The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-03-19
BUT FOUR ARE LEFT ALIVE.
ALL THE OTHERS OF THE PASSEN-
GERS AND CREW LOST AT
SEA.
A TALE OF TERRIBLE SUFFERING.
Thfrty-Five Victims Exposed i'm an
Open Boat to the Fury of the
Ocean.

eighty-tWo persons comprising the pas
sengers and crew of the steamer Vile
de st. Nazairre, which sailed from this
port on March g. for Port au Prince,
Hayti, only four are known to have
survived the disaster which befeI the
craft about forty-eight hours later.
These four passed through an expert
ence such as it has fortunately been
the lot of few. seeing one after another
of the thirty-one others who left the
steamer in the large boat perish from
exposure to the cold or hunger and suf-
fering during the seven days in which
they drifted helplessly with out SAT-
or compass, pangs that drove them to
madness before death came to their re-
lief. 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 be-
sides those mentioned above can be
only toe we'll Surmised, though there Is
a remote possibility that one or more
Of the three boats III which they left
the sinking steamer in the midst of Il
fierce March storm, off the always per-
up by a sailing vessel, which has not
yet reached a port.
The st. NaZairre was one of the West
India fleet of the French Transatlantic
Steamship company, and employed be-
tween this and West Indian ports. she
cleared from New York for Port au
Prince on March g. On the following
day, according to the story told by
one of the survivors, a leak was dis
covered but ii was not thought to be
sufficiently serious to warrant a re-
turn to port. By the middle of the
second day, however, the leak had in
creased to a dangerous extent and a
portion of the cargo on the port side of
the vessel was damaged by the water,
which had commenced to pour in IN
great quantities. A terrible storm arose
on the night of the second day and
the heavy seas together with the big
leak rendered the escape of the vessel
from shlpwreck an impOssibility. Re
aliZing that the ship was doomed, the
captain ordered the four lifeboats TO
be lowered and into them crowded the
passengers and crew.
The boats were soon swept apart by
the wind and waves. The boat which
was found by the Hilda six days after
the sinking Of the steamship, is the
only one of the four that had been
heard of. Thirty-five persons, it is
said, were crowded into the boat from
which the survivors were taken. One
by one, all but the four rescued men
died from the exposure or hunger, or
were swept into the deep by the waves
that broke over the small boat. The
bodies of those who died in the boat
during the first days of its terrible
voyage were thrown overheard by the
Survivors; but those who withstood the
elements ana managed to live without
food or drink at last became too weak
to rid the boat of it's CHASTITY freight
and were compelled for days to gaze
upon the stiffening cOrpses of their ur-
fortunate companions.
Capt. Berri manager of the West
Indian line of the COmpagnie Generate
TranSatlantique, was one of the thir-
ty-f1ve men who embarked in the larger
of the boats, and upon him devolVed
the command of that frail refuge of
SO many souls. He, Senior Tagado, Mr.
TautS, the third engineer and the ships
doctor, Marie, are the only ones sur
VtVing. They were brought to Perth
Amboy, N. j., by the schooner Hilda,
which picked them up on March IA, as
they were drifting about at sea, with
four of their dead companions in one
of the four small boats Of the lost yes
sci.
Agent Forget of the French line, is
survivors comfortable. Capt Berri,
who is fifty five years old and a trusted
employe of the French line, is under
the care of a doctor. The physician
found his patients throat fearfully
parched and his lungs in the same con-
ditdon. After a careful examination
the doctor said that, with careful treat
ment, Capt. Berri might recover. l.
would be over week, however, be-
fore he could take any solid food. The
captains body is covered with bruises
from being thrown about the boat
while she was on the tempest-lashe7
sea. Agent Forget would say but lit
tie of the wreck today. He seemed
distressed over the catastrophe. H.
was very emphatic in his declaration
that the steamer st. Nazairre, while
an old boat, was perfectly seaworthy
She had been inspected, he said, not
long ago, and was then shown to be
sound.
Il have the greatest sympathy a
man can feel" said Mr. Forget, "fo1
the relatives of those who went down
in the wreck. Particularly do 1 fee
sorry for Senior Tegado. whose wife
and four children were among the lost
From what | hear the crew Of thu
st. Nazairre acted no other parts than
noble ones during the trying time
Capt. Jacenau was an old and faithful
employee of this company. On many
occasions he has shown his bravery
The storm must have been of extraor-
binary intensity to have wrecked the
lifeboats in the manner it did,
Mr.. Forget could not tell when he
would be able to make a formal state
ment Of the loss of the steamship
Statements would first have to be taken
from the four survivors. These would
be attached to the statement of the
ant fnr 81 IL
consul. He in turn would return his
flncing to the home government.
Tonight, through his physician, Capt. Berr
said: The supply of food and water OF
the small boat was exhausted the first da!
and then began the awful struggle in which
81 of the 80 persons in the boat persisted. Mrs
Tegado and her -four children were amons
the first to succumb. The water gave on
and a few biscuits remained. The men were
choking in swallowing the dry stuff and IL
desperation they drank salt water Those wht
commenced TO drink the brine could not stoI
and In few days they became maniacs dyinl
convul, ioas. Others, who resisted the temp
taton to drink salt water, could not stand tn,
deprivation and died from hunger. Those whC
remained had not strength enough TO NOV,
and when the boat picked up Their,
were four of the dead with the living. ! did
everything l could to induce the unfortunate
people to keep from drinking salt water and
10 set themselves tC fight death, but wha
said had little effect
There have been many shipwrecks nea.
WGSI6 LIS CT NdZdlITS went down. III i
but comparatively few years since tn,
Spanish line steamer Viscaya was sunk of
Hatteras by the schooner Cornelius Har
graves resulting in the drowning OF CO per
sons. The Evening Star foundered there il
1866 AMI 254 persons were drowned TIL,
sloop of war Bainbridgc. in a cyclone In 1SC2
went down off the tenpestuous spot, and ;
co;ored cook, WHO was picked up day o.
two afterwards OH bit of wreckage, told O
the loss of every one Of his shipmates TIL
General American bound to this city from
ASrinwail, was wrecked off the cape on Sept
u lsz1 and 80 nersons Ley: she'd a total q