The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1899-04-07
seventy LIVES WERE LOST
PASSENGER STEAMER WRECKED
on CASQUET ROCKS.
SHE FQUNDERED IN A DENSE FOG
Passengers-Scenes Were Most
-.'-,'- 2 % 'Heartrendine.

The passenger steamer Stella, ply
ing between the port of Southampton
and the Channel Islands, crashed up
on the dreaded Casquet rocks, near the
island of Alderney, Thursday after
noon in dense fog, and foundered in
ten minutes, her boiler exploding as
she went down.
Reports as to the number lost are
conflicting, but the officials of the Lon
don and Southwestern Railway Com
pany, which company owns the boat,
said that the drowned will not exceed
seventy.
Other reports make the loss much
higher.
Three boats, including collapsible
boat, are missing.
The Stella left Southampton at noon
Thursday, conveying the first daylight
excursion of the season to the Channel
islands. There were about $50 pas
sengers on board, and the crew num-
bered thirty.f five men. The weather
was foggy, but all went we'll until the
afternoon, when the fog became most
dense.
At 4 o'clock the Casquet rocks sud
! denly loomed up through the fog bank,
! and the steamer almost Immediately
afterwards struck amidships.
The captain seeing that the Stella
was fast sinking ordered the lifeboats
launched. His instructions were car
ried out with the utmost celebrity and
the women and children were embarked
in the boats. The captain ordered the
men to look after themselves.
A survivor states that he and TWEEN
ty-five others put off from the Stella in
a small boat. The sea was calm, but
there was big whirl ai ound the
rocks. When this boat was q short
distance away from the wreck the boil
er Of the Stella burst with terrific ex-
plosion, and the vessel disappeared
stern foremost in the sea.
The last thing the survivor saw was
the figure of the captain of the Stella
standing calmly on the bridge and Civ
ing his last instructions. The captain
perished with his vessel, owing to the
suction caused by the sinking steamer
being very great.
Continuing, the survivor referred to
| said:
The suction was so tremendous that
we thought our boat would be en-
quilted. l saw five boats and the col
lapsible boat besides our own leave the
wreck. They contained altogether be-
tween eighty and one hundred per-
sons. Five of the boats were soon
lost to view, but we took boat filled
of our boat took the oars in turn and
rowed all night long until most of us
dropped asleep, thoroughly exhausted.
eve sighted a snagboat also in the
morning" said the survivor, "but the
Great Western Railway Company's
steamer Lynx, from Weymouth, had
meanwhile hove in sight. She bore
down on us and took all on board.
She eventually landed us at Guernsey. ("
Forty Survivors Rescued.
The Great Western Railway Com
pany's steamer Vera, from Sputhamp-
ton, picked up forty others Of the sur.
vivors and landed them at Guernsey.
Up to noon Friday 1O2 passengers
had been accounted for. Later &C.
counts say that the Stella had 140 pas
sengers on board, and that her crew
numbered AZ.
Another steamer of the same com.
pany which arrived at the island of
Guernsey about noon Friday reports
having passed many victims of the
disaster about the Casquet rocks.
The passengers all agree that per-
feet order and discipline prevailed on
board the Stella The crew promptly
took up their stations when the steamer
struck, served out the lifebelts and
lowered the boats.
The scene at the moment of the
sinking of the vessel was heartrending.
Women were screaming and praying,
and people were clinging to spars and
other wreckage in all directions.
Those who had succeeded in getting
into the boats had narrow escape
from being engulfed on account of the
suction caused by the sinking vessel,
The boats were adrift for fifteen
hours, during which time their occu-
pants were without food or water, and
as their clothes were drenched, they
suffered greatly.
The disaster is generally attributed
to the high speed at which the steamer
was travelling In the fog.
Many pathetic incidents are reported.
In several cases men lifted their wives
and children into the boats and then
perished themselves in their presence.
One wife who was thus bereaved lost
her reason.
A large number Of the survivors ar
rived at Southampton without any
clothing, clad only in blankets.