the
Castle liner, Drummond Castle, bound from
Capetown to London, with ia passengers
and 1903 officers and men. exclusively an
nounced by the Associated press early yes
terday afternoon. The steamer was going
at full speed. shortly before midnight on
Tuesday, June 16-heading around Fines
torre, from the Bay of Biscay, and making
chops of the British channel. OFF Finesterre
is the island of Ushant, about twenty-six
miles northwest of here, one of a group of
some thirty islands, the largest of which
are Ushant, Molene, Leconquet and st.
Michel. The Castle, to steer a
safe course, should have been away outside
OF ushant, upon which island is a light
house and signal station. But for some
reason. not satisfactorily explained, the
steamship headed inside of Ushant. Be-
tween that point and the main land of
France is a line of islands, including Molene
and Leconquet, and connected by ridges of
rock with each other. At different places
there are riffs through which vessels can
pass with safety, but between Ushant and
Molene. the latter island being about half
way to the mainland. is a sunken reef of
rocks with deep water on both sides of it
and covered in parts, even at the lowest
tides. 1t was on this ridge that the Drum
mond Castle struck while going at full
speed. co..
40 lliliLildleu II THESE ulSDdlCHeS ySSltT-
day, the steamer must have struck so as to
tear a big rent in her bottom from stem to
stern, thus filling water tight compartments
almost Immediately and sending her to the
bottom on the other side of the reef in about
three minutes. Only two boats were low
cred after the Castle liner struck. One of
these capsiaed. and only three men were
saved out of the PAT people on board.
The British second-claSs cruiser, Sybelle,
which was off Ushant at the time of the
disaster. heard the signals of distress and
sent boats to the rescue, but to no avail.
Two of the saved men were picked up float
ing on wreckage, by fishermen from the
mainland, and the third, a man named
Marquardt, succeeded in reaching Molene
island. About ten bodies have already been
recovered off Ushant.
At the time the Drummond Castle struck
the reef a high southwest wind was blowing
and it was raining and foggy, about the
worst conditions possible for approaching
that part of the coast.
Marquardt, one of the survivors, has made
a statement in which he says that Captain
Pierce had just gone to his cabin for a brief
rest when there was a terrible shock which
shook the Drummcnd Castle to a culver
as If shaken by a dynamite explosion. This
was followed by a horrible grating, rasping
sound, the noise Of in-rushing water, the
cries of the passengers.
Passengers sprang from their berths in
terror at the sharp words of commanding
officers on the deck who ordered cut all
'%N''' ~ -" "''J NHS 'o"N' ~ ''S'
But the rents in the steamer were so %ide
and deep that but few of the passengers
had time to scramble up on deck before
she gave two or three heavy rolls and then
an awful lurch, accompanied by some in
terror explosions, and sank.
Marquardt, contrary to the reports of the
other two seamen of the Drummond Castle
who were rescued, said that the steamship
went down so suddenly that there was 10
time even to launch one boat, much less
two, and that even If a boat had been
launched the seas were running SO high and
in such rapid succession, a popularity of
the season in that part of the French coast,
that she would have been promptly swamped
Some of the passengers, however, succeeded
in fastening life belts around themselves,
and some bodies washed ashore were 20
provided.
All hope of finding any more survivors Ct
the Castle has been abandoned.
A tug which has just returned from Mo-
lene now says that the bodies of twenty
five of the victims of the wreck of The
Drummond Castle have been washed ashore
there. They will most likely be buried
tOlay