The sun., 1898-02-07
MISHAPS UPON THE ROMER.
PILOT BohT SUNK NEAR WHERE
THE TWO LINERS GROUNDED.

the nettom-Hor Crew Saved Themselves
Kaiser vyiIheiua m. Biamed puer Pilot and
Got Ansther-La BretaGne Aground Twice.
The loss of pilot boat, the James Stafford.
No. 1s, on the Dry Romer, was one Of the several
things that happened in the fog down the bay
on Saturday night. The North German Lloyd
steamship Kaiser Wilhelm ii. and the French
liner La Bretagne. which grounded on the tail of
the Romer in the mist on Saturday afternoon
while bound out, the German for Genoa and the
Frenchman for Hsvre, resumed their voyage
yesterday morning apparently none the worse
for their misadventure.
The Kaiser cleared the bar at o'clock, with
the Bretagne only twelve minutes In her wake.
Both disappeared in the open quarter of an
hour later. The pilots of the liners say that the
msplacemont Of the buoys marking the en-
trance to Gedney's Channel was the cause Of
their grounding. Capt. Folger Of the Lighthouse
Department station at Staten Island says that
the buoys were in their proper positions. He
sent one Of tho lighthouse steamers down to the
Hook yesterday and found that the buoys had
not been moved.
The truth of the matter seems to be that the
pilots on the two steamships mistook tho red
buoy, No. s2 which marks the left-hand side Of
the channel going out, for the black buoy. No.
81, which is on the righthand side Of the chan
mel. The course Of the ships In leaving the
main channel to enter Gedney's Channel should
have been about east-southeRst. Tho pilots
should have kept the red buoy on their
starboard hand; in other words. they should
have steered between them. The ice that
has drifted out of the channel on the
ebb tides for the last several days, has 1t 10 said
scraped much Of the paint of the buoys Pilot
Charles Thompson, who had the helm Of tho
Kaiser Wilhelm IL, doubtless ran out Of his
course in the murk which concealed objects q
dsT %
1t was the red buoy. All buoys look alike In a
fog especially Il they have the paint seraPed or
pilot, James Van Pelt. naturally surmised that
Within Ave minutes he found out his mistake,
The keel Of the Kaiser grated on the sand and
en SPEED
two-thirds Of her length on the shoal before she
began to make sternway Just th,a, then the tg ttng,
the way out to sea through the mist, came
The Pulver got a nine-inch hawser on the stern
Of the stebmshP and Strained at it tha until M 1t
Rsssr prps
Ter was swiring with all It's power and the
ship finally came of un assisted. and anchored.
with Pilot Thompson and sent word to the
steam pilot station boat New York that he
was sea sent aSSd aSoard and Pilot Thompson
went over to the New York; the kaiser's
M
They decided not to brave the perils Of Gedney's
Channel in the darkness without the help of the
ABOUT wesf She wsnt @ to ea anohor % and ' IN
chsrge Of L Pilot Anderson started seaward again
La Bretaane, which draws more water than
the Kaiser, had followed her into trouble, and
York steaped over to tbe Frencbman and
got hawser aboard of her. after swapping two
Of the Frenchman's own stout lines. OF what
Nichols. who was aboard the New York. gives
this description Of her work on the stranded
I'VE pulled away for some time; After a
while the steamer moved: and we pulled harder
h e TO
they heard us or not In the IN, meantime the the
IS Ms5 Sef had line s
before The Merritt srriyed: After Tho ship slid
hawser They did not do 1t. and before we
could do anything the steamer was caught BY
the s Rs @ hs
be attached to our boat because the vessel
W. Chapman srP251ed WEle the SsT Yorf
the he French French lii Ines % shore Superintendent. wa;
aboard the Chapman, Mr.. W. L. Chapman. rep
JsssS Gs ss a made
Steamship OF the sSoai. The 1. J. Merritt got
was hauling on her. This is what happened
then, according to Capt walcott Of the Merritt:
The steamer was well on the bar. and If / had
been let alone she would have gone to sea imme.
had hefyy t9wlne ssMsS Which tSs
bow of the Frenchman out to seaward.
While was doing that the, pilot boat
sboat and Just simply, ran her aground again.
Before could get my line aboard again the tide.
s9ss Aas ' ths hs
when got her Off again"
Another man said that there was dispute
threatened 70 cut tho hawssr Of the New York
until morning to haul again on the Frenchman.
because there was no hope of floating her ex-
1 20 oas who Is the
Anothef story that was told by pilot who
North % German S ma Floyd Lloyd Steamship Aiier also took @
ground near the entrance of Gedney's Channel,
snf tEss s
taking large number Of eTcursionists to the
Orient She passed the Hook as siS
bar. as the fog at that time was thick that the
marine observer lost her II she was aground
While the Kaiser was still In the embrace Of
the sboal the little pilot boat James Stafford,
cropping for port in the fog, with tho wind dead
ahead, came to grief on another part OF the
Romer. near the Beacon. The Stafford 10 one of
the old sailing fleet. only q few Of which are now
in service. and belongs to the Pilots Associa-
tion. The last OF the pilots who had gone out
with her on Wednesday loft her on Saturday
afternoon. about forty miles outside OF the Hook,
70 bring in the steamship Fallodon Hall.
She was then turned over to Gabriel Ronayne.
a boatkeeper who is serving bis apprenticeship
as pilot. 1t was his first trip as boatkeeper.
with him were the cook and four seamen. Tho
little schooner was carrying main and fore sails,
a fore staysail and jb. She was heading east
when she came up with great lar on the shoal
pieces and left the toughest parts OF their hulks
embedded in the sand; The Stafford ran high
up on this hard and jagged bod at o'clock.
The swell lifted her higher and pounded her
struck. At 1850 o'clock at night the crew had
got all their dgnnage on deck. They LAUNCHED
York. which discovered them with her search
light almost as soon as they saw her.
They went aboard the New York. just after
by the run. The New York went over and
stripped the STAFFORD OF most OF her canvas. and
~ in0 gta antt txun