New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-11-09
NAY SAVE THEMARIA TERESA
rur CRUISER BELIEVED TO BE ASHORE
At CAT ISLAND

xVr DEPARTMENT ORDERS TIE VULCAN AND
TIN POTOMAC TO co N SEARCH OF HER.
rsehinston NOV. S. message received at
.hs Navy Department to-day from Captain
, ,.rowninshield. Chief OF the Navigation Bureau.
uho IS in Now-York. called attention 20 the re-
.o-t mat the Spanish cruiser Maria Teresa had
h.en seen of Cat Island. Captain Crownin
.hie,d expressed his belief in the accuracy Of
che report. and suggested To the Department
nat The rcpair-ship Vulcan. now at Norfolk be
cont II once 20 make search for the derect
tn. Department acted at once on the Slgges-
,i,o 4 telegram was sent to the commandant
= the Norfolk Navy Yard. directing him 20
mace tho VGlcan in command OF Captain Nc
rala. the captain Of the yard and send her with
81 dispatch 10 look for the Maria Teresa. \
..mvsr order Was cabied TO Captain Converse
Of Guantanamo. directing him 20 send the big
urccking tug Potomac from that place north
ward on tin same quest she goes in charge Of
commander J. r. Craven. and the Department
believes she VIII be in the neighborhood Of Cat
Island within thirtysix hours.
The Vulcan one of the vessels which was
towing the Maria Teresa when she was sup
rosed 90 have foundered The Department be
,iaves she will reach the scene Of the wreck
within for,y-eight hours after leaving Norfolk
"a, Island is about thirty miles southwest OF
,he spot where the Teresa was last seen. and it
,s said at the Department If the vessel did not
founder within few hours after having been
,ut adrift she would almost certainly have
brought up the shoal beach on! Cat Island.
,or the wind and tide set directly on that beach.
y So the location is much more favorable for
saving the ship than the position occupied by
4Ax~-
cred with rocks and the wreckers worked at
great disadvantage Captain McCa!la was Sc
l.ced for the task because Of his great energy
srd ability for this class OF work. and the Off
GERS believe that II any man can bring the Maria
Teresa into port he can.
T., the belief Of naval constructors that the
Teresa took water aboard almost altogether
through the decks and not through the hull
would appear from the first accounts of the loss
Of the ship. These decks were rude temporary
constructions. and We're entirely unsuitable for
rough weather The fact that the reports indi-
cate that the ship settled by the head ana that
water ran into the coal bunkers and thence into
the frerOoms goes to bear out the theory of the
constructors. 1t also tends to give color to the
report that the ship may not have fOundered at
once but have drifted ashore on Cat Island II
Is presumed that the wreckinG company which
had the vessel in hand will take immediate steps
large salvage which was almost within its
grasp when the ship was cast off.
Norfolk Va, Nov. S-The Merritt Wreckng
Company has received information that the
Maria Teresa is ashore at Cat Island. Captain
Chittenden will sail with the steamer Merritt at
once The telegram came from Captain Mer-
r!ft. at Newly ork and read about follows:
Teresa ashore Cat Island. Hold Merritt with
crew and apparatus. also Captain Chittenden."
t1aA Xarl
this afternoon, but that order was revoked and
preparations are now making to start for Cat
Island.
Nassau. y. p. Nov. S-News has just been
received here that a steamer is ashore on the
northeast Part Of Cat Island She is painted
black. is deserted. has two tunnels, two masts
and no deckhouses. Her name is not known