The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1899-11-19

right of this signal, instead of the left
He had run the ship about 300 yards
past the signal and half-mile to the
left, when he realized his mistake he
then attempted to get the ship on It's
proper course by turning to the right.
He would have made it safely, but in
the darkness of the night he failed 10
notice a large island of solid rock that
was directly ahead of the ship. Ihe
lookout shouted, Land ahead' The
signal was flashed to the engine-room,
and the engines were reversed, but II
was. too late. The forward motion OF
the boat and the current carried hef
against that island of rock
If she had struck with the force OF
the engines there is no telling what
would have been the result. Most like
ly we would all have gone down, there
and then, for there was no place TO
land, as the island was straight up ana
down. The engines whistled the sig
nails of distress for fully half an hour,
but no boats came to the relief of the
disabled vessel. You can wager that
1 lost very little time in getting out Of
my berth While dressing I expected
|
rushing into my sleeping apartment, but
the boat had not begun to fill yet. WE'LL
when 1 got on the main deck there L
saw the ship fastened high and dry on
the rock, with her bow fully twenty-five
feet higher than the aft. The tide arose
about 3 o'clock, and the troops we've
sent to the rear to bear the boat down
so that she would leave the rock.
This plan was successful for at a little
past ) she backed off, but when she did
that part of the rock to which she was
fastened pulled a large hole in the bow
end just below the Water-line. Then II
was that she began to fill, so the Cap
tain had her steam with all speed for
the beach of Inoshima Island, about SIX
miles away.
In twenty minutes time the boat took
ten feet of water and it was telling on
her pretty fast. Within one-half hour
after she backed away from the rock
she was stranded ON the sands of the
island mentioned above, lying at an
angle of about 80 degrees. AS there
was no immediate danger of her sink
ing right then, we all ate breakfast
while the troops were being taken
bread under my dishes to get them
level so that the food would not slide
off. and let me assure you l ate my
breakfast in hurry that morning, all
right for the boat was settling slowly
but surely. At s o'clock was safe on
the sands of the beach.
| did not lose a thing, but got quite
a lot of souvenirs of the ship before
1 left it. The tide went out at
o'clock, so the boat was high and dry.
A great deal was taken off, but most
of the stuff was entirely ruined and
was left behind AT 2 p. m. l returned
with the rest of the first-claSs passen-
gers and ate lunch. By the time we
finished and got on shore the tide was
rising. In less than fifteen minutes
the boat began to settle once more.
Suddenly she gave a lunge, followed
by the noise of the suction, and all was
over with the Morgan City, for she was
at the bottom of the Inland Sea, with
nothing visible but the tip of her for
ward mast and a space of about three
feet square at the bow. There were
about twenty-five people on the boat
when she began to go down. They all
rushed for the bow end and jumped for
their lives. 1t was a thrilling scene
to see them jump from the bow as it
arose high in the air. Those that could
not swim We're picked up by the life
boats. They had been warned to keep
off the ship, but their curiosity would
take them there, and they came near
paying for it with their lives.
1t would be bad enough to have this
disaster occur in American waters, but
to have it happen 800 miles from
home, on Oriental shores, makes it
harder to bear. The whistle on the en-
gines We're blown long and loud, as the
Inflated ship lay wrecked on the beach.
An Argentine Republic man-of-war
came by and put off one of her life
boats and came over to where we were
stranded. They remained with US for
about an hour. AS their ship started
on her journey up the sea they hoisted
the American flag to the top of the
mast of their fighting ship as a salute
to our ship 1t was a very touching
scene, l must say.
Thousands of Japanese swarmed
around US from the neighboring islands.
The little brown men did noble work in
removing the troops and cargo from the
I
ing to make them understand anything
at all, but managed to get along. We
clerks spent one night on the beach,
That was the night of the day we were
shipwrecked- I tell you We had a hard
time of it, too. The rain would come
down in torrents for an hour or So
then it would let up for an hour, and
then commence again. 1t was that way
all night long, and I do not believe [
ever passed such a miserable night in
my life. The transport Zealandia was
expected to pass some time during the
night, and for this reason lights of
distress We're thrown into the sky
whenever a ship approached, but no
transport passed, at least none of the
ships that went by were American. for
they paid no attention to our signals.
The night having been worried
through, and Sunday morning with US,
we Immediately set about to make ar
rangements to get through to Maya
saki- By 10 a. m. everything was in
readiness; SO we left the dear old Nor
gan City and all behind. The six clerks
hired couple of Japanese to take us
to Onomichi in their boat, eight miles
north. This place is up the Inland Sea,
on the Kobe and Nagasaki Railroad
We arrived at Onomichi at $50 D. M.
and at $40 p. m. boarded the train
bound for Nagasaki, which place was
oo0 miles away, and was not due to ar
rive there until $50 p. m the next day
Maybe you think 1t did not seem
strange to speed along on a railroad
train after spending twenty-five days