The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1898-12-09
RESCUED FROM
AN OCEAN GRAVE
Heroic Efforts to Save the
Londonian's Company.
TWENTY-FIVE PERISHED
THE VEDAMORE'S LONG STRUG-
GLE WITH TIE DEEP
"F0R GODS SAKE DO NOT LEAVE US"
" Veil Stand by You Until Morning." Fer
Two Nights the Vedamore Fought for
Those Precious Human Lives.
Forty-6ye Were Saved.

forty-fge Were Saved.
Baltimore, Md. Dec. 8.-The John
stone Line steamer Vedamore of Liy-
erpool. Captain Robert Bartlett, for
whose safety fears were beginning to be
felt. rs she was several days overdue,
arrived this morning at Pier 81, Locust
Point, with 10 shipwrecked mariners,
which she had picked up at sea. Twenty
five others went down with their ship.
The men landed are the survivors of
the British steamship LOndonian of Lon
don. bound from Boston to London, with
n large general cargo and $50 cattle on
board. She left Boston November 18th
and November 23d. in a violent gale
her cargo shifted and she almost capsiz-
cd. finally resting on her beam ends
with big seas brea king over her.
her luckless crew were helpless to
right her and for two days she drifted
about at the mercy of the winds and
waves. Assistance came at o'clock
on the morning of November 25th. The
Vedamore hove in sight five miles dis
tant. and rs it was still quite dark.
the Londonian burned signal fires and
fired distress rockets.
1t did not take the Vedamore long TO
cover the five miles that lay between her
and the Londonian. and rs soon as she
arrived alongside she was signalled to
stand by.
At noon, in the teeth of n stiff gale,
Second Officer Hobbs and a volunteer
crew gallantly launched one of the Yeda-
more's boats and attempted to reach
the sinking Iondonian.
For three hours the sturdy Britons bat
tied with wind and wave in vain at
tempt to reach her, but were finally
forced to return to their ship. Captain
Bartlett then steamed to windward of
the doomed steamer and tried TO fire
rockets with lines attached, to the wreck,
hoping by that means to establish a con-
nection with her, by which the seamen
in peril could be saved. After a num-
ber of vain attempts this idea was aban-
doned, and as night came on several 9th
or attempts to rescue the Londonian's
crew were made fruitlessly.
AS it grew too dark to do anything
more Captain Bartlett signalled, "Will
stand by you until morning"
The piteous signal, For Gods sake
don't leave u.s." came back in reply.
During the night the wind increased and
by morning it was blowing very hard.
Then it was that another means of res
cue was decided upon. For hours life
buoys with lines attached were fOated
to the Londonian and at last her crew
succeeded in getting on board. One of
the Vedamore's life boats was impro-
vised as life car, to be hauled between
the two ships. 1t made the trip success
fully and % half frozen, exhausted men
were hauled over the high side of the
Eedamore As the boat was going back
to the LondOnian wreck a big sea broke
over i and demolished it. The lines
were also carried away and the com
munication broken.
Chief Officer Doran, Of the Vedamore.
then stepped up TO Captain 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 han 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
passed. The next morning twenty-three
of the men of the LOndonian succeeded
in launching one of their own boats and
reached the Vedamore in safety. Their
boat was also lost and all that day was
spent in trying to again establish com
municatiOn with the wreck. The gale
was constantly increasing and all efforts
to save others were in vain.
Even after night had fallen the Veda- |
more was kept cruising about in the
vicinity, but when day broke next morn |
ing the Londonian had vanished The
VedamOre then proceeded to Baltimore
The wrecked steamer was first sighted !
in latitude 1880. longitude 1910. On
November 29th. the day after the Veda-
more lost sight of her, the steamship
King Arthur, passed her in latitude 40. |
longitude 16. She was then abandoned |
and all her boats were gone. 1t is
supposed the remainder of her crew at
tempted to leave her in their own boats
and all hands perished.
The LondOnan was Il fine steel vessel.
hnilt at Glasgow in 1896. and registered
5.532 tons gross. She belonged to the
Wilson, n-Furness-Loyland Line. Her ori-
einal name was idaho. which was chang
ed to the present name about year
ago.
A DRIFTING LIFE BOAT.
London. Dec S.--A life boat. apnar-
entity belonging to the lost Furness Line
Steamship Londoian, was seen OH
December End. in latitude As and longi-
tude H. There were some oars on board
but no sign of life.