Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1899-03-23
check the undlsc,pllned rush to the


boats.
For 4S hours and thereafter the first
officer modestly declared he had merely
done his duty, sir, and no good seaman
would have done less The public din
ner to be given in his honor, however
lan2ulshed as project On the later ar.
rival of survivors from Monterey, and
then inquiries began to be made for
Lieutenant Loring and new stories to
appear IL papers that had not already
committed themselves to other versions
Ut the affair, and then it transpired that
something had gone amiss at depart.
ment headquarters.
Lieutenant Loring, after an interview
with the commanding general, had has.
tened to Monterey in search Of the cap.
tain and purser The former he found
there PROSTATE and actually Tightly, SO
much so that he could give no coherent
answer to questions propounded to him
In the marine hospital, suffering from
gunshot wound, was the huge sailor
who had felled the commander to the
deck in the rush for the remaining boats,
rush in which he was ringleader and
piteous tale he told-that he had been
shot by passenger whom he was trying
to prevent from getting into the boat
they were holding for the women
The gallant little second officer had
gone to his wife and children in the
southern part of the state, and was no,
there to tell the truth The captain was
almost delirious. The first officer in
San Francisco had been tacitly posing
as marine lion and could not be well
expected to volunteer information tina,
might rob him of his laurels The sur.
vivors among the passengers were scat
tered by this time, and the purser
whose testimony might be of grea,
value, had disappeared.
"Must be in Frisco, said the agent
who had been sent down to see thai
| every man was furnished with clothing
and money at the company's expense,
and sent on his way measurably com
forted. "Traynor had desperate squeal
for life, said the agent. "He was il
the captains boat when she sank anC
was weighed down with his money
packages, belted about him underneath
his coat, and was hauled ashore more
dead than alive, and some of his valu
ables were lost-he couldn't tell how
much. y
And this was the man Mr. Lorine
most needed to see. There had come Il
department. headquarters person rep
resenting himself as the San Francisco
agent of the Escalante brothers, present
ing written order for valuable pack
age which had been given the pursel
for safe keeping-had been locked by
him in his safe-and which now coulc
be found nowhere. Mr.. Traynor had de
clared to the owners that after getting
the women aboard the boat he had takel
all the money from the safe and sucl
| packages as 1T was possible to carry ant
tossed three or four to Loring as ht
stood balancing himself on a thwar
and clinging to the fall, and that hi
was sure one Of them was that of thu
Senorita Pancha, for she was at thu
moment clasping Loring's knees ant
imploring him to sit down.
The boat was alternately lifting higl
and sinking deep as the great wave
rolled by, and Traynor, while admit
ting haste and excitement, declared tina
he could almost swear that Loring re
! ceived three packages and one of then
must have been that now demanded BY
the Escalantes' agent. Hence the visi
OF that somber person to headquarter.
and his importunate appeals to Loring
who told him the whole story was alb
surd
But, then, this agent had appealed t,
the general, and that officer, who's,
manner the day of Loring's return tt
duty had been marked by odd con
straint, sent for the engineer and re-
CURED Of him a statement as to tn
truth or falsity of these allegations, ant
when Loring, startled and indignant
answered, False, of course sir :" ant
demanded what further accusation Their
was the chief tossed aside the pape
folder he was nervously lingering
sprang up and began to pace the floor
a favorite method said those who lon,
had known him, of working off steam
when he was much excited
II can't discuss this painful matter
Mr.. Loring, . said he testify, you'll
have to see Colonel Strain, the adjutan
! general. This deplorable loss of Colone
Tnrnbull has upset everybody"
So Loring went to Colonel Strain,
man to whom he was but slightl,
known, and then it was developed tina
{! g