The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1898-12-01
THE PORTLAND WRECK.
Not a Soul Rescued From the Ill
Fated Passenger Steamer,
ALL SWALLOWED UP BY THE SEA.
1t Is Now Definitely Determined That
the Catastrophe Occurred on sunday
Forenoon-sixteen Bodies of Victims
have Been Washed Ashore.

the Catastrophe Occurred on sunday
Forenoon-sixteen Bodies of Victims
have Been Washed Ashore.
Provincetown, Mass. Dec. 1.-The
steamship Portland, plying between
Boston and Portland, was swallowed
by the sea in last Sundays storm off
High Head. OF all the ships company
of over 100 souls not one survives, and
the story of the disaster will never be
told. Sixteen bodies have came ashore,
and it is not likely that many more
will be recovered.
The exact number of persons who
We're carried away from Boston by the
Portland will probably never be known,
as no list of passengers was retained
on shore when the vessel left last Sat
urday. Many estimates of the number
on board have been made, but the esti-
mates have seldom agreed. c. f. Will
Jams, Boston agent of the Portland
Steamship company, places the total
number Of persons on the steamer at
100, or possibly 1O5. This estimate,
however, is generally regarded as
rather small. 1t is probable that 12O,
including the passengers and crew, is
nearer the correct number.
Nearly every sea captain and mariner
on the cape, on being asked for an
opinion, states that every one on board
was undoubtedly lost. One feature Of
the disaster is the absence of any
fragments of a lifeboat or life raft
among the varied mass of wreckage Of
the Portland which has been washed
ashore during the last three days along
the beach from High Head station to
Chatham.
One theory is that the boats and life
RATS were carried far out to sea and
were not blown anywhere near this
coast. Old mariners say they cannot
| understand why the steamer, which
about 9 o'clock Saturday night, just
before the gale broke in it's full force,
was sighted between Thatcher's ISL
and and Eastern Point, Cape Ann, by
the schooner Maud S, did not put into
Gloucester harbOr when it was ap-
parent from the fall of the barometer
that a violent northeaster was ap-
preaching. Why the Portland ever left
Boston at all Saturday night is what
puzzles marine men on Cape Cod.
1t was off Thatcher's Island that the
Portland was last reported before she
went to her doom. There are many
theories offered in explanation of how
| the vessel reached a point near the tip
! end of Cape Cod Although the exact
location of where she went to pieces
| will probably never be known, 1t is
| generally believed here that the wreck
occurred at a point ten or possibly Ii
miles north of Peaked Hill bars, which
would be from 45 to so miles from
where she was sighted by the Maud S
| The tremendous seas which she mus
! of
1 doubtedly damaged her. and when Cap
! tain Blanchard saw that he could pro-
| ceed no further eastward it wac
! thought by some that he resolved to
make for the open sea to avoid the
| dangers along the coast.
The time that the Portland was lost
l is placed at from to 10 o'clock Sun
day forenoon. The watches found on
! the bodies washed ashore had nearly
I all stopped between those hours. The
! wreck could not have occurred between
those hours Saturday night, in the
| judgment Of all competent authorities,
as in that case the wreckaEe would
have been washed ashore at points in
| Massachusetts bay. Furthermore, the
| force of the storm at 10 o'clock Sat
urday night was not sufficiently heavy
to cause the vessel to founder.
Another incident that tends to place
| the time of the wreck on Sunday morn
4 ing was reported by the crew of the
| Race Point life saving station. Race
Point forms the tip of Cape Cod. The
life saving crew there during the hegh
! of the storm heard four sharp whistles
| from a steamer, which was recognized
| as a danger signal. The signal wa
| heard at about 7:45 o'clock, and tn
! crew hastily manned the boats to Civ
| assistance If possible. A terrible tenn
| pest was raging, and 1t was so thic
1 that it was impossible to see any dis
| tance off shore. The crew could 10
| cate no steamer, and the blasts of tn
whistle were heard only once. The mel
are of the opinion that the whistle
| came from the Portland some time be
! fore she foundered, for it is general!
| believed she went to the bottom ant
was not wrecked by going on shore.
The opinion is also general here tina
the boat was gradually battered t.
4 pieces by the mountainous seas, tn
upper fittings being carried away unit
4 the water began to pour into her. TIL
| fact that her wheel was found wit
| ropes attached on the Orleans shor
/ is taken to indicate that the pilot
4 were powerless to control the vessel
| course in the bay, and that they wer
| obliged to lash the wheel.
| When the hull went under the uppe
deck and fittings were looseued b.
the action of the seas. This part o
the ship, not including the furnishings
were practically the only ones of tn
| vessel that were strewn along the quite
coast of Cape Cod. The absence of an
! very large sections on the coast is ac
| counted for by the theory that the hui
| itself went to the bottom. The larges
| piece of wreckage reported was a piec
| about 30 feet long. Before the i'll fate
steamer too her final plunge the pas
!. sengers and crew, it would seen
adopted all means at their command t
d save their lives, as is shown by tn
large number of life preservers an
belts found among the first portion
of the wreckage.
L The first body from the wreck cam
, ashore at High Head, which is a fe'
miles further down the outer coast {
s the cape from the Peaked Hin station
1t was found on Monday morning. tt
next bodies found were picked up
n points further south on the same da
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