The record-union., 1898-11-08

Describes the Scenes Prior 10 and at the
Time Of Abandoning the Warship.
The Men Fought Calamity to Save
the Vessel, Which Went Down
Flying the Stars and Stripes
Peri1ous Work of Rescuing the
Crew of the Cruiser.


Crew of the Cruiser.
! FORT MONROE Va), Nov. En-
| sign James c. Summers. who was off,
Ger of the deck Of the Vulcam when the
/ Maria Teresa was abandoned. described
| the scene thus:
The gale in which the Teresa was
| lost began with a fierce squat five min
| uteS before j o'clock on the morning Of
! November LIST. The wind and sea rose
| at l o'clock. From the Teresa's bridge
came the wig-wag signal by lamp, Sig
nal Merritt to steer to windward.' The
| Merritt at once changed her course to
north-northeast. 1t had been north.
To US the fact that the Teresa must be
kept head to sea was in itself consid-
cred ominous. All signals were MADE
to US by wig-wag flag from the Teresa
| We repeated them to the Merritt or
LeOnidas
AT noon the gale had increased in
| violence, and all three vessels labored
heavily III the sea. The Teresa, plung-
ing deeply, took much water on board
over the bows, and often when reeling
she shipped seas amidships. Her star
| board engine only was being used 1t
| was turning thirty-eight revolutions
when last reported. The forward wreck
| ing pump was sending out a large
stream over the port bow
AT ten minutes past noon the Leon
idas, then fully mile ahead, was sig
| nailed Do not go so far ahead Thirty
minutes later the Teresa signaled Can
Merritt run tow lines and stand safely?'
The Merritt answered No promptly
T. was the first intimation of the real
da- er at hand.
. tnost simultaneously with the
Merritt's next signal, Give your or
ders,' came this from the Teresa, Tell
Merritt to cast off and come Within
hail This was done, and her crew
| hauled in the 100 fathoms of hawser on
the way to assist the Teresa. The lat
ter then signaled We shall abandon
ship. Tell Leonidas to stand by us to
windward. Do not cast off our lines
The Vulcan answered, We will hold on
until the last, and use OIL to which the
Teresa replied, Many thanks.
THE Vulcan's commander, Lieuten-
ant Commander P Blow, Immediately
planned the Vulcan's part in the
scheme of rescue. Being almosr sure
that the Teresa s starboard engine
would be kept working until the last 1t
was decided to hold onto the hawser,
thereby giving the Teresa sufficient
steering gear to enable her helmsman
to keep the heavy sea on her starboard
bow and still be to leeward of the Vul-
can, enabling the latter TO use oil to ao-
vantage when the rescuing in boats
began.
LII
of the Teresa gave the impression that
she would founder suddenly, and that
all her people would be overheard at
any moment, either swimming, or
drowning before our eyes.
Assistant Paymaster Robert H.
WOODS, United States Navy, was de-
tailed to note the time that each signal
was sent and repeated. Oil was the
first requisite. Mechanics passed it up
in buckets from the hold; those on deck
filled small bags with it, The effect
was immediate in smoothing the heavy
seas near the wreck.
Rubber life belts were brought on
deck and filled with air, ready to throw
to men in the water A bow lire was
made in every ropes end by which the
men could be hauled out of the sea-
people were taken off, it was the COM
manding officers intention. after cut
ting the hawser, to place his vessel lee
ward and then work up to windward
of the men in the ship and pick them
up.
Half the charges were extricated
from some six-pounder shells. and they
were fitted over the ends of oars to
which small lines We're attached. These
were to have been fired from the guns
across the spot where the men might
have been seen in the water.
after the Teresa began to fill it be-
came impossible for the Vulcan to keep
her head to windward, but being prac-
tically waterlogged, she made an ex-
cellent breakwater for the boats, even
after she fell off into the trough Of the
sea.
Directed by Lieutenant Gilmer, the
crew and engineers force equipped two
life boats with oars, life preservers ana
oil bags. They We're launched from the
top of the deck house and by means Of
long lines were veered astern. in the
hope that they would reach the Ter
esa, but the heavy sea carried them far
to windward; they fouled the hawser
and were finally cut adrift.
cat in the afternoon the Merritt
was just astern of the Teresa and
came UP under her lee just in time to
take off the first boatload of rescued
persons. The wreckers and yolunt GERS
from the naval vessels had succeeded
in lowering one of the two surfboats
hanging from davits on the Teresa's
port side. Pulling quickly clear of the
ships side, the boats crew. composed
of the wrecker's men. went about saw
ing the people in a systematic way
There was less than four hours of
daylight left in which to rescue 112
persons, including eighteen Cuban coal
passers, and such a sea was running
as would have daunted any lifeboat
crew. To have attempted to go near
enough to the ships side to let her
people drop down into the boats meant
certain destruction to the rescuing
party So while the boat was towed by
its painter from the ships lee quarter.
and was kept clear by two men at the
oars and by the steersman in the stern,
another line was used to send down
the men from the ship.
Each man slung in the center of this
rope was hauled through the water in
most cases to the boat and then
tuInbled in over the bow. 1t was