New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-03-19

and swallowed up such a fearful percentage OF
her crew and passengers. II was just beginning
70 grow dark when the storm became dangerous.
CAPTAIN Jagueneau in all probability now lies
full many fathom deep in the Atlantic. and ne
can never tell the world that he was faithful 10
the trust imposed upon him by his passengers
and his employers. but from the meagre words
OF the survivors it appears that the captain took
every possible precauton from the very first to
cheat the tempest and save the ship.
PASSENGERS ORDERED BELOW.
AS soon the storm grew violent all the pas
sengers were ordered below. the matches were
battened down and the ship was made as snug
as possible Hour after hour the storm increased;
hour after hour the ship labored more and more
heavily; hour after hour the seas tumbled over
the decks of the Inflated vessel Midway be-
tween G O'Clock and midnight huger sea than
It's predecessors tumbled over the bow and fell so
heavily upon the ship that II crushed in portion
of her deck This was the beginning OF the end.
The few passengers were in a state of panic. and
the officers and crew had much ado to keep their
places in the furious gale. One of the three
members of the crew who were saved said that
he saw two mon swept overheard by the sea be-
fore the situation grew hopeless. How many
more met their fates in this way VIII propapiy
never be known. Every man was too fearful 1or
himself 10 pay much attention to what became OF
others
The ruin wrought by that first huge sea that
crushed in the deck had hardly been noted before
still another watery monster rushed upon the
shin and tore away a half dozen OF the hatch
WAYS and in an instant the thirsty hold was
drinking its fill. Within a few minutes the ship
began to wallow heavily she had not done be-
fore An effort was made, so 1t Is said, to heave
the ship to. This would have been a diftcuit
task II the steamer had answered readily ana
lightly to her helm but in her waterogged con-
dition and with the crew being cast about IKE
ninepins before the seas that swept her DECK IL
was almost an impossibty. However 1t might
possibly have been accomplished had not the
furnaces been flooded by two or three more waves
which rushed into the breaches that had already
been made in the decks OF the vessel. AS 1t was.
when the engineers and the stokers fled from
their posts and announced that the fires were
swamped Captain Jaguenau knew that the ship
was doomed.
LIFEBOATS LOWERED.
He lost no time in summoning all hands to
lower away the lifeboats. OF these the steamer
had eight and the crew. or those OF them who
were left set about the frghtful task Of launch
ing them The storm then at its height,
and it seemed like madness to trust the small
boats to the mercy Of the sea, but everybody
knew It was fatal to stay by the ship for
she was already wallowing deeper In the trough
Of the sea and shivering with the shock OF the
waves as though she living thing, ana
feared that every moment would be her last.
Four of the eight lifeboats were swung out
~
and hurled against the iron sides Of the steamer
with a violence that shattered them to frag-
ments Then the captain called halt. There
were only four boats left, and upon their safety
depended the lives of every soul aboard.
BY good fortune. there came a lull in the
storm about this time. and. selling the oppor-
tunitv the crew managed TO launch the
naming boats in safety. Already shaking
hands that had never trembled before had hur-
riedly thrust into the boats what provisions and
water they had time to seize.
Mrs Tejada and her four children were the
first passengers to be dropped into boat. That
much is known. How the others and the crew
reached the lfeboats. in what order or who
was the last to leave the ship. Will probably
never be known. There was no thought of any
thing but haste for the ship might go down
der their feet at any moment. There were the
cries of the passengers "a they leaped from the
slippery decks far out and down to the little
boats that danced uncertainty in the swirling
waters; there were the shouts of the captain and
the mates as they called through the gale to
their crew. and above all rose the Shrek OF
the tempest through the rigging.
Captain Berry, as he lay on his bed in the
Hotel Martin yesterday, seemed to hear
again the voice of the captain, he called to
his men at the top OF his voice: "Allez. Aez
vite.'
THREE OF THE BOATS LOST
Finally the last boat had left the vessels side.
but it was hardly dozen lengths away when
the ship gave lurch and the closed over her
with a rush She If she had never been.
What became of three Of the boats is not known.
The story of those who put off in them is not
likely ever TO be told. They have not yet been
heard from, and in view Of the experiences OF
the survivors who put off in the fourth boat.
i: seems likely that they went to the bottom that
| same night. or that their occupants starved 10
| death in the days that followed.
| In the fourth boat were placed all Of the ten
passengers and twenty five of the crew. thirty
| FIVE souls in all. including the four children Of
| Juan de Dios Tejada and his wife, poor San
DOMINICAN couple, who were returning to their
native country after a hard and unsuccessful
struggle with ll-fortune in this country Captain
Berry, the inspector Of the line and
perenced and efficient master, was in command
| Of the boat and the crew worked under his or
| ders with a will long there any Of
| them left to do But in the breathess hurry
10 get away before the ship foundered scant
| provision had been made in the way OF
| and provisions, and the boatload OF human
| beings began its long struggle against the ele
| ments handicapped.
| The awful week Of cold, hunger and thirst
| that followed cannot be adequately described
| The first Of tie thirty five to die one Of the
small children. The exposure Of one day. al
| though the gale moderated within few hours