The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1897-07-01
WAS STRUCK BY A MONSOON |
THE TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE OF
THE PASSENGERS ON A DIS
TRESsED SHIP.
TOSSED ABOUT FOR SEVENTEEN Days
Many of the Passengers and Crew
Were Swept Overheard by the
High Seas-Heroism of the
Women ON Board.

London, June 30-A dispatch to the
Daily Mail from Alden, Arabia, says:
Two days after leaving Colombo, the
Alden was struck by severe monsoon
with squalls violent and incessant. Day
by day the weather grew thicker and
the passengers became more and more
alarmed. At 3 o'clock ON the morning of
June 8 she struck upon the Rasrada reef
on the eastern coast of the island of
Scotra.
The engine room was instantly flooded,
| and utter darkness ensued. Wild with
panic, the passengers rushed from the
cabins and fed terror-stricken to the
upper deck in the scantiest clothing. The
| women and children screamed in fright
and confusion, but the men retained their
self possession and courageously assisted
| the officers and crew to do their best to
save the vessel and to inspire calmness.
! But it was soon seen that the steamer
could not survive the shock and the only
chance for safety lay IN the lifeboats.
| Distress signals were given and the boats
were prepared for launching. Those on
the weather side had already been wash
| ed away. In the meantime, seeing that
some hours were likely to elapse before
it would be possible to launch the boats,
| the passengers gladly accepted Of the as
sistance of the crew to obtain more cloth
ing The storm continued to increase in
violence. the great seas washed the vessel
| with terrific force Daylight brought no
relief and only served to show still
! further the awful situation. Misfortune
followed misfortune. A lfeboat was low
cred, only to be swept away Immediately
with three lascars and the first officer
the rescue, with Mr.. Miller, the second
officer, but to the despair of all the boats
were rapidly swept away.
! The only remaining lifeboat was then
lowered, amid a scene of intense emotion.
A cry of anguish broke from the lips of
even the men as this boat partly capsized.
After n great effort the boat was launched
and all the lady passengers taken off the
wreck except Madams Glletts Perry and
Srainer, who herocally decided to share
the fate of their husbands, and Misses
Lloyd and Weller. who remained on
board. The boat, manned with an Euro
pean crew, left with tremendous seas and
drifted out of sight. The waves still
swept the wreck, dashed the people about
and leaving them almost PROSTATE on the
deck. One by one women, men and chill
dren, grown too weak to withstand the
repeated buffettings, were washed over
board in sight of those who were momen-
tarily expecting the same fate. Among
the first thus engulfed were Mr. and Mrs.
Strainer and their two children, Misses
Lloyd and Weller, the missionaries Mrs.
Perry and baby with its Chinese nurse,
and then Capt. Hill, whose leg was
broken, but who had born himself calmly
and bravely. He was washed overheard
! with several natives of the crew
All day the men were picked off one by
one, until those surviving retreated below.
| None of the survivors whom have seen
cared to talk Of this terrible night.
The storm abated slightly on the morn
ing of the 10th, and those who were able
to move began TO search for food, hunger,
until then, having faiied to, assert itself.
This proved a task of thef greatest dam
ger, as the big seas wee still sweeping
the vessel. The fourth engineer, while
trying to procure water, was struck al
most sensely and almost washed over
board before he could be dragged to Il
place of safety. Artificial respiration and
similar expedients were resorted to, but
il was five hours before he was restored
10 consciousness.
Mr. Seary was only saved from being
washed overheard by the prompt action
of his dauntless wife.
The search for food resulted in their
getting very little of it, and this was
shared equally and in small portions. All
the time the desperate men kept sharp
lockout. But no vessel was sighted until
the 18th, and even then the distress sig
nal was not seen. On the 18th and again
on the 10th other vessels were sighted,
but the signals either were not seen or
were ignored. These unhappy episodes
caused painful and half crazy scenes of
rage among those who had been previous
ly self controlled. Each day it was nec-
essary to curtail the allowance of rations.
Mrs. Gillett did the catering and con-
tributed greatly to the cheering up of the
ships crew. The weather moderated in
the morning, but always increased in vio-
lence in the afternoon. Frequently sea
fully thirty feet high would sweep the
deck and carry away portions of the
vessel.
On June %. when things were at their
worst and the food supply was almost
exhausted, Messrs. White. Kelt, Cave
and Nalpy bravely ventured across the
deck to the storeroom and got fresh
supply. That evening two steamers were
sighted. One proceeded without paying
any attention to the distress signal. The
other anchored under the lee of the island.
As soon as she was sighted lascar
mounted the riggings and signalled her
In reply candles burned at her port holes,
and at daybreak on the 26th suspense
of seventeen days was relieved by the
spectacle of the steamer rounding the
point, heading towards the wreck. She
dropped anchor about a mile away.
very heavy sea was still running,
but the wind had moderately slightly.
With heartfelt joy mingled with tears
of men and hysterical sobbing of the
women, they saw the lifeboat lowered
1t took her three-quarters Of an hour to
reach the wreck. Every one rushed to
the broken side of the ship II was the
lifeboat of the Indian government steam
or Mayo and in charge of Lieuts. Dobin
and Goldsmith.
They skillfully avoided the tremendous
wash and rescued all of the survivors IN
two trips.
Every attention was paid to them or