The herald., 1897-03-25
THE CREW
is SAVED
But the Cargo Goes to the
Bottom
THE TWENTY.SEVEN SAILORS
RESCUED WHEN DEATH WAS
IMMINENT
Loss of the Ship Androsa With a
Valuable Cargo of Cali
fornia Products
RESCUED WHEN DEATH WAS
IMMINENT
Associated Press Special Wire.

Associated Press Special Wire.
| BOSTON, March 24.-The steamer On
tario, which arrived here from London
| today brought into port q men, COM
prising the crew of the British ship An
drosa, Captain Morgan, which was
abandoned at sea on March Sth eight
hundred miles west of Falmouth, Eng
land. The Androsa left for San Fran
cisco on October 2Sth last year for Lon
| don. She sprung a leak in furious
| storm, became unmanageable and was
| abandoned. The greater number of the
rescued men were well-nigh helpless
from exhaustion when taken from the
Androsa, and they had been working
the pumps and jettisoning the cargo for
many days ard nights without inter-
mission. Several times during the bat
tie with the elements the men dropped
in their places, and were carried below
| by their comrades, and after resting
they would drag themselves to the deck
again to engage in the work. even
though in some cases they could not get
upon their feet, and worked while on
| their knees.
After the rescue some of the men had
| to be put to bed on board the steamer,
| but they are now fairly well, and will
probably be returned to Liverpool this
week by the British consul.
When last seen the Androsa was fast
settling. preparatory to taking her final
plunge to the bottom. The lost vessel
was an iron ship of 1892 tons net, built
by Oswold, Mordaunt & Co., of South
ampton, in 1881, and was owned by E.
F. & w. Roberts of Liverpool. She was
valued at e25,000, and is said to be near
ly covered by insurance In English COM
panies. while American companies have
| large policies on the cargo, consisting
! of about 200 tons of grain and large
quantity of canned salmon, canned
fruits, California wine and tallow. The
cargo was said to be the most valuable
that had left San Francisco during that
year, and while the exact valuation is
not known it is estimated that would
reach into the hundrecsd of thousands.
GLAD TO ANCHOR.
FALMOUTH, Eng, March 24-The
Bristol bark Chelmsford Capt. Thomp-
son, from Portland, Ore. via Astoria, on
November 10Th for Queenstown, arrived
here today and reports having lost her
boats and stanchions. In addition her
chain plates worked loose and started
her bulwarks.
Captain Morgan says that after the
Androsa left San Francisco she encoun-
tered only ordinary weather until De-
cember 13, when, to the westward Of
Cape Horn, the first serious storm oc-
xl.f !, chi Qd
and the vessel was hove down on her
beams ends and for ten hours her main
and foreyards were dragging in the wa
ter. Said Captain Morgan: I'VE were
favored with good weather for the next
seven weeks and made rapid progress
towards our destination.
"On March 1, however, came the dis
aster. When the ship was within 400
miles of Cork, Ireland, strong westerly
gales set in, accompanied by terrible
sea. The wind steadily increased in
fury until on the second, it was blow
ing a full-fedged hurricane, the sea
having become more frightful and run
ming mountain high. The barometer
reached the low mark of $3.50. indicating
a continued spell of bad weather
"At five o'clock that afternoon the fore
lower main topsail was blown to pieces
and shortly after this mountainous
wave swept over the ship, bursting on
the poop deck carrying away the three
lifeboats and skids from the forward
house and all the moveables on the
deck.
1.-The bulwarks were swept away, all
the plates were torn off and the volume
Of water had hardly swept oyer us when
all the top masts went by the board. We
began jettisoning the cargo to keep the
ship afloat.
when the wave struck the vessel the
second mate, David Evans. was jammed
underneath the: poop and his back was
so severely strained that we removed
him in a helpless condition to his berth,
where he suffered intensely for some
days.
"All that night the crew were engaged
in throwing over boxes of salmon to
tighten the vessel, and they worked in
cessantly without food or drink Hntil
the next day. when the weather moder-
ated little but still blew fearful gale.
On the morning of the Sd we managed to
sound the pumps and found eight feet
of water in the hold. 1t was then dis
covered that the ship was leaking in the
after part. When the leak was discov-
cred we fastened the crew to the pumps
with low lines around each man, and as
only the weather handle of the pump
could be utilized. we attached a bell
rope to the handle SO more of the men
could work at once. Part of the crew
continued jettisoning, and being unable
to leave their work for fear the vessel
would founder under them, they had, no
nourishment for two days and nights.
1t was then that succeeded in bringing
some biscuits and canned meat and wa
ter to the men. Most of them suffered
terribly from swollen feet, which be-