The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1899-11-19
THE MORGAN CITY DISASTER.
sACRAMENTAN'S DESCRIPTION
OF THE WRECK.
interesting Letter From Edmund
T. Spillman, Now Located
in Manila.
Manila Up. 10, Oct. II. 1899.

Manila CP. ~, Oct. II, 1879
Alden w. Campbell, Waterman, P. ..
Building. Sacramento, Cal. = Dear
Friend Alden: l received your most
welcome letter of September 9th day
before yesterday morning 1 wrote you
some time ago, in answer TO the first
letter l received from you. | am very
grateful to you for the clippings you
sent me, and, Alden, you have no idea
how L appreciate your kindness. was
anxious to get all the news, and shall
try and repay you some way for your
trouble. Say, the Gilt Edges are the
people," are they not? l guess they
viii have no trouble in winning out OF
course, by the time this reaches you
the season will be about over. Be sure
and send me all the clippings about
the game. l will be a thousand times
obliged to you.
Well, what is all the news around
Sacramento, especially around the
Postoffice? How do they work the
shifts these days? Suppose Rivett has
my old shift l received a letter from
my brother Harry, and he said the Sac
catalogues. Well, l know what that is.
How is Walter H? Who is the new
clerk? Remember me to all the boys
in the office, and tell them l have a
good thing" over here, and that L am
going to stay with it until l get quite
sack saved up. Remember me per-
sonally to Mr.. Van Denburgh, and tell
him that l appreciate his kindness very
much indeed in remembering my folks
by sending them the 'Record-Union. =
shall make it my special effort to re-
pay him for his acts of kindness when
1 return. l know my mother is thank
full to him, for she likes the Record
Union" better than the other Sacra-
mento papers, and is always anxious to
get it.
In my first letter to you / said l would
write you a long letter about my trip
by the transport that was to follow, but
it just seemed as if 1 could not get the
time to write then, so I will try and re-
deem myself and tell you all in this
letter. Well, my voyage on the Nor
gan City up to the time she was
wrecked on the rocks, far up the Inland
Sea. on that dark and stormy morning
of September I'd, was most enjoyable
one. 1 did not get the least bit sea
sick. 1 was well all the way over, and
had a fine time. The weather was beat
tiful, and we only struck one or two
stormy days, and / enjoyed them. The
ship had been sailing along on almost
schedule time. We were able to see
land, for the first time since leaving
San Francisco, on the morning of Au-
gust 31st at $40, off the southeast
coast of Japan. The ship was then
about forty miles from shore AT y
a. m. the same day We were opposite
and close to the Kings Head Light
house, in longitude no east 1t was a
beautiful country along the coast that
morning. Everything was green and
nice. and the native villages are so nu-
merous that one merges into the other.
1t is this way along the entire coast.
There are thousands of islands off the
main one, which makes it dangerous
navigating among them.
The next day, September list, at >
p. IN, We arrived at Kobe, Japan. All
day long the ship steamed in a zig
gag course up the Inland Sea, lodging
the numerous islands and passing VIII
lage after village, and often large cities.
their population running into the hun
dred thousands. At Kobe we met the
transport Valencia bound for home,
and it was on this boat that / returned
my letters to Sacramento via San Fran
cisco. Remained in Kobe about one
half hour, took on an experienced pilot
and left at $50 on the dangerous night
voyage through the worst and narrow
est part of the Inland Sea route. Little
did l think, as the good ship steamed
along, that in less than ten hours she
would be a wreck at the bottom of the
sea.
1t was a beautiful sight to see the
sun go down back of the green hills
of the land of the AIikado. BY 6 o'clock
darkness was on and a storm threatens
ing the ship. Scores On scores of light
houses We're burning in all directions.
but by O'Clock it became so dark and
the rain was coming down so heavy
that their lights could hardly be seen
We all retired early on account of the
storm that was with us. Our sleep came
near being longer than we had antici-
pated, but our Creator was with US,
and we all came out safe and sound
and gamer in more ways than one. My
terrible experience and narrow escape.
also that awful crashing of the sides of
the ship at that moment, l shall never
forget
1 notice in the dispatches in the San
Francisco papers that they all said it
happened on September LIST. 1t was
no doubt September LIST to the people IN
the United States, but by time, date and
longitude in Japan it was September
ID at $40 a. m. 1t must have been
about s p. m. on September 1st to you
people. / was sleeping as sound as a
log when it all happened, and maybe
you think ] was not startled when that
awful crash awoke me from my SUM
Der. I was almost dazed for a few
moments. My berth was on the same
side of the ship that struck the rock,
and well toward the bow at that.
got out of my bed in a hurry ana
gazed out of the portfolio. All that |
could see was the darkness of the night
and the pickering of the lighthouse
lights. On our right was the danger
signal, in the shape of an intermittent
lighthouse, with its red flashing lights.
Right here is where our pilot lost his
bearings. He should have been to the