The San Francisco call., 1899-04-01
STEAMER CRASHES
ON CASQUET ROCKS
AND MANY PERISH

through London, in the absence of the
usual newspapers, to-day being Good
Friday. AS the afternoon advanced
small groups gathered at the Waterloo
station, where many painful scenes oc-
Cured. A large crowd collected to wait
the arrival of the train from South
ampton this evening, which brought
three of the survivors, David. King, a
London merchant, Heilbron and Green
er, all of whom bore evident traces of
their sufferings. King, who was among
the last to leave the ship, said:
Toward evening we encountered a
mist, which soon developed into a dense
sion. Suddenly great Shock told us
that the Stella had struck the rocks.
Screams rent the air, but the GOODNESS OF
the officers considerably allayed the ex-
citement. The crew behaved splendidly,
lowering the boats with the greatest
promptitude. Every woman was supplied
there would be time enough for all the
boats to clear away, but suddenly the
boilers burst with a deafening report,
rending the ship amidships.
King and two firemen, Osborne and
Bailey were the last to leave the YES
sci. King had just given up a life belt to
aid a clergyman's wife and was liter
ally pulled into boat by Second Mate
Reynolds, who was instrumental in
saving many lives.
The boat with twenty-five persons
drifted for fifteen hours in the intense
cold and was finally picked up by the
Great Western Railways steamer Vera
from Southampton. King believes that
five boats were launched. He saw one
upturned with children clinging to it.
The Cherbourg correspondent of the
Daily Mail says: The eight passengers
of the Stella who were landed here were
rescued from a boat that originally con-
tained fourteen men. The boat capsiZed
and six We're drowned. The others clung
to the keel for five hours and then man
aged to right the boat, which was half
full of water.
Other accounts say that Captain
Rocks supposed the fog was merely in
banks as is the usual experience, and
decided to run through it, but as it be-
came continually 'denser he lost his
bearings.
When the Stella struck there was a
terrible sensation, noise Of metal and
woodwork being torn away, the vessel
passing over the jagged rocks at full
speed and her side being ripped open
like matchwood. When she slid over
the rocks she turned completely over
carrying a lot of people with her.
The eight survivors who were landed
at Cherbourg by the tug Marsouin were
picked off floating furniture vans by a
fishing boat. The ladies on board one
of the lifeboats sang hymns all night
long to keep up the spirits of their
companions.
Two bodies We're washed ashore on
the island of Alderney.
One passenger says he remarked to
the crew on the high rate of speed at
which the Stella was travelling in the
fog, telling them he did not consider it
safe.
The Daily Mail will publish to-mor-
row dispatches from several passengers
urging the paper to demand a thorough
investigation as to whether the steamer
was racing against time.
The testimony of the passengers who
have arrived here confirms the early ac-
counts of the disaster except that some
deny that the boilers exploded. Hopes
are still entertained that others may
have been picked up. There is no indi-
cation that there were any Americans
on board except Mr.. and Mrs. Parton.
The steamer Stella, which belonged to
the London and Southwestern Railway
and ran in connection with its land
service, was built at Clyde Bank by
Messrs. j. & G. Thompson in 1890. She
was 253 feet long. 35.1 in width and 14.S
in draught. Her gross tonnage was
1059 and her horsepower 495. She was
steel built, had two screws, eight com
partments, water ballast and triple eX-
pansion engines, with schooner rig.