The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-07-07

| steamer struck several hundred who
perished would have been saved. only
one of the port boats, a small one, was
launched. That was the boat the Sec
ond purser escaped in. Surich saw one
boat leave the Bourgogne with only a
few people in 1t.
| Among the survivors are nine Assyr-
ians and Armenians. There were 75
Assyrians in the party when it left New
York. All but eight persisted. one of
the eight lost his wife and two brothers
and other relatives. Another lost two
daughters. only one of the Is Armen-
ians survives.
The one surviving Armenian tells a
sorrowful tale of the drowning of an
| Armenian priest and his family. who
had got into boat with some 30 other
| people. When the end came and the
| boat was abandoned to it's fate by the
| crew who had made an effort to launch
| 1t, the priest stood up, and with up
| lifted hands. prayed aloud. There are
no survivors who saved more than
| enough clothing to cover their naked
ness. Nearly all lost their savings, and
home to European lands.
Patrick McKeown says he heard of
one woman having her throat cut and
| being thrown out of the boat to tighten
| ii. He could not confirm it,
Manned by ssvages.
August Piyrgi was eager to give your
| correspondent an account of his ex-
perience. lie was in the water about
half an hour and attempted to get into
a boat. He was seized when he man
aged TO get half i'm and thrown back
| into the water. Again he tried to enter
the boat, but the savages who manned
| ii were determined to keep him out.
He managed at last to get in and 10
stay in. Clinging to the life line of a
| boat not far away he saw his mother,
| and, as If his trials were not enough
| he was forced to watch a man shove
| her into the ocean with an oar. She
never rose. He said the man was saved
and he was almost sure he could recog-
nize him.
Fred Niffler. a Swiss. was the most
jovial and contented of all the unfor-
tunate passengers. Hc lost all his
money and clothes with the exception
of a pair of pants and a shirt, but he
laughed now and again and cursed the
estness Niffler got into a lifeboat with
some others and remained there until
he reached the water, when he thought
ii was time TO leave. None of the sail
ors ever attempted TO let the boat loose.
He swan for long time before he was
picked up. He saw an Englishman
attempt to get into boat, but the mon
in the boat, who were sailors of La
Bourgogne hit him over the head with
the butt end of an oar. He fell back
and sank.
Charles Liobra, Frenchman. ex-
pressed himself as thoroughly ashamed
of his countrymens conduct. This man
is one of the most unfortunate. He had
his two motherless boys. and Z years
old. with him. He put them on boat,
but was prevented from entering him
self. He did not get i'm and the boat
went down with the ship, but he came
to the surface and at once looked for
the boat with his boys. They were no.
where to be seen, and he mourns them
as lost. He hoated long time before
a boat came along. He tried to get in
but was assaulted with oars and boat
hooks. Mr.. Liobra showed the corre-
spondent his arms and body. Hir arms
are black and blue and his body is ter
ribly bruised from the blows he re-
ceived After this boat went off he was
in the water eight hours.
Patrick McKeown is an intelligent
young Irishman from Wilmington, Del
He is indignant at the brutal treat
ment. He was more fortunate than
most of his fellow passengers and got
on a raft when the Bourgogne was
sinking One of the worst sights, he
said, he ever saw, was the murder of
an American, with whom he had be-
come acquainted on board the steamer.
This man, whose name he cannot re-
call, was from Philadelphia, where he |
has a wife and family. The Philadel- |
phian was trying to get on a raft not |
far distant from the one McKeown was |
on. A French sailor grabbed half an |
oar and beat him over the forehead.
Charles Duttweiler. a German. man |
aged, by an interpreter. to tell his story. |
II is this: He got in a boat which was |
tied fast to the ship and stayed In IT |
until he saw IL was certain death TO re- |
main longer. He jumped. but was car
ried down in the whirlpool made by |
the sinking steamer. He was in the |
water half an hour when a boat came |
along within reach and he attempted TO |
enter, but the wretches i'm IL showed him |
off with boat hooks. His left Is badly |
cut by the jabs he received. He saw |
women showed away from boats with |
oars and boat hooks when clinging TO |
the lifellnes Of the RATS and lifeboats. |
He also says the crew assaulted many |
passengers with any implement that |
came handy. and If no instruments were |
To be had punched the women into the |
water with their fists.
Threw His Mother In.
one of the most important witnesses |
will be John Burgi. who got into a boat |
with his mother before the ship sank. |
The sailors in the boat held him and /
threw his poor old mother into the /
water. The sailors threw him out, beat 4
him with oars and showed him under I
the boat He was In the water nine /
hours before he was saved by a boat /
from the Cromartyshire.
Gustav CrimauN. a French Uassen- |
ger. corroborated the other passengers |
in their statements about the crew /
They did not attempt TO cut any boats /
loose except those which they needed /
themselves He saw women showed /
away from boats with oars. and not /
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