Omaha daily bee., 1896-03-01
TRIO OF MARINE ACCIDENTS
Big Liner New York Fast Aground Near
Fort Hamilton, ...
STEAMER AASA SUNK IN A COLLISION
George w. clyde Bcachcd 60 Prevent
FounderinI--No Passengers Lost
or Injured-Depsc Fog the
Cause of the Accidents.

| FOR nearly I trty-cIght hOurS dense log
has hung over the Greater New York district
and made navigation almost impossible. Four
steamships. 1t is reported, have come to
| grief owing to the mists that have spread
| over the waters hereabouts. but fortunately
none of the accidents have been attended by
| loss of life. The steamship Aisa, bound
| FIR the West Indies was sunk in collision
in the Narrows this afternoon. A few min
utes after being struck. 1t went to the bot
| tom and the passengers had an almost
miraculous escape. The American line
steamship New York is aground in the lower
bay, and though its passengers were landed
| tonight, the vessel may remain on the shoa
where Ii now is imprisoned for several days
At dusk tonight the Old Dominion line steam
ship Guyandotte, while passing in through
the Narrows struck the steamship George W.
| Clyde. The collision tore hole of such
| dimensions in the Clyde that 1t had to be
beached to prevent sinking. The latest report
| from the fleet that is cropping about in the
| bay is that the steamship Advance is aground
| in the upper bay.
NEW YORK GOES AGROUND.
Early this morning. during thick fog, the
| fast ocean racer, New York, ran aground
on the tail Of the west bank, mile to the
| south of Swinburne island, about thousand
yards west of the ship channel.
| The Associated press sent representative
on a special tug, with instructions to locate
| the New York. task which was no easy one
considering Chat one could scarcely see two
| boat lengths ahead through the rain and thick
| fog. Shortly after IL o'clock the lines of the
| big steamer loomed up dead ahead, and 1t
| was easily seen that the American liner was
hard and fast in the sand and mud. 1t lay
| perfectly helpless. headed northeast 1t drew
| seventeen feet aft and fifteen feet forward
| leaving a space Of nearly eight feet below
| the waterlne visible. One of the blades of
| the propeller on the port side half eX-
posed above water. and from the draught 1t
would seem that the ship is mbedded about
| five feet in the muddy and sandy bank.
The quckstep bell buoy bears east northeast
| of the stranded steamer, and 1t Is just pos
| sble that the pilot may have mistaken this
| bell for the one which is placed at the juno
| ton Of the swaSh and ship channels.
! When the tug drew up alongside the YES
| sci the passengers crowded to the rails and
said they felt no uneasiness, and that there
was no excitement on board. None of the
officers, nor the captain of the ship c-uld be
| induced to make any statement in reference
to the accident. The name of the pilot, VIII?
| had charge of the vessel, when it grounded
was also kept secret.
One of the passengers Mr.. Robert Wood
| house Of Grahamstown, South Africa, said
| that he was deck at $3.50 this morning
when the pilot was taken aboard About an
| hour later the ship came to sudden stop,
| while he was in his berth. When he went
| on deck again he was informed that 1t was
aground. 1t was raining heavily at the time
| and the ship was enveloped in thick fog
| which was so dense that objects on deck
could not have been seen more than twenty
| feet away.
| WRECKERS GET TO WORK
The Merritt Wrecklng company's boat,
| ID. S. Arnott, was the first to reach the
| steamer this forenoon, and Captain Grant
| in ccmmand of the New York, Immediately
| dispatched one OF his officers the Arnott
| to Quarantine, to make arrangements for the
| transfer of the passengers and mails to this
city. number of boats were hurriedly dis
patched to the New York The work of
transferring the baggage and mails was be-
| gun at o'clock by about sixty men, who
| had been sent d.wn from this city by the
| company. AS soon as the mails and baggage
Of the cabin passengers had been lowered over
! the side the first and second-cass passen-
gers were transferred to the George S. Starr.
| The main gangway was lowered for their
| convenience and they left the ship quietly
without the slightest exhibition of haste or
anxiety. The Starr proceeded to Quaran-
| tine, where DIR. Doty was in readiness, and
| then came on to this city, reaching the
| company's dock at Z O'clock just about
twelve hours later than If the accident had
| not occurred. The steamer John e. Moore
arrived at the same hour with the baggage.
After the steamer had left the New York
| the wrecking company's derrick was placed
| dlOnBSlue lot tne purpose Oh lSnteT1HR tNe
| vessel and at the same time four ot the
! companys tugs had lines to the New York s
| larboard and starboard bow. The wind
| changed at $50 from south to northeast and
| there was heavy swell on at that time.
| The wrecking tugs all in readiness 10
| attempt to haul the steamer Off at flood tide
| tonight Captain Hank Williams Of the J. D.
| Jones said this afternoon that he was doubt
| full II the ship could be got off without hav-
ing its cargo removed entirely. If the at
| tempt tonight is unsuccessful, 1t is under
| stood the work Of lightering will be pushed
as fast as possible, in order to try and have
| the New York Off in time to sail on its re-
| turn for Southampton on the regular sailing
| day, next Wednesday.
| This Is not the first time this steamer has
| been aground in the lower bay. as 1t was
| stuck in the mud off Romer shoals about six
| years ago and remained there six days. At
| that time 1t was owned by the Inman line
and was known as the City of New York.
When darkness set in tonight the vessel
was lying on an even keel and stood per-
| fectly upright, without the slightest list.
RUN DOWN BY A FRENCH LINER.
| The Atlas line steamer Ailsa was run down
| at 2:30 O'Clock today by a French line
| steamer, supposed to be La Bourgogne,
while anchored in the channel off Fort Hamil-
| ton. The steamer which struck the Ailsa
pulled away from the vessel and disappeared
| in the mist. The Ailsa carried a crew OF
| forty men and there were fourteen pas
| sengers on board, three OF whom were
| women. All escaped without injury, owing
! to the prompt arrival of large tug belong
| ing to the Merritt Wrecking company The
| Aisa left the pier in this city at noon,
| bound for Kingston, Jamaica. 1t was heavily
laden with freight. A dense fog prevailed in
| tho bay and Captain J. w. Morris, as a pre-
caution against disaster, decided to anchor
his vessel until the fog lifted. He came to
standstill about bali a mile of the Fort
Hamilton shore. pilot was on board and
both the whistle and the fogbell Of the YES
sci were kept going at short intervals as a
warning. The passengers had Just finished
their dinner when the crash came. There
was absolutely no warning The big black
hull Of the French liner suddenly oomed out
of tho mist and struck the anchored ship
about forty feet from the bow on the port
side.
The greatest confusion prevailed among
the passengers and crew. Captain Morris
decided he would try to beach his vessel,
which commenced to fih rapidly. While he
was preparing TO do so the reseuing tug came
In answer to the Ailsa's whistles OF distress
and took of the passengers and crew, who
had taken refuge in the rigging 1t was at
first reported that one of the crew had been
killed by the collision. but this was found
to be untrue. -
Ten minutes after ha last narSnn hod Iaf,