The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-10-16
MOHEGAN WENT
DOWN WITHIN
FIVE MINUTES
Rapidly Sank After
Striking Rocks.
ONLY F0RTY-FIVE ESCAPED
REMAINDER OF THE 1e1 PER-
SONS ABOARD MET DEATH.
Executive Officers Perish at Their
Posts in Directing the Efforts
to Rescue the Pass
sengers.
ONLY F0RTY-FIVE ESCAPED
REMAINDER OF THE 161 PER-
SONS ABOARD MET DEATH.
Special Dispatch to The Call.

FALMOUTH, Oct. 15.-From the best
evidence obtainable at ST. Keverine. it
appears that the Mohegan, which went
| ashore near the Lizard last night, foun-
dered five minutes after she struck the
| rocks. She was going at full speed;
she struck twice, stopped and rapidly
settled into the water. AS the captain
and the executive officers of the steam
er went down with her, it has been i'm
possible thus far to ascertain how she
! got out Of her course, as the Falmouth
light and the coast were visible
Out of the 161 persons on board. As
escaped.
Up to late hour tonight thirty
bodies have been washed ashore at diff
ferent points. A southerly wind is
now blowing, and it is expected that
the bodies of many more victims will
| be recovered before tomorrow. An
inquest will be held on Monday.
! The survivors, without exception,
speak in the highest terms of the devo-
ton, heroism and GOODNESS displayed by
the officers and crew of the ill-fated
steamer, and declare that all were in
stantly at their posts when it was
known that she had struck.
The perilous position of the ship was
| noticed on shore and a warning rocket
was sent up, but it was too late then
to avoid the catastrophe, which oc-
| CURED so suddenly that there was not
sufficient time to get all the life-saving
apparatus out Of the ship.
The terror of the scene was indes-
cribable-men jumped overheard in an
| agony of despair and the women pas
sengers huddled together and refused to
leave the deck. The officers remained
on the bridge to the last and many in
| stances of sacrifices are recorded.
Members OF the crew are known to
| have stood by and watched the boats
launched and put off when it was ap-
| parent that these were the only means
by which their own lives could be saved.
A lifeboat with a load of forty pas
sengers on its way to the shore passed
many who were battling for their lives
in the water whom 1t was impossible to
save.
The villagers, headed by the vicar
and coast guard, stood on the shore and
cheered the boat. When the lifeboat
entered the little cove the fishermen
waded into the sea to help drag the little
boat upon the beach and tenderiy car
ried the exhausted survivors to their
homes, which had been already pre-
pared for their reception, and the vicar
attended the injured.
The lifeboat was again launched and
put out for the wreck, on its outward
journey picking up three survivors.
The trip to the wreck was fruitless so
far as taking any cne from the vessel
was concerned, but on its way back to
the shore sixteen other survivors were
taken from the water. This was just
before daybreak.
Among the incidents recited is the
escape of the Pembertons. Pemberton
jumped into lifeboat, his wife threw
him their two children, then she leaped
into the boat herself and thus the whole
family was saved
The bodies of six persons, four males
and two females, have been picked up
and landed here.