The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1898-07-14


year hang over the Grand Banks and
Sable island in the north Atlantic. oc-
Cured in the early morning Of July
one of the most appalling water acct
dents in the annals Of Atlantic COM
MERGE, and, in fact, in the history Of
steam sailing of the world: Without a
moments notice the French liner La
Bourgogne, with 752 persons on board,
was run down by the iron sailing ship
Cromartyshire, and sank within half
an hour, carrying with her to the bot
tom over 500 of her passengers and
crew, while the balance who were not
drowned by the fearful suction, strug-
gled and fought for life until 1853 were
at length rescued by the crew of the
Cromartyshire, which ship survived
the collision. The story of the fearful
disaster from the officers and men OF
the crew who were saved, is yet to be
told, but if the words Of the passengers
who were dragged aboard the Cromar-
tyshire and afterward brought into
this port by the British steamer
Grecian, the last few minutes on board
the Bourgogne witnessed some of the
most terrible scenes of horror and cru
city that have blotted the history of
civilized world. Instead Of the heroic
discipline which so often has been the
one bright feature of such awful mo-
ments the crew Of the steamer
Fought Like Demons
for the few life boats and RATS and
drove the passengers away, with the
result that the strong overpowered the
weak. The disaster occurred at 5
O'Clock in the morning of July 4, sixty
miles south of Sable island, which lies
100 miles from this port. The Bour-
.gogne had left New York, bound for
Havre, on the previous Saturday,
while the Cromartyshire was on her
way from Glasgow, with crew of
thirty-one men. All of the transatlan-
tic steamers have a definite course,
but the Bourgogne was, by all &C
counts, forty miles or more to the
north of these lanes. The fog was
very dense and the Cromartyshire was
sailing along with reduced canvass
and blowing the fog horn. Suddenly
out Of the fog rushed a great steamer,
and in a moment there was fearful
crash, the iron PROV of the ship plung-
ing into the port side Of the steamer
just under the bridge. The shock was
terrific and tore tremendous hole in
the steamer, while the whole boWsprit
was demolished. The steamer plowed
on into the fog again, her whistle cry
ing for help and her rockets signalling
her distress. The Cromartyshire was
rounded to and her master, Capt. Hen
derson, was considerably relieved in
finding she was in no danger Of sink
ing Off to the eastward could be
heard the hoarse call Of the steamer,
and as the big fog began to lift all the
boats Of the ship were launched.
Half an hour
After the Collision
the misty curtain went up, giving a
clear view for miles, and then it was
that those on the Cromartyshire real
lied the fearful struggle for life. On
board the Bourgogne the collision had
come so suddenly and at such an
early hour that few besides her crew
were on deck, but the shock reused
everybody, and in few minutes the
decks were crowded. At first there
seems to have been some attempt at
discipline. A few Of the boats We're
swung off and a few Of the passen-
gers were allowed to get into them,
but as the steamer began to settle and
list to port, the officers lost control Of
the crew and a panic followed. Pas
sengers and crew fought for the
boats and life RATS. The strong bat
tered down the weak, the women and
children being pushed far away from
any hope of rescue. Fists, oaths and
knives were used by some Of the de-
mons to keep their places. The Of
ficers seem to have been powerless be- ,
fore their own men, and only four
were saved. The fight for life on the
decks of the steamer did not last long
for in little more than half an hour
she gave a long lurch to port and went
down. AS the ship sank beneath the
surface the vortex Of the waters 1
Sucked Down Everything
on the surface within a certain radius.
When the suction ceased those still
above saw about twenty-five bodies
come out of the water with rush, as
If the sea was giving up the dead after
having swallowed the ship. But the
struggle for life still continued after
the ship went down. Hundreds still
t1oated about grasping for boats, ropes
and wreckage in frantic endeavor
for life. Even then the crew kept up
their brutality by beating off those