Daily Kennebec journal., 1898-12-02
The Great Disaster.


great storm. and chiefly the loss of the
steamer Portland. Nothing like it has
ever happened in the history of Maine.
The death roll is growing longer and
longer as the inquiries come from the
friends and relatives of those who were
aboard of her that fatal night. 1t is
now thought that the number will be
nearer 200 than 100. though the latter
number was given as the probable
maximum when the disaster was first
reported. All this confusion and un-
certainty would have been avoided had
the steamboat office. 1t is probable
that the death roll of the Portland will
remain forever a secret, just as the
manner and circumstances of her de-
struction will be forever a mystery.
There are many theories as to just
what happened to the Portland after
she was last sighted off Thatcher's
island, at II o'clock Sunday night. The
next we hear of her are those four
hoarse whistles of distress off Cape
Cod at o'clock Sunday morning, and
then,-the bits of wreckage and the
bodies cast up along many leagues of
storm beaten shore. What is the story
Of that night? Did Captain Blanchard
put about and try to make the shelter
of Provincetown, or was his vessel
rendered helpless by the terrible buffet
ing, and was it driven to destruction
before the storm, 60 miles off it's
course? Did the steamer founder un-
der the giant waves off Cape Cod, or
did it go to pieces on the Jagged reefs?
Did the seas wash away the upper
works, put out the fires, and fill the
steamer so it sank slowly, or was it
the whistle off Cape Cod, Sunday
morning, would indicate that she still
had steam up, so her hull could not
have been flooded then.
1t is evident that some. if not many,
of the passengers We're not aware of
their danger. for a large proportion Of
the bodies washed ashore were without
life preservers and without clothes or
in only their underclothing. Besides
the mistake of starting out at all, it
was a fatal mistake not to make the
good harbor of Gloucester, and an
other mistake to fail to get inside Cape
Cod, provided the steamer went that
way under the guidance of her wheel.
1t is all surmise, anyway, now. and it
is easy enough TO say what ought to
have been done and what ought not
to have been done. We may be sure
the officers and crew did all in their
power to save the precious lives in
their charge, and that there was hero
ism and self sacrifice in the face of
death.
But the Portland is gone with all on
board. 1t is an appalling disaster, and
falls with crushing weight upon the
State of Maine. 1t has shocked the
whole country and saddened all of New
England, but here in Maine where
most of the lost ones lived, it comes
home to our hearts with a force that is
not felt elsewhere. 1t is probable that
the selfish sea will keep most of its
ofo
of the comparatively few that it has
given up, the last sad rites will be per-
formed. today, in Yarmouth. and the
whole State mourns the loss of a faith
full public servant, man whose ster-
ling qualities of heart and brain have
won him a greater number of true
friends than it is the good fortune of
many men to have. The world will
| never know the full story of that awful
| night and morning. An official inves-
| tigation may place the blame for the
steamers starting out, but it will not
| make clear the details of the disaster,
nor will it give back the dead. 1t IS
| not we'll to believe all that is said by
| those who. would place all the blame
| upon Captain Blanchard. He cannot
| defend himself nor tell his side of the
story. In self defense the manage
ment naturally wish it to appear that
| the dead captain acted contrary to or
ders. If he erred, he has paid the full
| penalty.
| The DER true narrative whiak comes,
| little by little, from Cape. Cod--Ethe