The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1898-12-14
A MARINE DISASTER
a Thrilling Story Of Attempts az
Rescue at Sea.
GALLANT SEAMEN'S WORK.
In a Gale Men Risked Their Lives
Again and Again to Save
the Unfortunate
GALLANT SEAMEN'S WORK.
Crew..

Crew.
\ dispatch from Baltimore says the
.Johnstone line steamship Eedamere:
Of Liverpool, Capt Robert Bartlett,
for whose safety fears were beginning to
be felt, arrived Thursday morning at
as she was several days overdue.
Pier 81, Locust point, with forty-fve
shipwreckcd mariners: which she had
picked up at sea. Twenty-Five others
went down. Their shipmatcs rescued
are: Second officer; T. Cuttings; sec
ond engineer, J. ". Graham; fourth
engineer, f. G. Ayers; chief cook, G.
Johnston; able seaman, Tagan: fremcn,
\. E. Tongo, T. Lominske, J. Mellow
an, J. Wilde. J. Bright, H. Bartlett, J.
Clark, W. Terry. Thomas Cupid: J.
Liss, G. Elliott, E. Watts, R. Cross, c.
Feske, j. Mason and twenty-five cattle
men, whose names were not obtained.
The supposed lost are: Capt. VIM.
Lee, Chief Officer Murray, Chief En-
gineer Stafford, Third Engineer Slater,
and twenty-one other seameD, fremen
and cattiemen.
The men landed are the survivors of
the British steamship Londonian Of
London, bound from Boston to London
with large general cargo and $50 cat
tie on deck. She left Boston Nov. Is
and on Nov. "a, in violent gale, her
cargo shifted and she almost capsized,
she finally rested on her beam ends
with big seas breaking over her.
Her luckless crew were helpless to
right her, and for tvo days she drifted
about at the mercy Of the wind and
waves Assistance came at 5 o'clock
on the morning Of November 25. The
Vedamere hove in sight five miles dis
tant, and as it was still quite dark the
Londonian burned signal fires and fred
distress rockets.
1t did not take the Vedamere long
to cover the FIVE miles that lay between
her and the Londonian, and as soon as
she arrived alongside she was signalled
to stand by.
At noon, in the teeth of a stiff gale,
Second Officer Hobbs and 4 volunteer
crew gallantly launched one Of the We
damere's boats and attempted to reach
the Londonian.
For three hours the sturdy Britons
battled with wind and wave in vain
attempt to reach her, but were forced
to return to their ship. Capt. Bartlett
then steamed to windward of the
doomed steamer and tried to fire rock
cts with lines attached, to the wreck,
hoping by this means to establish a con-
nection with her, by which the seamen
in peril could be saved. After num-
Der Of vain attempts this idea was
abandoned and as night came on sever
eral other attempts to rescue the Lon
domains crew were made fruitlessly.
AS it grew too dark to 90 anything
more Capt. Bartlett signalled viii
stand by you until morning"
The piteous signal, for Gods sake
don't leave US, came back in reply:
During the nj ght the wind increased
and by morning it was blowing very
hard.
Then it was that another means OF
rescue was decided upon. Four hours
life buoys with lines attached were
foated to the Londonian and at last
her crew succeeded in getting one
aboard. One of the Vedamere's life
boats was improvised as life car, to be
hauled betwc en- the ships. It made a
trip successfully and % half frozen,
exhausted men were hauled up over the
high side Of the Vedamere. As the
boat was going back to the Londonlan
wreck big sea broke over it and de-
mo!ished it. The lines were also car
ried away and the communication
broken.
Chief Officer Doran, Of the Eeda
mere then stepped up to Capt. Bartlett
and volunteered to launch another life
boat to attempt the rescue. For two
hours the boats crew struggled at the
oars but could not get closer than sixty
yards of the wreck. They were at last
forced to give up and return to their
ship, and in doing SO the boat was
smashed against the ships side and
lost. They all came near drowning:
but were hauled aboard with lines.
Another fearful night of peril and fear
| passed. The next morning % men of
the Londonian succeeded in launching
one Of their own boats and reached the
Eedamere in safety. Their boat was
also lost and all that day was spent in
trying to again establish communica-
ton with the wreck. The gale was
constantly increasing and all efforts to
save others were in vain. Even after
night had fallen the Vedamere was
kept cruising about in the vicinity, but
when day broke the next morning the
Londonian had vanished The Eeda
mere then proceeded to Baltimore.
The wrecked steamer was first sighted
in latitude IS 3S, longitude 10. 10. On
November %. the day after the Eeda-
mere lost sight Of her the steamship
Kiog Arthur passed her in latitude 10,
longitude 1G. She was then abandoned
and all her boats were gone. 1t is sup
posed the remainder Of her crew at
tempted to leave her in their own boats
and all hands pcrished.
The LonConian was a fine steel yes
sci built at Glasgow in 1896: and regis
tered 5.532 tons gross. She belonged
to the Wilson -Furness Loyland line.
Her original name was Idaho, which
was changed to the present name about
year a@o.
THE people generally had the idea
that Hobson was possessed OF an un-
usual amount of good horse sense, but
his refusal Of an offer of $50, 600 for
| lecture season upon the ground that
! ctronn