The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-12-01
SWALLOWED BY THE SEA
The Portland Went Down on
High Head.
NOT A PERSON ESCAPED
Over Hundred People Were On the M
Fstsd vssssl. but the Story OF the
Disaster VIII Nsvsr H Told.
eixtesu Bodies Rscovsrod.

over 100 souls. not one survived. and
the story of the disaster will never be
told. Sixteen bodies have come ashore
and II IL not likely that many more
will be recovered.
washed ashore on the outside coast of
Identified: At Orleans: Body Of z.
Dudley Freeman of Yarmouth. Me-.
a prominent attorney and member Of
the governors council. George w. De-
laney. % years Of age. Boston. Mrs.
c. M. Mitchell Of North Easton.
At Wellfieet: George Graham. colored
porter of the Portland.
On Nauset Beach: Body Of q man
believed to be John Walter, second en-
gineer of the Portland.
Unknown: At Provincetown: Body
Of woman about SO years Of age. No
ments Of underwear. Body Of an un-
known colored man.
At Orleans: Body of a woman As or
so years old. The body was devoid OF
clothing when picked up on Nauset
Beach by the Nauset life saving crew.
Body of girl 20 years old. The body
was clad in underclothing.
Body of a mulatto girl 20 years OF
age. evidently one Of the Mattresses Of
the Portland.
Body of q woman about Is years of
age. A gold watch was found on this
body with the monogram J. @. e. en-
graved on the case. The body may be
that of Mrs. Jennie Edmunds of Bos-
ton.
Body of a woman so to IS years. of
age. The face Is badly disfigured and
the body was almost entirely nude.
The only means Of Identification is a
bloodstone ring with the initials L. w.
FOL Ixrf "a
Another white girl about 20 years
old, fully dressed. also the body of a
colored waiter about 25 years OF age,
also the body Of a boy almost naked.
The descriptions Of three bodies at
Eastman could not be obtained here
tonight.
The exact number of persons who
were 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. r. WILL
Jams of Boston. agent OF the Portland
Steamship company. has placed the to-
tai number of persons on the steamer
at 100, or possibly los. This estimate,
however. is generally regarded as rath-
er small 1t has been stated that, the
number was as high as 155. but Mr..
Williams denies that so many sailed on
the Portland. II Is probable that 120,
including passengers and crew, Is near
the correct number.
Nearly every sea captain and mari
ner on the cape. on being asked for an
opinion, states that every one on board
undoubtedly was lost. One feature of
the disaster Is the absence Of any frag-
ments Of a boat or a life raft among
the mass of wreckage from the Port
land which has been washed ashore.
Il -
RATS were carried far out to sea and
were not blown anywhere near the
coast. Old mariners say they cannot
understand why the steamer, which
about 3 o'clock Saturday night Just be-
fore the gale broke in its full fury was
sighted between Thatcher's island and
Eastern Point Cape Ann by the
schooner Maud s., did not put into
Gloucester harbor when 1t was appar-
ent from the fall of the barometer that
a violent northeaster was approaching.
Why the Portland ever left Boston at
all Saturday night is what puzzles ma
rine men on Cape Cod.
The crew Of the Race Point life saw
ing station. which is located at the tip
Of Cape Cod, report that on Sunday
morning during the height Of the storm
they heard four sharp whistles from a
steamer. which was recognized as a
danger signal. The signal was heard
~ -
hastily manned the boats TO give as
sistance. II possible. The-weather was
30 thick that II was Impossible to see
any distance on shere. The crew could
locate no steamer and the blast of a
whistle was heard only once. The men
are now Of the opinion that 1t came
from the Portland some time before
she foundered. for IL is GENERALLY be-
lieved that she went to the bottom and
was not wrecked by going on shore.
The opinion IL also general here that
the boat was gradually battered to
pieces by the mountainous sea. the up
per fittings being carried away until
the water began to pour into her. The
fact that her wheel was found with
ropes attached on the Orleans shore, Is
taken to indicate that the pilots were
powerless to control the vessels course
In the bay and that they were Obliged
to lash the wheel.
ton OF wreckage from the Portland
on the coast In accounted for by the
theory that the hull itself went to the
bottom. The largest piece OF wreckage
reported up to sunset was a piece about
30 feet long. Before the iII-fated
steamer took her final plunge the pas
sengers and crew, II would seem.
adopted all means at their command
to save their lives. as shown by the
large number of life preservers and
belts found among the first portions OF
the wreckaee. The first body from the
wreck came ashore at High Head.
which is a few miles further down the
outer coast OF the cape from the
Peaked Hill station. The next bodies
found were picked up at points further
south on the same day and the life
preservers. wood work. two or three
pieces Of baggage. lard. tobacco paper
and other stun from the cargo began to
pile up on the shore south of High
Head
Little wreckage was found north OF
that point. The swift undertow of the
shore carried an immense amount OF
dehris and many bodies south as far