Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-02-13

'Tt was 4.53 a. m. when the last boat
pulled up to the side Of the st. Louis,
just three hours and ten minutes after
the first boat had left our ship. My
boat made four trips and transferred 80
passengers; Beckwith's made two and
transferred 36 passengers; Campbelps
made two and also transferred 36 pas
sengers. and the Veendam's boats made
three trips and carried a total of so pas
sengers. The last man to leave the
Veendam was Capt. Stenger.
CAPTAIN SETS FIRE TO THE SHIP.
''I had to call him several times be-
fore he swung himself over the side and
left the ship to her fate. By this time
the stern of the Veendam had settled
perceptibly, and her bow was almost en-
tirely clear of the water Before leav-
ing the Veendam, Capt. Stenger set fire
70 various parts Of the caoin
Aside from the women and children,
most of the passengers on the Veendam
behaved heroically. Though the sea
was running very high, we we're in lit
the danger of being swamped, except
when actually close to the ships side.
The passengers were drenched to the
skin. We protected them as much as
possible with oil skins and tarpaulins
When the work of rescue was over, the
St Louis had drifted until she was
mile and quarter from all that re-
mained above water of the Veendam"
SHRIEKS OF THE WOMEN.
Acher Brown, Of Rodgers, Brown &
Company. iron dealers of this city. was
passenger on the st. Louis Mr..
Brown described the scene on the st.
Louis, whnesthe rescue was in progress,
said:
/, Nearly all OF the passengers on the
81. Louis were in bed when news quick
ly spread that wreck mad been sight
ed. Then we crowded ON deck.
rockets, and we could hear the shrieks
of the women on the yeendam TIE
excitement among the passengers on
board the st. Louis was intense we
eheered the rescuers as they pushed Off
for the Veendasn. It was perhaps three
of an hour before the 9rst
life boat returned. In it we could see
about 25 children, all huddled closely to-
gether and crying Justify Officer Sc
grave was doing his best to quiet them
Capt. Randle received the first child
passed up. 1t caught hold OF the
captains beard and set up a howl Then
all the women crowded round the cap
tain and took the baby from his arms
The way our we'll dressed American
women nihistered to the wants Of the
poor, wretched creatures, who We're
hauled on board more dead than alive,
was sight worth seeing. The rescued
women after they had partially re-
covered, began to cry aloud for their
children, and when they found them
they cried with joy. 1t seems to me
that some of us men snivelled a bit
about that time When the men came
aboard we were more in our element s,
We gave them whisky, and it did them
no end of good.
As the last boat hove in sight, a glare
burst out. The Veendam was on firs.
The rescued passengers huddled to-
gether, set up a wall They had Moth
ing in the world except what was on
their Backs
PRAYERS OF PASSENGERS
Mendel Mandof and David Devin-
ishke, two steerage passengers Of the
Veendam, both hailing from Russian
Poland, told joint story of what be-
fell the Inflated Holland-American liner.
I'VE had a fairly pleasant VOYAGE from
the start. 1t was after o'clock on Sun
day, and We're three days out that there
came terrible crash. We did not know
what was the matter. The women. for
the most part sick, sprang from their
cots and began to rush about They
shrieked dreadfully. The ship stopped
anu from tle rushing around we knew
that there must be some terrible trouble.
and we began to pray to God for His
protection. Suddenly one of the officers
came into the steerage and ordered all
the men on deck. We obeyed and were
put to work on the pumps. oh, how we
worked the pumps. Our lives depended
on keeping the water down, but pump
rs hard as we could it was no good. We
We're exhausted when a ship came in
sight.
The crew of the Veendam were very
brave fellows. Not man would get of
until all of US were safe. When we were
on the st. Louis and found that not a
soul was missing some of us fell on our
knees and thanked God. We have been
splendidly treated on this ship. We have
40 clothing except what we are wearing,
and that is very dirty
FIVE ANXIOUS HOURS.
Chaia Nyetka, who came to this coun-
try with her father from Russia, spoke
,or the women who were rescued. 1--WE
were nearly all of us sick she said.
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