The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1898-10-17
WRECK OF THEMOHEGAN
Fifty-one Bodies of Victims Have
Been Recovered.
THE BRAVERY OF THE SAILORS.
None of Them Made any Effort to Es-
cape In the Lifeboats, and the Gal


statement last evening regarding the
fate of the passengers and crew Of the
steamer Mohegan, which was wrecked
last Friday evening off the Lizard, be-
tween the Manacles and the Lowlands:
up to midnight 81 bodies had been
recovered. Some were found miles
away, in Coves. and it Is expected that
more will be washed ashore today"
Many persons undoubtedly were KILL
ed by being dashed on the rocks who
would have escaped If cast ashore on
an ordinary coast. Some of the bodies
are horribly mangled.
The latest advices from Falmouth
say that 80 bodies have been Identified,
mostly the bodies of sailors. Four are
as yet unidentified, including those of
two elderly ladies'. One appears to be
a German. She wore a watch and
wedding ring, both engraved "1S71."
The other wore a silver brooch, with
the letter ID" in pearls. This is prob
ably the body Of Mrs. Charles Duncan.
Nine of the bodies have been brought
to Falmouth, the others to the viii
lage church at st. Keverne. The res
cued passengers are being sheltered at
cottages along the shore and the crew
at the sailors home at Falmouth.
The cause of the disaster remains the
profoundest mystery. Nobody attempts
to explain how the Mohegan got so
far north of her true course-from six
to seven miles. There was no fog at
the time, while the wind on her port
quarter was not sufficient to prevent
her answering the helm. 1t has been
suggested that the compass was faulty,
but daylight lasted long Gfter Eddy
stone light was passed. The sailors
say the fact that the Lizard light was
not visible should have served to give
the alarm.
The masts Of the Mohegan, which
are above water show that her stern
is landward, causing a theory that the
navigating officer on discovering that
he was in the bay suddenly turned sea-
ward Two engineers who are saved
declare, however, that they never slack
ened speed.
Remarkable stories of rescues con-
tlnue. Robert Barrow, a seaman, per-
formed the feat of swimming unaided
through the toughest water to Cove
rack Point, a distance of two and one
half miles. He climbed up the ragged
cliff, where a searching party found
him early the next morning completely
exhausted A. G. l.. Smith, of Oregon,
| a passenger, surrendered to a woman
in the water wreckage that was sup
porting him and swan ashore unaided.
The woman was saved. Her name is
reported as Miss Webb, but no such
name appears in the company's list.
Messrs. Smith and w. ]. Blooming
dale say. there was the greatest diff
ficulty in launching the boats. The
ropes were new and stiff and the
hlpplyc ITna
as many sailors as should have been
necessary struggled to lower each boat.
The lockers were hard to open.
The crew, in a chiValrous effort to
save the women, made the mistake of
undermanning the boats. There were
only four sailors in one boat, which
capsized as soon as it was launched.
Messrs. Smith and Bloomingdale say
that Captain Griffiths had appeared i'll
all day.
The death of Mr. r. w King who
was, in former years, a wealthy sum
mer resident of Nantucket, Mass, and
of his family, including Mrs. King, her
mother, Mrs. Weller, and his sons,
Rufus, aged IL, and Anthony, aged 7,
has caused deep sorrow at Penzance,
where the family had a summer cot
tage and were very popular. Joseph
O'Rorke, Mr.. Kings valet who was
saved, says he was on deck when the
crash came. The lights went out i'm
mediately. Rushing to the saloon he
heard Mr.. King exhorting his family
to keep cool.
O'Rorke, with seven others, clung to
the rigging until o'clock Saturday
morning, when a lifeboat took him off.
He identified the bodies of the Kings
and Mrs. Weller and will have them
embalmed and taken to the United
States, In accordance with cabled in
structions from the relatives of the
family at Nantucket.
John Hyslop, the New York yachts
man, who was saved, in the course of an
interview condemned the double rail-
ing around the ships boats, which, he
says impeded the launching. The mast
head light, in his opinion, should have
been an OIL instead of an electric lamp,
as in that event it would not have
been extinguished, but would have fur
nished beacon to guide the lifeboats.
The heroism of the English coast
patrol and the discipline of the Saxon
sailors stand out boldly, The Mohegan
smashed upon the rocks at the Man
acles off the Lizard at o'clock Friday
evening while the passengers were at
dinner.
From the best evidence obtainable at
st. Keverine 1t appears that the Mo-
hegan foundered five minutes after she
struck the rocks. She was going at
full speed, struck twice, stopped and
rapidly settled into the water. AS the
captain and the executive officers OF
the steamer went down with her it has
been impossible thus far to ascertain
how she got out of her course, as Fal-
mouth Light and the coast We're Wis
ible.
Dinner was ready and Captain Grif-
fiths was about to proceed to the sa-
loon when a sudden crash made 1t ap-
parent that the steamer had gone
ashore. The captain Immediately went
on deck, and the survivors say they
saw him on the bridge doing all In his
power to lessen the disaster.
There was rush for the boats, but
the officers stood firm and put the
women aboard first. Captain Griffith
stuck to his post on the bridge shouting
orders through trumpet until he went
down with the ship One passenger
cut away the falls Of a lifeboat with a
razor and thus saved several lives.
A coast guard was watching the
steamer, seeing that she was on a
dangerous course. A warning rocket
was sent up, but 1t was too late then
to avoid the catastrophe, which occur
red so suddenly that there was not suf-
T..g.. TO. oil ba