The record-union., 1899-08-17

raised her flag as a challenge of speed,
and then getting again under head
way passed the Sonora at the bar
Outside the vessels separated, and the
Yankee Blade immediately ran into
dense fog. The next afternoon at
o'clock, while running at full headway,
and when it was supposed she was ten
miles from shore, she ran on a reef OF
rocks at Point Arguello, about seventy
five miles north of Santa Barbara. The
momentum run her bow about sixty
feet onto the reef, while her stern
swung in nine fathoms of water. In
less than twenty-five minutes the stern
sunk below the promenade deck, but
fortunately the forward part was SO
firmly embedded in the rocks that the
vessel did not recede an inch. There
was a scene of fearful confusion as
the passengers crowded to the front of
the vessel-their only chance for safety.
| The boats were lowered, a landing
place found with difficulty owing to the
fog, and ths work Of landing the pas
sengers commenced.
! 1t is stated that as soon as the YES
sci struck a gang of desperadoes armed
themselves, broke open the bar and be-
came intoxicated, and then rified the
trunks and persons of the passengers
of money. The ship was entirely under
their control Knives and pistols were
used on the passengers, who attempted
to save their property, and one of them
was shot to death. 1t was believed
afterward that the compass had been
| tampered with for the purpose OIL
wrecking the vessel. for pillage. Before
dark the promenade deck and houses
aft the shaft had been all washed
away, and other portions of the vessel
were torn down to build RATS to use
in case of a sudden storm for it could
not be told how soon a gale might
srtike the ship and shatter her remain
ing timbers.
Night came on, and the fog which
had for a short time lifted again fell,
and the boats ceased running, as 1t
was not possible to find the shore. A
passenger said: THE terrors of our sit
uation began to stare us in the face,
and amid the violence of the wind and
the roaring of the waves as they broke
upon the deck, there arose loud accents
| of ardent and despairing prayer. Con-
| fusion in the widest sense prevailed.
| There were those who had prepared to
| swim ashore, stiffened as they were
with the cold; there were those who
had sought to drown their fears in too
frequent libationS of the ardent; While
/ there We're those who with calm resiS-
nation had prepared themselves for the
worst and awaited their fate in si-
! lence. We passed terrible night,
made still more solemn by the dirge-
like tolling of the bell, which seemed
to beckon US to our funeral
The scene on shore was equally
frightful. The boat that the first Off
Ger commanded, with twenty-One souls,
mostly women, was swamped and all
but three drowned. During the night
number OF bodies washed ashore,
among others that of a woman with a
child clasped in her arms.
At daybreak the boats were set to
running again, and at 8 O'Clock the
| Goliah appeared. Her coming was
providential, for the two remaining
boats of the Yankee Blade could not
| day, and the wreck went TO pieces that
night.
/ When the Goliah arrived there were
about 800 persons on the wreck, and
| during the day she took off all she
could carry, over 600, and her boats as
sited in landing the balance. She land
ed her passengers at San Diego on the
| 4th and Immediately returned to the
! scene of the disaster and rescued 361
/ Of those that remained. The balance
were taken away by the steamer
! Brother Jonathan.
! Among the passengers were~the late
! Colonel James McNasser and DR.. G.. L.
/ Simmons of this city. The latter had
| been in practice here and was going
! back to take a. postgraduate course in
an Eastern college.
! About 1873 Judge S. C. benson was
/ at Santa Barbara holding a session of
the District Court, and accepted an in
vitation to dine with Dixie Thompson,
/ for many years proprietor of the Ar
| lington Hotel Among the books he
found in his hosts library was a die
! tionary that had apparently received
hard usage It's appearance attracted
the Judges attention, and on opening
it he observed the name of Dr. Sim
mons written on the f1y-leaf. He asked
! his friend where he had come across
/ the book. The reply was that chest
of books had washed ashore from the
wreck Of the Yankee Blade, and this
I one was among them. He added that
he supposed the owner of the diction
ary had perished in the disaster. The
Judge said that, far from being dead,
the doctor was in Sacramento and was
an intimate friend Of his. The book,
with quite a number of others, was re-
| turned to the owner something like a
| quarter of a century after the mem
! orable event that accomnanied its loss