The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1898-07-14
HUNDREDS LOST At SEA
FRENCH LINER LA BOURGOGNF
GOES DOWN.
In Collision With British Sailing
Nessel-Women Stabbed and Beat
en- to Death--IIorrible Scenes.

HALIFAX, n. s., July Give hun
dred and forty-nine men, women and
children, and, according to the awful
stories of the survivors, many of them
deliberately done to death, is the
| heartbreaking record of the most
terrible marine disaster of modern
| times.
The victims were passengers and
part of the crew of the French line
steamship La Bourgogne, bound for
Havre from New York, with 727 souls
on board, which was run down and
sunk during dense fog Monday
morning, at o'clock, sixty miles to
the south of Sable Island, by the Brit
ish sailing vessel Cromartyshire.
The IT'S survivors, most of whom
were members of the crew, the re-
mainder being second and third class
passengers, were brought to this port
today by the Cromartyshire, in tow
by the Allan Line steamship Grecian.
Only one woman, Mrs. A.. d. Lacasse,
of Plainfield, Y. j., out of 125 on the
ship. was saved. All of the officers of
La Bourgogne, with the exception of
the purser and three engineers, were
drowned.
The scenes enacted on board La
Bourgogne after the collision were
terrible to witness. Male creatures
fought for positions in the boats like
raving maniacs: women were forced
back from the boats and trampled
upon.
On board was large number Of
foreigners who stopped at nothing.
N 1stX fNf fN1.fr-
women. but so great was the panic
that not hand was raised to assist
in her launching. The occupants so
near safety were drowned like rats
when the ship, with an awful kissing
sound, went down with hundreds of
lives.
An immigrant passenger drew a big
knife and made thrust at one who.
like himself, was endeavoring to get
to the boats. Immediately the action
was initiated in every direction
Knives were used with deadly effect
Women and children were driven back
to inevitable death at the point of
weapons. Even sex was not respected
and women were stabbed like sheep
The scene on the water was even
worse. Many of those who were
struggling in the. sea attempted to
drag themselves into the boats and
upon the RATS. These were rudely
pushed back to watery graves.
All the passengers denounce the
cowardly and inhuman conduct of the
sailors of La Bourgogne, and if half
of what they tell is true. no words
of condemnation are too strong for
the men who sacrificed helpless wom-
en- and children to save their miser-
able lives.
The Cromartyshire was % days out
from Dunkirk. She was chalk lad
en-, bound for Boston. and would
have reached her port tomorrow. On
the morning of the 4th she was lying
sixty miles south of Sable Island.
Captain Henderson was on the poop.
The Cromartyshire was making five
knots an hour, with several sails set
and taking in sail all the time. Sud-
denly the sound of steam siren was
heard, and directly Lookout Haley
saw a large steamship half a ships
length ahead on the port bow.
In an instant the Cromartyshire
iib boom was crashing into La Bour-
gogne's bridge, and the sailing vessel
Ni"SiiNN lll'O 'iC llllCl' SAVING d blS
hole near the engine room. La Bour-
gogne scraped the whole length of
the Cromartyshire's port side and
then she veered off.
La Bourgogne blew long mournful
whistles for assistance, and the
Cromartyshire's boats were sent out
and nearly two hundred were saved
But before this frightful scenes had
been enacted on board the doomed
ship. All attempt at discipline was
futile, and the whole thing resolved
itself into a desperate fight for life,
in which the burly crew and steerage
passengers came out uppermOst. No
attempt was made to save the women
and children, and those who did try
to save themselves were either struck
down or thrown away from the boats
One raft had a rope around it, to
which several women were clinging.
when the sailors cut the rope and the
women persisted. Passengers strug-
Cling in the water to reach the boats
or RATS were beaten to death with
oars.
Those who did succeed i'm getting
into the boats or on the RATS were
i'm many cases deliberately. thrown
back into the water and left to drown.
The sinking steamship also carried
down scores in the whirlpool caused