The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1898-07-07

and were drowned. 1t was all over i'll
an hour although for some time after
great pieces of wreckage came shooting
up from the bottom. But little attempt
was made to recover the bodies of any of
| the Inflated passengers or crew and the
! battescd hulk at the bottom of the ocean
will probably be forever their tomb.
| Along in the afternoon the steamer
| Gercan was sighted coming from the
westward and a few hours aftcrward
| the CrOmartyShre was taken in tow and
arrived here this morning.
MRS. LACASSrS STORY.
| Strangely Mr.. Lacassi is the only man
of the saloon cabin passengers who sur
wives while his wife is the only woman
of 200 not only Of the first saloon but Of
the whole ship who escaped. Mrs. La
cassi was aroused from her berth by her
| husband. who was on deck ut the time
! of the collision She threw about her
| the first articles of clothing she could
secure. and she reached the deck of the
listing steamship to find herself one Of
| many frantic and half-dresSed people
| who con@regated about the boats.
| She saw the captain of the steamer
on the bridge and some of the officers at
| other points endeav0ring to direct the
| efforts of the crew to launch the boats.
| There was little response TO the orders
| of officers The crew seemed paralyZed.
MATTERS were quiet, and there was no
| panic at first. Golden moments were
slipping away and the decks were becom-
| ing more and more crowded with fright
| enGd people emerging from cabins and
| cOmpaniOnWayS.
The steamer was listing and settling.
| and then Il wild fear seized on the
! throng. and the people lost their reason
and really went mad.
| Mrs. LacaSSi was separated from her
| husband in the scramble. and the steam
! er listed so badly she slid down the de-
| clivity of the deck and into the water.
| She had taken the precaution, ut her
| husbands direction TO put on life belt
| before leaving her stateroOm and shortly
after being thrown into the sea was
seized by the arm and drawn up the life
| line. Her savior was her husband. \
| moment later the Inflated steamer diSap-
! peared and n whirlpool encircled the
| spot where the noble craft had been.
| Everybody around the vortex was
| drawn into it. The water rushed
around. faster and faster, and the unfor-
| tunates disappeared in twos and threcs
win deSpalrlng cries.
Mrs. Lacassi had been on the edge cf
| the maelstrom but something striking
| her threw her outside the dangerous
| whirlpool and the next she knew she was
on the life raft. A boat containing 10
| women was capsiZed and all went down
| III the whirlpool. Some of the women
were trying to cut the ropes when the
| steamer careened deeper and capsizcd
| the boat.
Mrs. Lacassi says that moment after
| tho steamer was engulfed men. women
and children rose on every side of the
whirlpool and the sight of the faces and
the arms and the sound of the shricks
| were so terrible that she will remember
| them TO her dying day.
THE CROMARTYSHIRE'S LOG
The log of the Cromartyshire. signed
by captain Henderson, is as follows:
ON July 4th, at ) a. m.. dense fog.
| position OF ship sixty miles south of
Sable Island. ship by wind on the port
tack heading about W.N.-W.. though
| under reduced canvas going about four
or five knots per hour. Our fog horn
was kept going regularly every minute
At that time heard ii steamers whistle
on our weatherSide or port beam. which
seemed to be nearing very fast. We blew
| norm ana were answered by steamers
| whistle. when all of sudden she loom
ed through the fog on our port dow and
| crashed INTO us, going at terrific speed
Our foretopmaSt and main t0ngallant-
mast came down. bringing with it wards
| ana everything attached. | Immediately
/ ordered the boats and went to examine
| the damage. | found that our bows Wer,.
completely cut off and that the plates
were twisted into every conceivable
| shape. The other shin disapneared
| through the fog. However, our shin was
| floating on her collision bulkhead. so
there seemed no immediate danger of
| her sinking. We set to work Immediate
| ~ to clear the wreckage and also shin
our starboard anchor which was hang
| ing over the starboard bow and in dam
ger of punching holes in the bow. We
heard steamer blowing her whistle on
coming back and we answered with ON
toghorn. The steamer then threw up a
| rocket and fired IL shot. We also threw
up some rockets and fired several shots.
but we neither saw nor heard ANYTHING
more of the steamer"
WOMEN DROWNED LIKE RATS.
Someof the scenes enacted on board
LaBourgogne just afterthe collision were
terrible TO witness. Men fought for DO |
sitions in the boats like raving maniacs, |
women were forced back from the boats
and trampled by men who made self |
preservation their first object On board |
were II large number of the lower class |
Of Italians and other foreigners. who. in |
their frenzy. stopped at nothing that |
promised safety for themselves. In n |
boat was party of forty women. but so |
great was the panic that not hand was |
raised to assist in its launching. The oc-
cupants. so nearly saved, were drowned |
like rats when the ship. with an awful |
Missing sound, went down. SO desperate
was the situation that an Italian pas
senger drew his knife and made direct |
at one who. like himself. was endeavor-
ing to reach the boats. Immediately his
action was initiated in every direction.
Knives were tlourished and used with
effect, women and children were driven /
back to inevitable death at the point of
weapons, the owners of which were eX-
perts in their use. According to stories
of survivors. women were stabbed like
so many sheep.
The scene on the water was even