The age-herald., 1898-02-13
HEROIC RESCUE OF THE SHIPWRECKED
 @ land-AmeFican Line Steamer With
 ii0 Passengers STRUCK SUBMERGED WRECK Which Tore a Great Hole in the Bot
 tom of the Ship. THE ST. LOUIS GOOD SAMARITAN Which Came in Time to Rescue All On Board Thomas B. Seagfave, the Brave First = Officer, Was the Real Hero.
STRUCK SUBMERGED WRECK
THE ST. LOUIS GOOD SAMARITAN

New York; Feb. 12.-The American Line yteamer St. Louis, Capt. Randle, which arr rived here today from Southampton, re- ports the loss at sea of the Holland American line steamer yeendam, Capt Stenger, from Rotterdam for New York. The passengerS and the crew of the yeen- dam were saved by the St Louis. - At quarantine Capt. Stenger of the Veen- dam reported as follows:
 '.The Veendam left Rotterdam Feb. with a general cargo, cabin, HIS steerage passengers and 85 crew, bound for New York. Had strong northwest gales and high west and west-northwest seas Feb. 6, at 5:17 D. m., ships time, being in lati- tude 49:35 N, longitude 20:01 w., the steam CT struck a submerged wreckage, which probably tore hole in the ships bottom and broke her propeller shaft. We found that our ship was making considerable water. We immediately set all pumps to work, but notwithstanding this the water gained on us In the meantime, all our boats were made ready in order, If neces- sary, to leave the ship at a moments mo- by the stern. At 1:30 a. m., we observed the mast headlights of a large steamer bearing about east by south from us.
 Signals of Distress
 'We made signals of distress, on which the vessel bore down on us. We then de- cided for the safety of the passengers and crew to abandon the ship. The vessel proved to be the St. Louis of the American line, bound from Southampton to New York. We hailed her and reported that our ship was sinking and that we wished to be taken off. At 1:43 a. m. we com- menced to transfer our passengers and crew. using three boats of the St. Louis ana one of ours. Our men were kept at the pumps.
 "At 4:53 o'clock in the morning every- body had been transferred to the St Louis When the last boat left the Veendam was laboring very heavily and sinking rapidly by the stern. The transfer of the passen- gers and crew took. notwithstanding the great difficulties and high seas running, three hours and ten minutes, and was ac- complished without accident.
 "As the wreck was a dangerous obstruc- tion to navigation, we decided to set her on fire, which was done. .a.s
 "On board the St. Louis we were warmly received and the captain and his officers did everything possible for our comfort. We take this opportunity to express our gratitude also in the name of the passen- gers of the Veendam.'
 The captain of the St. Louis said that Captain Stenger and his officers main tained perfect discipline their ship and very ably assisted in disernbarking the pas sengers.
 Resolutions of Thanks
 The passengers of the St. Louis passed resolutions commenting the gallant ser- vice, and splendid seamanship displayed by the officers and crew of the St. Louis in the rescue of the Veendam's passengers and crew.
 The Veendam was formerly the White Star steamer Baltic. She was built at Bel fast, Ireland, by Harland and Wolff in 1876. She was a four masted barl1entine rigged screw steamer. She registered 4,036 gross and 2,767 net tons and was 416 feet long. Al feet beam and 319 feet deep.
 The St. Louis was very slow in making the dock owing to the dense fog today. A great crowd awaited her arrival. When at