The record-union., 1898-11-19

Order to Gain an Advantage
NEWPORT (Or), Nov 1S.-News
was received at Newport that the Brit
| ish ship Alatin, which sailed from Ia
coma for Cape Town some days ago,
went ashore on the rough coast near
Alsea Bay last evening. The Alatin
carried a crew of twenty-nine men all
told, and Of these only three are report
| ed to have been saved. A northwest
storm has been blowing there for some
days, and it is thought that the ship
was blown out Of her course to the
spot where she struck.
The shore near Alsea is very rugged,
and when a northerly gale is blowing
very high surf is usually raised. 1t is
very difficult to get news from the
place where the Alatin is grounded,
and it may be late before full particu-
lars of the terrible disaster are received
| here.
A life saving crew of volunteers has
started from Alsea for the scene of the
wreck, and will endeavor to save any
of the crew who may have clung to the
hulk. 1t is feared, however, that the
three men who were washed ashore are
the sole SURVIVORS.
The place where the Alatin struck
is sixteen miles below here, and the
nearest telephone station is five miles
from the wreck. According to the story
received here over the wire the vessel
was partly dismasted in the gale off the
coast. She became unmanag geable and
drifted into the trough of the sea and
her decks were swept clear of every
thing movable. The seas broke into
the cabins and flooded the galley, pue-
ting the fires out in the donkey room.
The crew did everything possible to
clear away the wreckage and get
enough canvas spread to give the ship
steerage way.
Quite heavy current sets in toward
Alsea, and with this, in addition TO the
driving gale, the vessel was not able
TO keep off shore.
Soon after the Alatin struck her
back was broken. She is a total wreck.
Her cargo was wheat and produce.
valued at about $4,000. She sailed
from Tacoma on the 18th, in command
Of Captain Mcbride with a crew of
twenty eight men. Captain Mcbride is
reported among those lost The ship
was of 1888 tons register and was
loaded with 1.753 tons of cargo.
The rescued men will be brought to
Newport
ANOTHER ACCOUNT.
PORTLAND (Or.), Nov. 18.-A spe-
cial to the "Oregonian" from Yaquina
says:
The British ship Alatin, Captain
Charles Mcbride, from Tacoma to
South Africa with wheat. was wrecked
off Alsea Bay, sixteen miles south OF
Yaquina Bay yesterday morning. She
carried crew of twenty-seven man,
and all were drowned but three.
The Alatin sailed from Tacoma last
Saturday with cargo of 1 1853 tons of
wheat for Cape Town. and her skipper
had made a wager with the masters
of the ships Earl OIL Dalhousie and
Inberhorne in a race to the Cape of
Good Hope. The logbook at the life
saving station shows that Thursday
morning between midnight and 6
o'clock the Cape Foul Weather Light
house was concealed by a fog and
heavy sheets of rain.
The Alatin was sailing at a high
| speed Thursday morning, when she
went on the bar. A few rocks in the
trough of the waves. attended by
caused
her timbers to give, and the Jar of
running on the rocks snapped them off
as though they had been matches. The
masts and rigging went over the side
in tangled mass like a forest before
a gale. The breakers swept the after
decks and pounded in the cabins
Those who escaped were on deck at
the moment of the Scrash, and began
to launch a lifeboat While they were
working at the davits a wave passed
over the ship, tore the lifeboat loose
and set it afioat. 1T was full of water,
and the oars We're gone. Several were
in the boat at the time of its sudden
release. All but two were washed
overheard from struggling and dying
companions. These two picked up a
third. then in the surf For three hours
or more they were buffeted about until
the storm cast them upon dry land
One of the survivors stated that the
Captain steered close into Cape Foul
Weather. and not seeing the lighthouse,
supposed the vessel to be some distance
from shore. This caused him to
continue his southeast tack too long
At 2 o'clock to-day the Alatin lay
about a mile off shore in field of furi-
Gus breakers. Each hour a section of
the vessel was seen to fall away and
the timbers float toward the shore
The life-saving crew, although noti-
fed of the wreck soon after it occurred
Yesterday, were unable to reach the
scene until this morning
One of the survivors claims that the
wreck was due to the carelessness of
the Captain. who paid for his folly with
his life. They were racing with an
other vessel. and were keeping close in
shore in order to get the advantage of
the wind in tacking and to make a
short tc head the other vessel off, They
were close in shore, and not seeing the
light at Cape Foul Weather, steered
ahead until they struck the reef about
four miles below Alsea Bay, and about
one mile and a half from shore. with
such terrific force as to snap the masts
like tooth picks, carrying the rigging
and everything with it.
Two of the survivors made their way
to a cabin, and awakening the occu-
pants, started in other directions for