The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-03-04
DEATH CAME TO nine
By the Capsizing Of a Schooner Of
the Florida Coast. ...-
ONE ENTIRE FAMILY DROWNED.

1t Included Father, Mother and Two
| Children and the Paternal Grand
PARENTS, Besides Three Children OF
Captain Collier, Master Of the Vessel
Key West, Fla, March 4-The schoon-
er Speedwell. Captain Collier, from
Marco, Fla, for Key West, was struck
by squat yesterday while off Marquee
sas, Is miles from here, and capsized.
Nine persons were drowned out OF 10
all told on board. Among the victims
were the three children of Captain Col
lier. George, Tom and Wilbur. aged
respectively 4, 6 and years, and the
entire Nichols family. Bradley Nichols
and his wife, their son and the latter's
wife and two children. The family
was from Bridgeport, Conn. Those
saved are Captain Collier, Samuel
Gates and Jesse Green, deck hands, and
r. W. Bates, Of Myers, Fla, a passen-
ger.
The Nichols family is said to have
been well to do. All had been staying
for a month or two at a small hotel
kept by Captain Collier, at Marco, and
they were on their way home.
The survivors say the SpeedweE,
which was small vessel Of about rs
tons, was making slow Roadway yes.
terday morning against a. head wind.
About o'clock Captain Collier was at
the wheel and the Nichols family and
the Collier children were In the cabin
asleep. Suddenly a squall came howl
ing up abeam. Gates and Green rushed
to take in sail. AS the lib fapped
loose the squall caught the schooner
and blew her clean over on the port
side.
Collier, the deckhands and Mr.
Bates were swept into the seething
sea. but caught the rigging just in time
to save themselves. The wind, rain
and surges drowned the dying cries
of the imprisoned Nichols family and
the Collier children.
The men dashed themselves to the
rigging. After being there for two
hours the sea subsidized. Then they got
the dingy loose, baled her out with a
hat, broke thwart in two pieces, and
with these for oars rowed toward Mar
quesas. After going three miles they
were picked up exhausted by a fishing
sloop and brought here about 4 o'clock
yesterday afternoon.
Samuel Gates, one of the survivors,
who was seen at his home here last
night, said:
Captain Collier has been sailing now
for rs years in these waters He is not
to blame for this awful thing The
squall came up like nothing have ever
seen around Key West. Before we
knew 1t we were lifted off our feet and
In the water, and as for these poor peo-
pie down below, they were penned in
like rats. The wife of the younger
Nichols, as pretty a woman as ever
stepped aboard ship, rose to the sky
light. l was clinging to the rigging
She waved her hand at me. and that's
the last saw Of her. When we got off,
two hours later. they were all dead.
"Old Mr.. Nichols was the only one
to get out of the cabin. I guess he was
washed out, for. after young Mrs. Mich
OILS waved her hand at me, saw what
thought was the coat of old MIR.
Nichols floating by Then I saw his
hand, and I knew it was not only
coat. We did not see thing Of the
children, or hear cry. We had to bale
with the hat all the time We were In
the dngy and often came near being
swamped."
Soon after being brought into port
Captain Collier and Jesse Green went
out on the yacht Buccaneer, accom-
panied by diver, to recover the bod
les.