Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1897-03-22
ONLY FOUR SAVED.
Little Doubt that Eighty Persons
Lost Their Lives Off
Cape Hatteras.

GdpG
New York, March 1S-Out of the
eighty-two persons comprising the pas
sengers and crew of the steamer Vile
de ST. Nazierre, which sailed from this
port on March for Port au Prince,
Hayti, only four are known to have sur
vived disaster which befell the craft
about forty-eight hours later. These
four passed through an experience such
as it has been the lot of few to expert
ence, seeing one after another of the
thirty -one others who left the steamer i'll
the large boat perish of exposure to the
cold or die of hunger, some suffering,
during the seven days in which they
drifted helplessly without sail or COM
pass, pangs that drove them to madness
before death came to their relief.
Among the survivors is Senior Tagado,
a San DOMINICAN. who was compelled to
witness the death of his wife and four
children without being able to alleviate
their sufferings. What became of the
forty-four persons besides those mon
toned above can be only surmised, al
though there is a remote possibility that
one or more of three boats III which they
left the sinking steamer III the midst OF
a fierce March storm off the always
perilous Cape Hatteras has been picked
up by a sailing vessel which has not yet
made port.
The Vile de st. Nazierre was single
screw, bark-rigged steamer of 264O tons
register, owned by the Compagnie Trans
atlantiuue Generate, and the ownership
too wildly recalls at this juncture the
fate of the same company's steamer
Vile du Havre, which went down on
November %, 1873, with 226 persons on
board.
The Vile de St Nazierre was COM
manded by Capt. Jaguena, sailor of
,<lOr7 Tod Ifvy
Heavy weather was experienced from the
time the steamer left this port until the
water came pouring into and over her
and it was determined to abandon the
ship.
The passengers and crew took the four
boats, a fifth having been crushed IN the
attempt to lower it. There had been no
time to provision the boats. 1t was
night and in the midst of fierce storm
the transfer was made.
Capt. Berri manager of the West In
dian line of the Compagnie Iransatlan-
tique Generate, was one of the thlrty-hv
men who embarked in the larger OF the
boats and upon him devolved the COM
mand of that frail refuge of so many
souls He, Senior Tagado, Mrs. Tauts,
the third engineer and the ships doctor,
Marie, are the only ones surviving
The survivors were almost dead from
starvation and exposure and were too
weak to relieve the small boat OF the
weight Of the corpses.
The four rescued men were brought to
tn.s city from Perth Amboy on the tug
IdlewiId last night. Capt Berri was
taken to the Hotel Martin Two of%he
others were put on board the French
line steamship La Normandie at her pier
in this city and the fourth was taken
to the house of a friend.
Capt. Berri is being attended by DIR.
T.. De Plezze. who entertains some
doubts as to the patients recovery and
who declares that the man must have
endured a most terrible hardship.
The Hilda passed in at Sandy Hook
at $40 yesterday afternoon and proceed
ed on her way to Perth Amboy in tow
of the tug Idlewild, reaching that place
about $50 o'clock. No word of The
wreck was given out at Perth Amboy.
The tug Idlewild, having left the Hilda
at her dock, brought the survivors to the
pier of the Companie Transatlantique
Generate at the foot of Morton street in
this CITY, a run of about twenty miles,
reaching there about s o'clock in the
evening.
The news was at once telephoned. to
Mr.. Forget, agent of the French lIne
steamers, and he made such disposition
as he could for the comfort of the sui
ferers.
The facts of the disaster were kept
from the public for several hours and
only became known toward midnight.
Mr.. Forget has preserved the utmost reti-
cence on the subject.
Steamer Rialto Burned.
The Allan State line steamer Cartha-
genian, which arrived this morning from
Glasgow, rescued the crew of the Will
son line steamer Rialto, which took fire
and was abandoned March 5 in latitude
3123 and longitude 22.45. The Rialto
was bound from Newcastle for this port
loaded with general cargo, including a
large quantity of chemicals.