Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1899-02-27

Baltimore, Feb. 23.--The British
steamship Vittoria, Capt. Wethereh,
arrived yesterday from Hull with four
of the crew Of the missing Hamburg
American liner Bulgaria. The rescued
are Second Mate o. Scharges, Quarter
master Carl Ludtke, and JOnh Schulz
and William Starke, seamen. They
were picked up by the Victoria from an
open boat from the Bulgaria three and
a half hours after they had been cast
adrift Feb. 5. These with the rs
women and children who were picked
up by the steamer WeehaWken and
landed at Ponta Del Gada, Azore isl
ands, week ago, are all that has been
heard of from a crew OF 80 men and Al
passengers which the Bulgaria mad
aboard when she sailed from New YorK
for Bremen Jan. %. Capt. Wetherel
says he sighted the Bulgaria in a dis
abled condition at a. M, Feb. 5.
Flags were flying and the WeehaWken
was standing by and communicating
with the people aboard. He saw the
men aboard the crippled vessel at
tempt to lower boat and just as four
of them got into it it broke loose from
the steamer and drifted away
The four men made an effort
to row back to the Bulgaria
but could not approach her on account
of the high seas. The Vittoria was
preparing to lower boat when the
four men came alongside. After con-
siderable difficulty they were taken
aboard. During a lull the second Of
ficer of the Bulgaria, accompanied by
six of the crew Of the Vittoria, manned
the boat just vacated and started for
the sinking steamer. They were
scarcely away from the side Of the Wit
toria, however, before another gale be-
gan and the brave fellows not being
able to reach the Bulgaria, found it i'm
possible to return to the VittOria until
several hours had passed. Capt
WethereT would not abandon the hope
of being of assistance to those on
board the Inflated vessel and remained
in sight of her until nightfall when
perfect hurricane arose and carried the
waiting ship miles away. In the
morning the Bulgaria could not be
seen and the Vittoria proceeded on her
way.
The story of the experience of the
Bulgaria as told by the second Of
ficer, Scharges, is a thrilling one.
"On February l, at about p. m"
said he, "a hurricane so severe was en-
countered that it was found impossible
to make any Roadway, and at 2 a. M,
the following day we were forced to
heave to. The flying bridges, both
fore and aft, were carried away and
seaman and passengers were afraid to
venture on deck for fear of being
swept into the seas. About Z a. m, the
spring in the rudder which is used to
break the strain Of heavy seas, col
lapsed and soon afterwards the entire
steering gear was washed away. The
steamer then fell in the trough and
was left at the mercy Of the wind and
waves. Sea after sea swept over us,
smashing in the doors of the cabin
and deck houses, flooding the main
deck. and washing in the awning deck
and creating havoc and disorder all
over the ship. To make matters worse
100 horses that were stabbed on the
upper forward deck, stampeded and IN
their fright made a wild dash, tramp
ling each other to death. This state
of affairs lasted until all but 20 had
been killed or drowned in the wash Of
the waves. Then the butcher
of the vessel with a number
of seamen went into the pen and tried
to quiet the beasts that remained.
This failing, as did also the attempt to
force the frenzied animals overheard,
their threats were cut. Before the
maddened animals were dispatched,
however, the butcher had both MS legs
broken and one seaman was badly in
jured. Any idea that our troubles
were over was soon dispelled when 1t
was found that the vessel was leaking.
All the hatch coverings had been
blown off and before they could be re-
placed four Of the seven holds We're
filled and all had considerable water IN |
them. The cargo next shifted, listing