The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-12-01
Disasters Along Coast Fright
full Beyond Description.
No One Knows How the Portland Went to
Her Doom--Bodies and Fragments of
Vessel Scattered Along the Coast
But Few Identified.

/ reached a point near the tip end oE
! Cape Cod Although the exact location
! of where she went to pieces will in
| all probability never be known, it iS
| generally believed here that the wreck
! occurred at a point about 10 or possi-
| bly, Is miles north of Peaked Hill bars,
which would be from as to 50 miIos
! from where she was sighted by the
Maud S.
! The tremendous seas which she musa
have encountered off Cape Ann IN
doubtedly damaged her, and when
| Capt Blanchard saw that he could pro-
coed no farther eastward, 1t was
thought by some that he resolved 10
make for the open sea to avoid the
dangers along the coast.
The time that the Portland was lost
| sight OF is placed at from 9 to 10 O'clociz
! sunday forenoon. The watches found
on the bodies washed ashore had near
| ly all stopped between those hours.
/ The wreck could not have occurred
! between those hours Saturday night in
| the judgment OF all competent authori-
| ties, as in case the wreckage would
| have been washed ashore at some point
i i'll Massachusetts bay. Furthermore,
the foroe Of the storm All 10 O'Clock Sat
urday night was not sufficiently heavy
to cause the vessel to founder.
When the wreck was at first report
ed it was thought the boat had possibly
struck the terrible Peaked Hill bars,
which are known among mariners ev-
| erywhere as the graveyard of the New
/ England coast This theory was quick
ly put to flight. however, by a careful
! investigation. In the first place the
| patrol at the Peaked Hill bars life saw
ing station were on the alert throughout
the great storm, and the men on duty
there saw or heard nothing to Indicate
| that steamer had ben dashed to pieces
/ on the famous shoals.
The fierce gale caused such a tre-
mendous tide that vessel OF the Port
| lands draught would have passed over
! the bars in safety and run ashore on
| the beach. In fact a large schooner in
distress, drawing more water than the
| Portland, paSesd over the most shallow
part of the bars, and did not ground on
them, but brought up on the beach.
Another incident that tends to place
the time Of the wreck on Sunday morn
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 height
of the driving snow storm heard four
sharp whistles from steamer, which
were recognized as q danger signal.
The signal was heard at about Z. 49
o'clock and the crew hastily manned
the boats to give assistance, II possible.
A terrible tempest was raging, and tc
was so thick that 1t was impossible to-
see any distance off shore. The crew
could not locate no steamer, and the
blasts of the whistle were heard only
once. The men are positive that they
heard a steamer whistle, and are now
of the opinion that it came from the
Portland some time before she found
cred for it is generally believed she
went to the bottom and was not wreck
ed by going ON shore.
r4-t.z - ole 1-sfI berH n n
the boat was gradually battered TO
pieces by the mountainous seas, the
upper 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 here, is
taken to indicate that the pilots were
powerIess to control the vessels course
in the bay. and that they were obliged
to lash the wheel. When the hull went
under the upper deck and fittings, gin
ger bread work, etc. probably became
loosened by the action of the seas.
These parts Of the ship, not including
the furnishings, We're practically the
only ones of the vessel that We're strewn
along the outer coast of Cape Cod The
absence of any very large sections on
the coast is accounted for by the the
DRY that the hull itself went to the bot
tom.
The largest piece of wreckage re-
80 feet long, Before the Inflated
steamer took her final plunge, it would
seem that the passengers and crew
adopted all means at their command to
save their lives as is shown by the large
number Of life praserve-s and BETS
found among the first portions of the
wreckage.
The first body from the wreck came
ashore at High Head, which is few
miles further down the outer coast of
the cape from the Peaked Hill station.
1t was found on Monday morning. The
next bodies found We're picked up at
points further south on the same day,
and the life preservers, woodwork, two
or three pieces Of baggage. lard, tobac-
co. paper and other stuff from the car
60 began to pile up on the shore south
of High Head. Little wreckage was
found north of that point. The swift
undertow off shore carried an immense
amount Of debris and many bodies
south as far as Mononomoy beach and
Nantucket sound. The northern limit
Indicated that the wreck was near High
Head.