The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-05-31

Cuts an Immense Hole in the side n,
] the Cruiser-The Steamer Sink-Tbe
Cruiser AT Brooklyn Navy Yard. Crew
of the Rescued.
New York, May 29.-When the Unit
ed States cruiser Columbia, in COM
mand OF Captain Sands, anchored off
Tompkinsville, S. l.. this afternoon II
was seen that she had a large jagged
hole stabbed in her side
abreast OF the mainmast and mined
lately forward of the after barbette
Above the water line the hole extend
ed about ten feet high and six feet
vide. Just how far below the water
line the cruiser was damaged could
not be ascertained and none of the
naval officers would give anv Informal
ton in regard to the accident. AS
soon as the vessel came to anchor. the
captain and crew, t~wenty-one in all.
of the British steamer Foscolia. which
left this port yesterday with a cargo Of
machinery and general merchandise
for Bordeaux, went ashore. Neither
the captain nor any of his crew would
talk when they landed, and left at
once for New York to report to the
agents of the company to which the
vessel belonged. No one was allowed
to go on board the Columbia. but to a
representative of the Associated Press.
who rOwed out to the cruiser. the Off
Ger of the deck made the following
brief statement:
About 7:4O o'clock Yesterday after
noon the British steamship Foscolia.
colllded With our vessel during a
dense fog. We were hen about eight
miles southwest of Fire Island light.
We lowered two life-boats and rescu-
eo the captain and crew, numbering
t~wenty-One all told. We stood by un-
til the Foscolia sank at 8 o'clock this
morning. AS soon as we arrived here,
we sent the rescued men ashore. Fur
ther information in reference to the
accident I cannot give YOU"
About 4 { o'clock one of the navy YARD
tugs steamed alongside the cruiser,
and delivered some messages from
Rear Admira Bunce, commandant at
the a v yard, Brooklyn. A few min
utes later the Columbia headed for the
Brooklyn navy yard, where it is sup
posed she will be drydocked in order
to ascertain the full extent of her in
juries.
Captain j. Evans, of the Foscolia,
after reaching this city, said regard
ing the collision:
THE Foscolia cleared from his port
at noon on Saturday with a general
cargo Of about 1900 tons. All went
we'll until evining, when a heavy fog
dered the lights up n the fog whis-
tie kept blowing. AS the fog grew
denser, the speed of the Foscolia was
reduced to one-half.
About 8 o'clock Lookout Johnson,
on the f~orecastle, and Thompson on
the bridge, reported a steamer on the
port bow. Our lights were burning
brightly and the fog signal was whis-
Ting. I looked up and saw a big
steamer with four unnels dead ahead.
AS the steamers were not 200 yards
apart, I saw that a collision was in
evitable. 1 blew three whistles and
the approaching vessel answered with
one blast. That was the first time I
heard the Columbia's whistle. Instant
ly I ordered u engines full speed
astern.
The vessels came together, howev-
er, with a terrible crash and the bow
of the Foscolia ran upon the cruisers
armOr belt and then cut through her
SPONSOR. They remained locked for
a couple of seconds, but the backing of
the Foscolia engines tore off her bow
as far back as the first water-tight
bulkhead. The wreckage stuck in the
cruisers side above and below h wa
terline and caused the Columbia to
list considerably. Had it not been for
the bullying of the sponsor on the side
of the warship the Foscolia would only
have struck the Columbia a glancing
blow. The bow Of the Foscolia be
came wedged between the sponsor n
hull of the cruiser n the bow of my
$3.50 1o-o~1oSa1y u-raooh0I off
"It was calm at the time Of the col
lision. After backing away I saw that
the injury to the Foscolia was serious
and instantly ordered the lifeboats
launched. They were in the water in
list four minutes, and my fifteen
seamen were ordered into them. l re-
NAMED aboard the wreck with my five
officers. My engineers, after trying
the engines, reported them to be so
badly deranged by the collision as to
be incapable of working the
shin. The Foscolia was leaking bad
ly and the pumps were started.
The crew was sent boa the cruiser
which had q hole in her s~tarboard side
large enough to drive a team n car
riage through. The pumps were Kept
working until 1920 o'clock p. m, but
the Foscolia was getting lower and
lower in the water. Two boats from
the Columbia were standing by me
and Lieutenant Williams asked me at
that hour what I intended doing. 1
replied that / would stand by my ship
until she went down. hen ] ordered
the officers into the lifeboat, and I re-
manned at the main rigging while the
steamship continued to sink. 1 got in
to the small BOAT and remained with
my officers about fifty yards from the
sinking ship. Exactly at 3 O'Clock a.
m. the Foscolia went down head first
again a few minutes Ia
ter and then disappeared forever stern
first. None OF my men were hurt.
The Foscolia was an iron vessel OF
$50 tons net and 1886 tons gross,
launched at Low. England, in 1879, and