The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-02-27
left Her on Feb. l8 to Seek
Assistance.
LINER HELPLESS, BUT SAFE
uor Shaft Broken and She Was
Riding at Anchor Then.

,u,,. I'm an Open Hoat-Au Ton Frost.
ANITA, and Exhausted = Ia Chnnpagus
u,o,c Her Tail SMART on Feb. IL, and Wn'
Anchored M the n,nks when the Boat
n u.r-.S.istancc to He sent Mt Once.
,Aoot's crew from La Champagne, the overdue
French liner. was landed In New YORK yester'
49, and brought word that La Champagne,
which sailed from Hnvrc on Feb. IL for this
,ort anchored in forty fathoms off the Banks
,h,u, 100 miles south OF Cape Race. New
,ounaland. on the afternoon OF Feb. IL, with a
lmken tail shaft. This Is an irreparable acct
srp, when, as was the case with the Cham
,sune. the fracture occurs In the storm tube.
The news Of the French liners m!shap was
h,,uvbt here BY the Holland America steam
,bp Rotterdam, which picked up at l o'clock
last Thursday afternoon Third Officer George
l'psworth and a crew OF nine men who had been
,.pt out in one of tho Champagne's lifeboats to
,,ek succor for the Frenchmon. Third Officer
r',sycrth, who In the nomenclature OF the
French limo has the tito OF Thru Lieutenant,
and his volunteer crew were badly frostbitten
and much exhausted from a terrible experience
Of six days in the open boat. Cnsworth Is not a
volatile Frcnchman. He more resembles an
English sailor, is blue eyed, rcd checked, and OF
calm demeanor. He told the story Of his ships
nissdyenture and the rough experience OF his
boats crew and himself after the Rotterdam
tied up at her dock in Hoboken last night.
SHIPS SHAFT
La Champagne was proceeding Mt tho rate of
about seventeen knots an hour through q light
fog at 5 o'clock on the afternoon OF Feb. II.
when every soul aboard ship was startled by q
tremendous shock. The ship trembled as
Il she had taken ground. Instantly the
engines began 10 race. Tho engineers
were at their posts and stopped them
within FIVE seconds after the first trembling of
the ship. Nearly all the passengers were greatly
frightened, and ran from the saloon and from
their staterooms out on the decks. There was
almost q panic In the steeragc.
The ship lost way Immediately and fell into
The trough of a pretty rough sea. The officers
went among the passengers and Gained them.
There was a consultation between Capt. VAL
liant, his officers, and the chief engineer after
some Of the assistant engineers had a~scertained
that the tail shaft WAS broken. The chief
Engineer and his assistants made what exami-
nation they could, which was limited because OF
VI "a NtulC my opChI
nearly a day trying TO make repairs. Mean.
while the shin lay in forty fathoms OF water,
having dropped anchor within five minutes
after the accident.
THE CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS.
The chief engineer declared that repairing
was out OF the question, and the Captain de-
eoed TO call for volunteers to man a lifeboat
anu go south in search OF q liner to take off
Tue vessels passengers or q freighter to
low her into port. Third Lieut.. Uns-
worth and nine men stepped from the
mustered ranks. The fog had grown thicker
around the liner. and all the ships bells were
Changing In mnttled discori, while her whistles
screamed and her hoarse syrcn walled for help.
Third Officer Unsworth and his men had the
lieooat ready at 10 o'clock on the morning g of the
18th, and at noon she had provisions and water
op Nard to last her fifteen days. She was swung
oul from tho davits and lowered at about l
O'CLOCK The passengers were very much In.
crested In the operation. They swarmed
" Tie rails. and rs tho lifeboat pulled
O' IRON the side OF the ship they
s"' Inc help'scekers of with a mighty
rlcer' After getting clear Of the ship
,"s"o'th set two lateen sails on the two masts
y. 'ne "pfoot lifeboat and headed southwark
O'ofe a light northerly wind.
HEARD A STEAMSHIP CLOSE BY,
"'aoout D O'Clock In the afternoon of tho day
,peE 'ct the ship Unsworth and his mon ran
.4'o htaNy fog. They heard the whistles OF a
steamship close by. They had provided them
ss''cA win CoSton lights and rockets, but these
e useless except st night. All they could do
"a'trSct attention was TO make a great noise.
"nIeh lhey did. All hands stood IN In thu bont
'he shouted and yelled until the sound NJ tho
u-'''o was inaudible. They kept steering To
~ southwark until the 10th,
Atrightful gale from the north that amt N.
M '"o"e'er down close TO zero sot In on
40, afternoon OF the 18th. 1t dashed up n
oyo, Wv creS's OF which frequently broke
nm .ue Rnnwale. As the water foil
,b,i. ,'''ol 'he men It froze. In order to keep
boz" pooo IN circulation, and, incidentally, to
u, 'n 'o"t from swapping. Officer Unsworth
> Tue men to hniling.
hATrIlNG WITH A HURRICANE.
" WIND shifted from north 10 nortbeast and
bo, Wv" hurricane force for two days. The
y. '''ppca a good deal OF water until Inns.
n. v'.4' "Howa activity itself, and was therefore
n'p"'c as badly frostbItten as his shipmntes.
H.. pouring oil from a cup over the bow,
Ana !. "n" hands of the men began to swell
vc,,t ~ uecaine somewhat dispirited. Uns.
So,s. 'T,o' 10 cheer them up with bopeful
t,o.s ne said they were in the teamsbi
and tsr" mat a liner would surely pass soon
VI "Ee them aboard.
""NNLLEp To a iINER IN VAIN,
min h Inr J, on the 2lst. while the gale was
The E", Ellsworth md his weary men saw 10
tpo..N ''"'a't the lights OF n liner. The
10 n. 'hH s'anch lifcboat was headed
,,,d 'outhwarG, and when within 200
IA, IT, 'ho steamships course Unswor,h he.
q. tt'e"''"E 'oSton signals and sent two rock.
ve,, w across the niEht. Six Coston lights
VIII u, h',"'a In all. Tie Frenchmen wonderod
~ ne liner did not stop.
p,,a''th says that he is sure that her com.
np., h., VI 'n' oficcr in charge Of the bridge
lpb, ''e seen tho lifc'oat's signals, ns The
The ""l Cloudy. They were so clos, IN
opc which WAS not n very Iarg.
tr,rm. "'I They could count Tho Iicht.
,.. h'T one line Of ports. When thr
Eoi,, '"'' me steamship was npnarcptI,.
:, ','n'on them they nil arose in the
ibsI h' '"ll.ed as rhry we're, ana voIl.d ~
''" '"'F Tell exhausted on the
b., ,nc 22d the weather was cleor m, co,,
The nn., was n heavy, c~rcstloss sen. the rcIic ~
~ as'ero the preceding days. After tho
ward ~, = amer had vanished 70 the west.
'"' men became worry dov, wy