The San Francisco call., 1896-11-24

VINO tnougnt IL ten0eu to their Sa1ety 10
go in the boat. He told them they could
not get to the shore through the break
ers, and advised them to keep out to sea.
In this boat went o. w. Scott, first as
sistant engineer; c. Condor, second as
sistant engineer; H. Jackson, fireman; n.
+. Fitzgerald, n. Lyva ana G. Brown, coal
passers; +. Foster and c. Jansen, seamen,
and ]. Shreran, .messman.
1t was very dark and haZy and after the
boat pushed off it was not seen again by
those left on the wreck, but later 1t was
learned that four of these men reached
the shore.
OF those who left the ship some time
after this boatload, George Christopher
swan to the shore and was saved. /. w.
Wilson tried TO swim to the shore. but the
ebbiDg tide carried him out to sea and he
was drowned. H. Fehen was washed off
the ship, and although unable to swim
was thrown up on the shore and saved.
After the boatload of men left the ship
the remaining men and officers took to the
foremast rigging, and stayed there until
they were rescued. Even after the sea
had become somewhat calmer, the waves
still dashed over the deck. The only ones
who were not in the rigging were Third
Assistant Engineer Peter Clary, Chief
Cook /. w. Wilson, J. J. Wilson, second
cook, and three or four others. They
went under the gallant forecastie head,
aud locked themselves in to keep out the
waves that swept over the helpless wreck.
At 2:45 o'clock a cry was heard from
the shore, and the crew, rejoicing in the
safety of their comrades, responded with a
cheer. They felt sure it was some one
from the ship. as up to this time they had
neither seen nor heard anything on
shore, although as long as the engine
would work constant whistling had
been kept up. Soon after this fires were
built on the shore and they could see
people moving about. Had there been a
life-saving service or rocket-gun at the
lighthouse it would have been easy to
have sent rope to the wet and freezing
men hanging in the rigging, and all
might then have reached the shore in
safety. No effort, as far as the men on the
wreck knew, was made to save them by
the people on shore, and they remained
in their terrible position until the steamer
Point Arenas boat arrived at GAS o'clock
this morning.
The men from the unfortunate San
Benito cannot praise the Point Arenas s
captain and his gallant crew enough for
their humanity and skill. As soon as
possible boat was sent to them and six
men were carried to the deck of the Point
Arena. The boat returned, but the tre-
mendous seas nearly carried it onto the
deck of the wreck, and with difficulty the
crew saved their craft from being stove in.
Reluctantly they went back to their own
vessel and waited for chance to aid the
shivering men, over whom the spray con-
stantly fell.
The Point Arena stayed by the wreck
and at 6:45 O'Clock this morning, when the
sea had grown calmer, the men were taken
from The rigging and landed on board the
steamship. Then they looked back upon
the terrors and sufferings of the last
twenty-nine hours. They had not fed to
the rigging without making a gallant
attempt to help themselves. As soon as
the ship parted they threw matches into
the sea with ropes attached. hoping they
would drift to the shore and afford them
the means of saving themselves. These
hatches, however, were carried out to sea-
Martin Kelly put on a life-preserver
with line attached and tried TO swim
ashore, but the tide set off shore and the
line was heavy and he soon returned to
the ship and was drawn to the deck. After
that they waited for help or death, more
in expectation of the latter than the
former. While in the rigging they had
no food until 10 o'clock last night, and
only quart bottle of water that Kelly di-.
vided with his suffering shipmates.
About 10 o'clock it became calm enough
so that the carpenter could cut through
the deck into the storeroom and get some
crackers, cheese and canned goods, which
he and some of the men who were least
benumbed aud chilled passed to the men
in the rigging.
Captain Strand OF the Point Arena, wi hen
he found boat could not reach the San
Benito, sent a boat to the lighthouse with
the Point Arenas lifeline and rocket-gun
These were hauled to point opposite the
wreck and the lifeline was thrown by the
gun toward the wreck, but it fell short
The second time the line broke and the
weight whistled over the unfortunate men.
Fireman Shinn said the ship struck at
about 1:30 o'clock. He was in the fire.
room, at the time. When she struck he
called out to his comrades and then
climbed for the deck. The engineer blew
the whistle repeatedly for assistance,
but none came, and there were no signs
that any one on shore, at the lighthouse
or anywhere else paid any attention to
their signals of distress. OF course this
may not have been the case but in the
darkness the men could not learn whether
or not assistance was near.