The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-03-01
AN ATLAS LINE STEAMER SUNK
THE AILSA SENT TO THE BOTTOM
By LA BOURGOGNE.


Tke Captain, Passengers and Part
of the Crew Rescued From the Rig
ginE by Tug.
New York, Feb. 29.-The steamship ALL
sa of the Atlas line was sunk about 2:sO
O'Clock this afternoon by the steamship
La BOurgogne Of the General Trans-At-
lantique line, bound for Havre. The ALL
sa had sailed from New York enroute
TO Kingston, Jamaica. Owing to the dense
fog, the Ailsa came to anchor just at
the south mouth of the narrows. The
strong tide that was running at the time
swung the vessels head so that at the
time of the collision she was pointing
toward New York. According to the state
ments of several of the crew the vessel
had been at anchor but a few minutes
when a huge steamer hove in sight, and,
although, according to the Ailsa's crew,
a continuous ringing of her bell had been
kept up since she came to anchor, the YES
sci came on and struck the Ailsa fun
on the port bow, tearing out a large por-
ton of her side. Immediately after
striking the Aisa, the colliding vessel,
which was learned to be the steamer La
Bourgogne, backed out, and after disen-
gaging herself proceeded on her way with
out making the slightest offer to render
assistance to the Ailsa.
Capt. ]. w. Morris of the Ailsa was on
the bridge at the time the collision oc-
CURED, and he Immediately gave orders
to weigh anchor. This was instantly
done, and the vessel was headed for the
Fort Hamilton shore. Before she had
gone far, however, she filled and sank.
The captain, passengers and part of the
crew took to the rigging, from which they
were rescued by the tug Harold which
happened to be in the vicinity at the time.
The Harold, TO make the rescue, steamed
between the masts and directly over the
deck Of the sunken steamer. The Harold
also picked up later part of the crew
from a small boat belonging to the Ailsa.
According to the crew only few min
utes elapsed from the time the vessel was
struck until she went down. As far as can
be learned the La Bourgogne suffered lit
tie or no injury from the impact. The
crew and passengers of the sunken steam
er We're brought up to the city by the tug
and landed at the ship news office OF the
United Press.
In interviews with the passengers of the
Inflated vessel it was learned that the crew
of the Ailsa behaved in most brutal and
cowardIy manner. 1t is asserted that when
the La BourgOgne struck the Ailsa, the
crew instead Of trying to assist, seemed
to be inspired with only the desire to save
themselves. They seized the only availa-
ble boat, which they quickly lowered, and
jumping into it pushed Off leaving the
passengers to their fate. There were IA
cabin passeng gers on board of Ailsa, among
them several women. The latter We're
Verging on Mysteries when seen at the pier
of the United Press ship news office. Some
of them looked as though they had been
subjected to some hard usage. The officers
of the Inflated vessel deny that the crew
abused the passengers or We're guilty of
any cowardice. Capt. Morris of the Atlsa
refused to make any statement with re-
gard to how the accident occurred.
j.. Weatherspoon, the chief engineer
spoke freely about the accident. He de-
clared that the La Bourgogne was to
blame, and said that the AilSa $ bell was
ringing continuously while she lay at an
chor. He was rather indignant at the
manner in which the French steamer be-
haved He denied in toto the passengers
statements that the crew had seized the
only available boat and abandoned the
passengers to their fate. He asserts that
the passengers refused to go into the
small boat and sought refuge in the rig
ging. He says upon the refusal of the
passengers to enter the boat the captain
ordered the crew to pull for the shore.
He says the vessel filled and went down SO
rapidly that neither the passengers nor
crew were able to save any Of their ef-
The Ailsa now lies sunk to her lower
yards and lies on a hard bottom off Fort
Hamilton. The crew numbered thirty
seven, including Capt Morris. 1t was
composed of Spaniards, Cubans and Ital-
ians.
The Ailsa is a British screw steamer 290
feet in length, beam 34,2 feet depth 293
feet tonnage 1910. She was built at Glas-
gov, and was owned by the Atlas Steam
ship Company. She had a general cargo.
1t has been learned that La Bourgogne
proceeded but a short distance after the
collision and came to anchor. 1t is not
positively known whether she sustained
any injury. She has forty-fve cabin pas
sengers on board.
Following is the list of the passengers, IA
in number: George II. Pierce and wife, of
Kingston, ia; John p. Cantrell and wife
of Newark, N. J.; Mr.. Tietjens, of New
York; H. ingalls,; Wesley Day of New
ark; c. B. Miller and wife, of Brooklyn;
A. L. Y. CaTachristi. of Richmond, Va.
Mr.. Hoff p. J. Cummings, George NJ.
Douglass of Newark; Watson Ryan of
Everybody on the Ailsa, passengers and
crew, were saved, though Mrs. Pierce was
slightly bruised.
The crew consisted of 81 persons COM
manded by Capt. J. w. Morris.
Mr.. Cummings with three others of the
passengers was in the smoking room when
the crash came. Rushing to the bow, he
instantly saw how serious the danger was,
and shouted Bring UP the women first"
This was done and they were sent into
the rigging, where many of Them at the
sinking of the vessel were up to their
knees in water. 1t is said that one of the
crew brandished revolver in his en-
deavorS to get into the life boat. Mr.. Cum
mings jumped into the water and was ul-
timately picked up by the Ailsa's boat,
which contained several of the crew.
The tug Harold, which came to the res
cue, was at first afraid to approach the
wreck but at length rescued all hands.
Not a ladder or life preserver or other ap-
pliance was used. The tug literally came
aboard the Aisa and the unfortunates
were picked off of the rigging.
Mrs Miller, one of the passengers, fell
overheard in the excitement but was gall
lantly rescued by her husband.
George H. Pierce, one of the passengers
on the Ailsa, is a prominent citizen of
Jamaica, West Indies. In an interview
tonight he said: I'VE were all in the
cabin when the. crash came. All were
thrown from their chairs. At first il was
thought that the vessel was not badly
injured, but she soon began to settle by
the head, and we knew that she must go
down. Capt. Morris and the other officers
behaved splendidly, but the conduct of
some of the firemen and the crew is
worthy of nothing short of hanging They
were the most cowardly lot Of dogs that I
ever saw in my life. When it was found
that it was possible to man only one life
boat the rascals pushed the women out
of the way, fought the passengers back,
Jumped into the boat and rowed away,
leaving US to drown. We saved nothing.
Such a short time elapsed, between the
time the vessel was struck and the time
She went down, that we had no time to