The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-12-01
THE PORTLAND WRECK.
No: q Sonl Rescued From the III
Fated Passenger Steamer.
ALL SWALLOWED UP BY THE SEA.
1t Is Now Definitely Determined That
the Catastrophe Occurred on Sunday
Forcnoon-SiXteen Bodies Of Victims
have Been Washed Ashore.


have Been Washed Ashore.
Provincetown, Mass, Dec. 1.-The
steamship Portland. plying between
Boston and Portland, was swallowed
by the sea in last Sundays storm Off
High Head. OF all the ships company
of over 100 souls not one survives, and
the stsrx Of the disaster will never be
told. .F>sixteen bodies have came ashore.
and 1t is not likely that many more
will be recovered.
The exact number of persons who
were carried away from Boston by the
Portland will probably never be known.
as no list Of passengers was retained
on shore when the vessel left last Sat
urday. Many estimates of the number
on board have been made, but the esti-
mates have seldom agreed. c. F. Will
Jams. Boston agent of the Portland
Steamship company, places the total
number Of persons on the steamer at
100, or possibly 1876. This estimate,
however, is generally regarded as
rather small. 1t is probable that 120.
including the passengers and crew, Is
nearer the correct number.
3NCdIiy CNeiy sea Captain HluiiHct
on the cape. on being asked for an
opinion. states that every one on board
was undoubtedly lost. One feature of
the disaster Is the absence of any
fragments of a lifeboat or life raft
among the varied mass of wreckage Of
: the Portland which has been washed
ashore during the last three days along
the beach from High Head station to
Chatham
One theory Is that the boats and life
RATS We're carried far out to sea and
were not blown anywhere near this
coast. Old mariners say they cannot
understand why the steamer. which
about Q o'clock Saturday night, just
before the gale broke In its full force,
was sighted between Thatchers ISL
and and Eastern Point. Cape Ann. by
the schooner Maud S, did not put into
Gloucester harbor when 1t was ap-
parent from the fall of the barometer
that violent northeaster was ap-
preaching. Why the Portland ever left
Boston at all Saturday night Is what
puzzles marine men on Cape Cod.
1t was off Thatchers Island that the
Portland was last reported before she
went to her doom. There are many
theories offered in explanation of how
the vessel reached point near the tip
end of Cape Cod. Although the exact
location of where she went to pieces
Will probably never be known, it is
generally believed here that the wreck
occurred at point ten or possibly Ii
miles north of Peaked Hill bars, which
would be from As to SO miles from
where she was sighted by the Maud S.
The tremendous seas which she must,
have encountered off Cape Ann un-
doubtedly damaged her. and when Cap
tain Blanchard saw that he could pro-
coed no further eastward it was
thought by some that he resolved to
make for the open sea to avoid the
. dangers along the coast.
: The time that the Portland was lost
Is placed at from to 10 o'clock Sun
day forenoon. The watches found on
the bodies washed ashore had nearly
all stopped between those hours. The
wreck could not have occurred between
those hours Saturday night. in the
Judgment of all competent authorities.
rs in that case the wreckage would
have been washsd ashore at points in
Massachusetts bay. Furthermore. the
force of the storm at 10 o'clock Sat
urday night was not sufficiently heavy
to.cause the vessel to founder.
Another incident that tends to place
the time of the wreck on Sunday morn
Ing was reported by the crew of the
Race Point life saving station. Race
Point forms the tip Of Cape Cod. The
life saving crew there during the height
of the storm heard four sharp whistles
from a steamer, which was recognized
as a danger signal. The signal was
heard at about 7:45 o'clock, and the
crew hastily manned the boats to give
assistance if possible. A terrible tenn
pest was raging, and 1t was SO thick
that 1t was impossible to see any dis
tance off shore. The crew could To-
cate no steamer, and the blasts of ths
whistle were heard only once. The men
are of the opinion that the whistle
came from the Portland some time be-
fore she foundered, for it Is generally
believed she went to the bottom and
was not wrecked by going on shore.
The opinion Is also general here that
the boat was gradually battered to
pieces by the mountainous seas, the
upper fittings being carried away until
the water began to pour into her The
fact that her wheel was found with
ropes attached on the Orleans shore
Is taken to indicate that the pilots
were powerless to control the vessels
course in the bay, and that they were
obliged to lash the wheel.
When the hull went under the upper
dack and fittings We're loosened by
the action of the seas. This part of
the ship, not including the furnishings
were practically the only ones of the
vessel that were strewn along the outer
coast of Cape Cod. The absence of any
very large sections on the coast is ac-
counted for by the theory that the hull
itself went to the bottom. The largest
Piece of wreckaGe reported was a piece
about 80 feet long. Before the i'll fated
steamer too her final plunge the pas
sengers and crew, 1t would seem,
adopted all means at their command to
sarev their lives, as is shown by the
large number Of life preservers and
belts found among the first portions
of the wreckage.
The first body from the wreck came
ashore at High Head, which is few
miles further down the outer coast of
the cape from the Peaked Hill station.
1t was found on Monday morning. The
next bodies found were picked up at
points further south on the same day.
and the life preservers, two or three
cases of baggage, lard, tobacco, paper
and other stuff from the cargo began
to pile up on the shore south of High
Head. Little wreckage was found
north of that point. The swift under
tow off shore carried an immense
amount of debris and many bodies
south as far as Mononomoy Beach and
Nantucket Sound. The northern limit
indicated that the wreck was near High
Head.
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