Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1897-11-09
10 LIVES LOST.
CONTINUED from page ~

after moment, when we all felt that
we were lost. the ship keeled over to
| starboard and went down stern first.
| What became of my mates l do not
know. remember that the boats had
been lobsened and that some Of the men
were ready to take to them IL the YES
sci went under, but no boat could have
| lived for minute in that terrible sea
and IL any Of them did get in the boat
is was simply to be swamped as soon
as the first wave struck them.
Il was near the spar, and when the
| stern of the vessel began to go under
| I went for the rigging and went up as
| fast as ! could. Another man went
with me-the second mate-and thank
| the Lord that he was with me, or
would have gone mad during all the
| long hours that / was up there hang
ing on and trying to keep off the fright
| full cold that was surely killing us both.
"All this time the hail and sleet was
coming down in cutting sheet and We
were covered with ice in a few minutes
for though the top of the spar on which
we We're hanging was % feet above
water, the big waves struck us and broke
OVER us and the hail cut us like shot.
knew that it was about O'Clock when
we went down, and 1t seemed to me that
daylight would never come. For what
seemed an age, we hung onto the rigging
and we twisted our arms about the spar
and let them freeze in that position for
we would have fallen into the fearful sea.
when daylight came we could not see
a sail anywhere near us and the sea was
as bad as ever. There did not seem to be
any chance of 1t going down. Hour after
hour we waited there and then we saw
the Mariposa coming. When she finally
sighted us and we saw her head for us,
tried to tell my mate but / could not, ana
he looked at me with a happy look in his
eye. 1t was a terrible time to US. before
she came up to US. and then i knew we
were not yet safe for the sea was running
mountains high and the big steel boat
was rolling like skiff.
Three times the Mariposa circled
around u.s. On the third trip around, she
ran right alongside our spar and as she
went past a dozen men reached for US.
| do not know who got the mate. but Mr..
Smith, the engineer. got hold Of me and
dragged me from the spar and over the
rail of the Mariposa An instant later
we had passed the little stick on which
and the mate had been hanging almost
day, although it seemed week"
the second mate. Louis Laforce. told
a narrowing story. He said that in the
rush of men from the hold. one of the. a
Waterman. was trampied to death. The
crew was frantic to get out of the place
Six or eight, he said. must have been
drowned like rats in the hold. They Were
not warned of the sinking of the boat
The first long dip of the stern was me
first intimation they had that the final
danger was at hand, and then they made
a grand rush TO get on deck The hatch
way was too small to let them through
together and the result was that one of
them was trampled to death and several
were left to drown.
The unknown fireman that went down
with the Idaho was named Richards, He
lived at Ogdensburg and was the son of
Capt. Richards of the tug Thomas VIII
SON. which plies on Lake Ontario. Nelson
Skinner, first assistant engineer, lived at
Auburn.