The record-union., 1898-05-30
The Latter Sank, but Her Crew
We're ALI Rescued.
The Bow Of the FOsCOIia Was Torn Off and
Stuck Fast in the Hole and
The Columbia Steamed to
New York.

NEW YORK, May Z9.-Nhen the
United States cruiser Columbia. in
command of Captain Sands, anchored
loft Tompkinsville, Staten Island, this
afternoon it was seen that she had a
large jagged hole stove in her star
board side abreast the mast and imme-
diately forward of the after barbette.
Above the water line the hole extended
about ten feet high and six feet wide.
Just how far below the water line the
cruiser was damaged could not be as
certained, and none of the naval Off
GERS would give any information in re-
gard to the accident. AS soon as the
vessel came to anchor the Captain and
crew, twenty-one in all, of the British
steamer FOscolia, which left this port
yesterday with a cargo of machinery
and general merchandise for Bordeaux.
went ashore. Neither the Captain nor
any of the British crew would talk, and
left at once for New York and to report
the accident to their agents. No one
was allowed to go on board the Column
bia, but to a reporter of the Associated
Press, who rowed out to the cruiser, the
officers of the deck made the following
brief statement:
About 40 a. m. the British ship
F'oscolia, in command of Captain John
Evans, collided with our vessel during
dense fog. We were then about eight
miles southwest of Fire Island We
lowered two lifeboats and rescued the
Cfantair a i'm
one all told. We stood by until the Fos-
cola sank at 3 o'clock this morning.
As soon as we arrived here we sent the
rescued men ashore" Further infor-
nation in reference to the accident
could not be obtained.
About o'clock one of the navy yard
tugs steamed alongside the cruiser and
delivered some messages from Admiral
Bunce, commander of the navy yard
at Brooklyn. few minutes later the
Columbia headed for the Brooklyn yard,
where it is supposed she will be dry
docked and the extent of her injuries
ascertained.
Captain j. Evans of the Foscoha. af-
ter reaching here, said regarding the
collision: The Foscolia cleared from
this port at noon on Saturday with a
general cargo of about 2,200 tons All
went well until evening, when a heavy
fog came in. l was on the bridge and
ordered the lights up and the fog whis-
tie kept going. AS the fog grew denser
the speed of the vessel was reduced
One-half
About s o'clock the lookouts. John
son, on the foreCastle, and Thompson,
on the bridge, reported a steamer on
the port bow. Our lights were burning
bPiObtlU nd "a cic al
Ting. 1 looked up and saw big steamer
with four tunnels dead ahead AS the
steamers were not 200 yards apart [
saw that a collision was inevitable l
blew three whistles and the approach
ing vessel answered with one blast.
That was the first time l heard the CO.
lumbia's whistle. Instantly / ordered
our engines full speed astern. The yes
sells came together, however, with a
terrible crash, and the bow of the Fos-
cola ran up on the cruisers armored
belt and then cut through her sponsons
They remained locked for a couple Of
seconds, but the backing of the Fos-
| colia's engine tore her bow off as far
back as the first water-tight bulkhead
The wreckage stuck in the cruisers side
above and below the water line and
caused the Columbia to list considera-
| bly,. Had it not been for the bulging
of the sponsor from the side of the war
! ship, the FoscOlia would only have
struck the Columbia a glancing blow
The bow of the Foscolia became wedged
between the sponsor and the hull of the
cruiser, and the bow of my boat was
completely wrenched off.
| 1T was dead calm at the time of the
| collision After backing away 1 saw
| that the injury to the Foscolia was
serious, and instantly ordered the life
boats launched. They were in the
water in just four minutes, and my
crew were ordered into them. / re-
manned aboard the wreck with my five
officers. My engineers, after trying the
engines, reported them to be so badly
damaged by the collision as to be
incapable of working the ship The
Foscolia was leaking badly, and the
pumps were started. The crew were
sent aboard the cruiser, which had a
| hole in her starboard side large enough
to drive a team and carriage through.
The pumps were kept working until
| 1920 D. M, but the Foscolia was get
ting lower and lower in the water Two
boats from the Columbia were standing
by me. and Lieutenant Williams asked
me at that hour what / intended doing.
1 replied that I would stand by the
ship until she went down. Then l or
dered the officers into the lifeboat and
| -<f,o.x,+f~,,,al ~ cax-o, ~ roorraN