The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-02-13
LINER LOST IN MIDOCEAN
GRAPHIC STORY OF THE WRECK or
THE VEENDAM
Crew and Passengers of the III
Fated Craft Taken OF Safely by
the American Ship ST. Louis
Stories Told by Those Who Were
Board.

NEW YORK, Feb 12-The American
line steamer st. Louis, Capt. Randle,
which arrived today from Southamp-
ton, reports the loss at sea of the Hol-
land d-American line steamer Veendam,
Capt. Singer, from Rotterdam, for
New York
The passengers and crew of the
Veendam were saved by the st. Louis
The st. Louis was very slow in max
ing her dock owing to the dense fog
which overhung the river. great
crowd awaited her arrival. When the
American liner was finally moored,
Thomas G. Seagrave, first officer, who
commanded the first beat that was low
ered and who, according to all accounts,
is the real hero of the rescue, told a
modest story of the occurrence. He
said:
1t shortly after / o'clock Monday
morning last that the officers on board the
st. Louis first noticed the signals of dis
tress so familiar to and yet so dreaded by
seamen The rockets were being fired
near as can judge about five miles to the
starbCard Of us. Orders at once given
and the st. Louis promptly changed her
course.
AS soon as we got close enough to the i'll
fated vessel signals were run up in warn
Ing that the vessel was in so; deStress and
that the passengers and crew desired to be
taken Oif as soon possible With the aid
or glasses, we discovered that the ship in
distress had an immense hole in her side
to the aft and was slowly, but steadily settl-
ing. A high rolling sea was running at the
time A storm had been raging few hours
previously, but it had calmed considerably.
Our capita. at once ordered the life boats
manned and the work of rescue began. !
go was given command of the first boat to be
lowered. We were then lying off about a
quarter of mile from the Veendam. AS
our life boats drew near we could plainly
hear the cries of distress from the sh.vering
and frightened passengers. AS as we
got closer by Capt. Stenger told me there
n nF u hn IL nd tI,g
all haste should be made in transferring the
passengers to the st. Louis.
The first to be taken from the Veendam
was a six months old baby. Following this
about twenty more children, ranging in
age from the swaddling clothes period up
to 10 to Il, were lowered to our boat
AS soon this was done we pushed off
and made back to the st. Louis, where the
youngsters were taken on board. The
Veendam was laboring in a heavy sea and
the work of rescue was difficult. The pas
sengers were lowered from the ships side
by means of life slings.
Intense Excitement.
The excitement on board the Veendam
was intense but Capt. Stenger and his crew
managed to keep the passengers in scme
kind of discipline.
After all the children were taken from the
Veendam the women were transferred t. the
life boats. Next came the men, and last OF
all the ships crew. Many Of the women
were so overcome that they had to be
picked up and dropped overheard into the
arms Of the lifeboat crew. Capt. Stenger
behaved like hero. Not only did he di-
rect the efforts of his officers and crew,
but he personally assisted in lowering the
children and moro timid of the women.
The second boat to be lowered from the
st. Louis was commanded by George Beck
with, senior second officer. No sooner had
this boat settled into the sea than an i'm
mense swell smashed it against the ships
yard and crushed it. Another boat was
quickly lowered and into this Officer Beck
tran hie
boat took eighteen women from the Veen-
dam.
Henry Campbell, second officer of the
st. Louis commanded the third boat, which
also took eighteen passengers. BY the
time the third boat had pushed off from
the Veendam had against arrived with my
boat, and in the meantime two OF the Veen-
dams life boats had been lowered, manned
by the first and second officers of the
Veendam. The second boat foundered be-
fore any passengers had been taken aboard
The crew, however, was quickly rescued
1t was 4:5S a. IN. 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 ninety passengers;
Beckwith's made two and transferred Sc pas
sengers; Campbell's made two and also
transferred 36 passengers, and the Veen-
dams boats made three trips and carried a
total of so passengers.
The last man to leave the Veendam was
Capt. Stenger l had to call him several
times before he swung himself over the
side and left the ship to her fate.
This is the second rescue in which
Mr.. SeagraVe has played a prominent
part.
Another Story.
Archer Brown. of this city, was a
passenger on the st. Louis Describ-