Omaha daily bee., 1899-02-23
RESCUES OF THE VITTORIA
Arrives at Baltimore with -Four Of Grew Of
Missing Bulgaria,
OFFICER BELIEVES lol PEOPLE PERISHEr
Thrilling Tale of the Attempts mt
Rescue and How Passengers
and Crew BnttIcd for Life
in storm.

in storm.
BALTIMORE, Feb 22.--The steamer Wit
toria, Captain Wetherell, arrived today |
from Hull via Hampton Roads with four of
the crew of the missing Hamburg American.
liner Bulgaria. The rescued mariners are:
o. Scharges, second mate.
Carl Ludkte and John Schultz, quarter
masters
viii Starke, seaman.
They we're picked up by the Vittoria from |
an open boat from the Bulgaria three and !
half hours after they had been cast adrift |
in latitude 40 north longitude 43 west, on |
February 3.
These, with the twenty women and |
children, who were picked up by the tank
steamer Weehawken and landed in Ponta |
del Gado, Azores, week ago, are all that /
have been heard from of the crew of eighty |
nine men and forty-one passengers which |
the Bulgaria had on board when 1t sailed |
from New York for Bremen January 2S.
Captain Wetherell said that he sighted the
Bulgaria in disabled condition at a. m |
February 5, flags flying and the tank
, steamer Weehawken standing by and com-
muniCatng with 1t.
There was a heavy sea on and his vessel
drifted away from the disabled craft, but he
again located it. He saw the men aboard
| the crippled vessel attempt to lower boat
and just as four of them got into 1t 1t broke
| loose from the steamer and drifted away.
The four men made an effort to row back to
the Bulgaria, but could not reach it on ac-
count of the high seas.
Could Not Reach Steamer.
| The Vittoria was preparing to lower
boat to go to the assistance of those on the
Bulgaria when the four men came alongside.
After considerable difficulty they were taken
aboard During lull the second officer OF
the Bulgaria accompanied by six of the
| crew of the Vittora manned the boat just
vacated and started for.the sinking steamer.
| They were scarcely away from the side of
the vittoria, however, before another gale
began and the brave fellows not being able
to reach the Bulgaria, found it impossible
to return to the Vittoria until several hours
| had passed. Captain Wetherell would not
abandon hope of being of assistance to those
on board the il-fated vessel and remained
| in sight of it until nightfall, when a per-
| feet hurricane arose and carried the walt
ing ship miles away. In the morning the
Bulgaria was not to be seen and the Wit
| tora proceeded on its journey.
The story of the experience of the Bull
garia as told by Second officer Scharges is
a thrilling one:
"On February 1 about p. M" said he,
"a hurricane of so severe nature was
encountered that it was found impossible to
! make any headway and at a. m. the fol-
lowing day we were forced to heave to-
The flying bridges, both fore and after, were
lcsrried away -and-eentnen and4s passengsrs
! were afraid to venture or deck for fear OF
being swept into the sea.
Panic Reiens on Board.
"Sea after sea swept over us smashing in
| the doors of the cabin and deckhouses,
flooding the main deck washing in the
awning deck and creating havoc all over the
! ship. To make matters worse 100 horses
that were stabbed on the upper forward deck
stampeded and in their fright made wild
DASH trampling each other to death. This
state of affairs lasted until all but twenty
| 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 re-
mained. This failing, as did the attempt to
force the frenzied animals overboard-their
throats were cut. Before the maddened
animals were dispatched however, the
| butcher had both his legs broken and one
of the seamen was badly injured.
"Any idea that our troubles were over
was soon dispeled when it was found the
vessel was leaking. The hatch coverings
had been blown off, and before they could
| be replaced four of the seven holds filled
and all had considerable water in them.
| The cargo next shifted and for seventy-two
| hours passengers and crew worked like
| slaves, throwing cargo overheard to tighten
| the ship, but it of no avail. Inch by
inch, foot by foot, the ship settled, and as
it sunk deeper the waves washed with
greater force and freedom over it. One
wave carried away eight of the lifeboats
from the low-lying port side and with these
went much of the hope from the hearts of
the passengers and crew.
Land Women and Children.
"At o'clock on the morning of the 5th,"
Scharges continued, the order was given to
call all hands on deck to prepare to take
to the small boats. The water had flooded
the engine room and four pumps could not
keep 1t down 1t was then up to the crate
bars but the firemen still managed to keep
the fires burning. Each passenger and sea-
man was given a life preserver and the
remaining boats were gotten ready and
provsioned. Shortly after daylight the
three steamers-the Weehawken, Vittoria
and Koordistan-one after another, hove in
sight, The Weehawken was The first to be
OF service, as it sent two boats in which the
twenty-five women and children were placed.
These were landed safely on the Weehaw-
ken, but after that the storm increased in
violence. One of our boats was smashed
and it became almost impossible to lower
another on account OF the vessel being so
far down on the port side and correspond
ing high on the starboard where the re-
naming beats were made fast. Another at
tempt was made and one was successfully
gotten into the sea. ! and the three men
who We're saved with me jumped into 1t to
take the oars when by some unfortunate
accident we were cut loose. The men on
the vessel were seen after that to try re-
peatedly TO lower another boat, but without
success"
Offlcer Scharges is reasonably sure that
1Ol persons went down with the Bulgaria.
The passengers on board were in the steer
age, being mostly Germans from different
parts of the United States.
The Bulgaria was not a regular liner and
had been in the service OF the Hamburg
American line about a year.