New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-07-07


forty minutes.
rrpoc1ry OF THE STEAMERS CREW
TN. TAT. which overlook La Roursogne was rem
h.red doubly tragic by the nhunan ana cow
..s,y ronduc. of the frenzied sailors. From me
.,,v,vor. have come nothing but words OF praise
,o- the bravery and herosm OF the steamer
orBcers who went down like heroes AZ 'he'r
nos.s CAPTAIN Deloncle vas last seen s'ano'he
=, tho bridge as the steamer sank the snr'
vivors have been emphatic in denouncing 'he
eouarlv conduct Of the lost liners crew l"e>
a, not hesitate - saw that but for the sean'en
,nhunan action many Of the women would nave
been saved.
STORIES OF SURTITORS,
Joseph Rechmann. one Of the Survivors s'''
that he was In his bunk at the time ~ me COL
us,on but hurried on deck The conclusion
,,,.n the vessels struck nearly threw him -
the hoor The steamer almost immeala'eN
listed 70 port In three quarters Of an hour the
steamer had disappeared beneath IN" wafer
He was one Of eighteen or twenty who got INTO
q host Two hours later they saw sailing
v.ssel and soon discovered II vas the snip
which had been In collision With La hour-
ecsne They were taken on board Before me
steamer went down there vas an explosion
esis Rechmanr. and lots ard lots II people
vere thrown into the water only - he lost
wbs, the boa, he got into vas lowered. the
steamers rail was already under water There
was grea, confusion, and everybody was for
himself" is the way Rechnann put " There
was no order whatever. Rechmann vas bound
from Chicsc, ~ Havre and was going thence
u Austria
Matteo Zurich an Austrian. who speaks very
good English save The Tribune correspondent
o graphic account Of the disaster. He said /
was on deck az the time Everything was going
along smoothly although it was very toggy
when saw ship loom up right in front Of me
She was then actually soraping the starooard
side Of La Bourgogne. and when she was few
yards astern saw her mast falling overheard
7 heard people on board shout in English and
knew II was British vessel ran forward to
zee what had happened The steamers star
board side was broken in 10 the waters edge
the plates were cracked and warped and rivets
broken and drawn. The hole was eight or ten
feet big. and the water wss pouring in fast
NOBODY IN CHARGE ON DECK
Then ] went eft again. but could not see
any one In charge only horror.str,cken crowd
Of passengers No commands were being given,
and no system prevailed 7 vent 10 the hurri-
cane deck and started 70 cut away the awning
from boat there While was doing along
came some sailors or fremen and cut away two
life-rafts and two boats I had my boat nearly
clear but tust then ] driven away from the
boats
II saw some men passengers. ten or twelve.
get boat around. Some one said to cut the
forward guy rope from the davits. and crept on
my hands and knees and did so. Men women
and children were all around calling upon God
for help: but only God could help them. man
couldn't Oh. IT was pitiful. hut couldn't
help anybody. We were in too bad plight our
selves. / hung on 10 tho guy. rope and By 1t
swung myself into the overloaded boat There
were nineteen or twenty ~ us then in the boat
BY this time the steamer was SO lifted that
people couldn't keep their feet. but were slid
ing shreking. into the water. They called for
help. but none came. La Bourgogne settled
into the water at an angle Of As degrees. Then
the bow came up perpendicularly The steamer
seemed to stand there for an instant. and Their
disappeared stern first.
"oh. God then the sight was awful II Il
before my eyes all the time May the Almighty
spare me from such another experience-men
women and children. some cursing. some cry
Ing. some praying. some begging to he saved
women holding their babies in their arms ant
calling upon God to save their children. but nj
one could save them
MOST OF THE PASSENGERS COULD HAVE
BEEN SAVED.
christopher Baunni Of New-York. said: III tn
sailors had acted properly. the majority Of tn
passengers could have been saved Four boat.
we're left on the steamer. Five lowered
and three Of them were swamped. swan two
hours. and atterward. catching hold OF life
raft. jumped on top Of 1t. Four or FIVE mor'
followed me- We found seven dead. four mel
and three women. under the seat. After 81,
hours we were picked up One o! the engineer
said he didn't care whether the passengers wer
saved or not. He was not there to save pas
sengers. and was not paid for that kind o
work He was only sorry he had not a re
volver to shoe, some Of them He would no
have anything 10 DO with life-savins.'
Otto Zaiser of New-York. who was going 4
Paw. .a,d: We struck at g. m and wer
anoat ono hour before the ship sank we wer