New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-01-17

THE VESSEL. AND THE SAFE Is CAR
RED TOWARD SEATTLE RACK OF
THE ERIE RAILROAD COM
PANY's FERRY SLIP
ALSO wRECKED-
NO(NE HURT
r,o Holland America Line steamship Wer-
,,aan when she was passing down the North
Diver Yesterday morning. just beginning her
.'.voss from this port TO Amsterdam. became
rrmsnaseable. bumped into the Pavonia Ferry
IT,, in Jersey City. tore away the end Of the
s,.r smashed the office Of the Wells-Fargo Ex-
,rsss Company and committed burglary by
.o,rvnc the office safe down into the Lower Bay
on her bow.
The Werkendam Is a steamer OF EGGS tons
,uraen She was scheduled to sail at 10 o'clock
IN Saturday morning, but she was day late
=, arriving here on her last voyage. and 1t was
i03O yesterday morning when she finally
,ushsd her nose out into the river from her
,l.r at Hoboken. Her skipper was consequently
q hurry to get TO sea. and the tug Goodwin
was pushing her along at a good rate Of speed.
Tho steamer was proceeding close in to the Jer-
cav shore. and the tide was at slack The
wsrkendam draws about twenty-six feet Of
,o,e- and she ran too close to the shore. driv-
,r her keel through two or three feet Of mud.
4, the same time her nose swung around and
,,.sbed through the end Of the pier. carrying
vav about fifteen feet Of it. and wrecking the
,... ~ the Erie Railroad Companys ferry slip.
Fortunately at that hour the express Office
nae vacat ted and the ferry slip unoccupied. The
accident was partly caused by the forward haw-
90, uniting the tug and steamer, either snap
wing or being thrown off TO avoid collision
with the ferIyboat Susquehanna. which had
,us, cleared her slip. The stern line, tugging on
,hs steamer, caused the vessel to swing sud-
denly inshore and her bow TO cut diaGonady
through the corner of the pier and tear away
q mart Of the rack Of the ferry slip. Three or
tour minutes earlier and the Prov would have
snt into the Susquehanna \ two-s story CORFU
gated iron building stcoo at the end or the
ris- II was occupied by Superintendent r. j.
Grove Of the Wells-Fargo Express Company
and his assistants. The building was about
thirtv feet square and was completely demol-
sbed The bulk Of the debris fell on the deck
OF the steamer Three of the employees or the
sxnress company. f. J. Hickey, the agent. and
twr clerks Frank Smith and Edward Eier
were on the pier and walking toward the office
when the accident occurred. The bow OF the
werkendam became wedged between the UNI
hers Of the pier. but easily dislodged by
the tug.
An examination showed the steamer TO he un-
damaged and she resumed the voyage AS the
steamer pfoCeen"n N'NH ''e I"'ii ns1.
were seen clearing away the debris Of the oillce
building The tug returned about two hours
later with the large safe that had been IN the
superintendents office. 1t had fallen with the
wrecked building on the deck Of the steamer.
TIE express companys employees supposed the
safe was buried deeply in the mud at the bot
tom OF the river. 1t contained valuable papers
The river about the pier was covered with
pieces Of the wreck and papers, and number
Of men went ont in small boats TO recover the
documents
Af.er tho dahris had Loon Dartlv removed II
was found that the entire corner Of the pier
spout-<ftrts square,, h-d been destroyed
The Damage Is estimated at $4,000. Mr.. Hickey
said that the Werkendam's engines were evil
IDENTITY not in motion at the time of the acci-
dent. which was fortunate. she would have
been seriously damaged IL her momentum had
been greater.
No information could be obtained at the pier
Of the Holland American Company. The office
was closed. ana the watchman could not give
any information.