Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1898-07-14
This Number, Out of a Total Of
TIA Persons, Were Lost by
the Sinking of La
BourgOgne.
LARGE NUMBER OF GREW SAVED
One Hundred and Five. Out of
a Total of 1914 - All the
First Cabin Passengers
Lost - Stories Told
by Survivors.

Boston,, Mass, July Sl-The Plnnt
line steamer Halifax has arrived hero,
having on board l62 survivors of tho
French line steamer La Bourgogne,
which was sunK in collision with tho
ship Cromartyshire off Sable leland,
last Monday.
Among the survivors was Patrick Mu-
Keuwn of Wilmington, Del.
On this passage from Halifax, La
Bourgoene's passenger ist was carefully
revised and it was shown that thera
were TIA persons on board tho steamer
OF whom $50 were lost and 16i saveds
OF the saved, u were second class and
AZ steerage, and the remaining l05 were
members OF tho crew.
STORY TOLD BY SURVIVORS.
On arriving hero the sbipwreckad
men we're given every necessary atten1
tion. Each 0ne was provided with d
ticket for Now York and special electric
cara were in waiting to conduct the
passengers to the Providence station,
whore they were put on board a train
bound for Nav York.
The correspondent of The Associated
Press, who took passage on tho Halifax
for tho purpose of learning from the
survivors moro Of the dctnils of ths
disaster than had heretofore been
given. during the trip n Boston had
opportunity to come in contact with
very many OF thuse who escaped. Their
stories OF experience were thrilling, and
many Of them gavs horrifying details
0f brutality, IL not of murder, possibly
never equalled in the history of the
merchant marine.
Among the survivors there wers a
few who could speak English we'll, but
must of them could communicate with
the correspondent only through an in
terpreter. Some Of them showed the
marks and bruises received during the
terrible struggle for life.
Among those on board the Halifax
not one could be found who was on
deck at tha time the collision occurred.
The only man saved from La Bourgogne
who was on deck when the ships ntruck
was Mr.. La Case, who left Halifax by
rail, saying he had had enough of the
sea. Mrs. La Case, the only woman
saved. accompanied her husband on the
train.
SOME WENT TO DEATH IN sLHEP.
The survivors agree that when La
Bourgogne was struck by the Cr0marty-
shire the shock was not great. There
fore it Ia believed that many Of the pas
sengers never awoke. The statements
as to the time intervening between the
collision and the sinking Of La Bour-
gogne vary greatly. Some say 10 or ID
minutes and others say 30 or 20 minutes,
while one man was certain it was a full
hour
The blow struck La Burgogue was
hn III n
against by water tight doors.
Among the remarkable escapes we're
those of three stokers of La Bourgogne,
who although they were warned Ivy
other members OF the crew not to talk
about the accident told of their ex-
periences.
Louie LIE Julien, Jean Alvany and
Francois Emilio are the stokers They
we're In the stoke hole when the acct
dent occurred. Their story in sub
stance is us follows:
THRILLING STORY.
The engines were stopped after tho
collision and subsequently were started
in the hope of Bleaching the steamer on
Sable lsland. About five minutes altar
the crash the water began to come into
tho boiler room and soon 1t rushed in
Ia great volumes. The pumps wero
tried, but TO no avail. The water nut
tho fires out and the engines stopped.
The chief engineer gave orders to close
the water'tight doors, but even when
they were closed the water came in
almost ms fast as before. Then all hons
was abandoned and the enginser blew
twice on the whistle, the signal for all
to escape who could do so. There was
a rush, but about Is men were drowned
in the stokeholes and engine room. The
three men who succeeded in getting
out found that all the boats had left,
anu they ut once plunged into the sea,
Thsy were picked up later mud taken
on board the Cromnrtyshirs. \.
u sAvro MONEY, BUT LOST FAMILY.
L. Achart, Fronchman, who has
been come years in Baltimore, was on
his way to Franco with his wife and
twe children. On the morning of the
collision he put them in a boat ninid-
shins md went to get another boat for
himself. Gully ono end of the boat he
got into WIS cut loose, and tho boat
tipped when it descended, throwing the
OCCUPANTS into the water. E','
just at this time the Burgogne's fun
nela gave way and on of them fell di-
rectly across the boat in which
Achard's wife and children had been
placed, crushing il and knocking all
the passengers overheard. One Of the
funnel chains strucs Mrs. Achard ncroas
the chest and literally tore her body
asundor. Achard fell into tho water
when the Bourgogne sunk, but managed
to get hold OF raft, to which he clung
for eight hours
Mr.. Achard had $50, 900 on his person
at the time of the wreck, and il was
savei with him. Ho is, however, hoart-
brokon on account of the loss of his
wife aud children. In his watsh wac a
portrait of lG-years-old daughter, W no
WaB 0rOUnad tnGan onlv "a fan do,a