Willmar tribune., 1899-10-18
\ STEAMER BURNED.
Fire Destroys the Nutmeg State
Of the Atlantic Coast.
TEN OF THOSE on BOARD PERISH.

The Loss OF Life IL Caused for the
Most Part by the Brutality OF
Men Eager to Make
Their Escape.
New York, Oct. 1o.-The Bridgeport
line steamer Nutmeg State was burned
in Long Island sound, off Sands point,
L. l., at sunrise Saturday morning, and
ten persons were burned to death or
drowned. The dead are: Samuel
Jaynes, baggage master; Nils Nilsen'
Charles Anderson, Patrick Coffee,
Bernard Hendry, Thomas Murphy and
John Connors, members of the crew,
and three unknown passengers.
Most of the passengers who escaped
suffered nothing more than shock from
immersion in the chilly water, and only
four persons were sent to the hospital.
The steamer was run to the beach at
the outbreak of the flames, and burned
to the waters edge. The bodies of two
victims of the disaster drifted ashore
about noon on the beach, a mile east of
the blazing wreck. One was the body
of woman about % years of age, and
the other a girl of four years.
Great Brutality shown.
The burning of the steamer was re-
plete with horror, heroism, brutality
and self-sacrifice. Few if any lives
would have been lost had not a swarm
of maddened freight handlers darted
up from the furnace below decks and
swept women and children into the
water in their mad rush for safety.
These men, great, rough, brawny fel-
lows. whose stock in trade was their
strength. spared nobody. They fought
their way to the steamers bow, which
was not on fire, and swept into the hud-
died crowd there. pushing many over
the side into the sea. Until their ad-
vent the crew had behaved fairly we'll.
the captains orders were being obeyed
and the boats were being filled with
women and children. But the rush of
the freight handlers upset all plans.
Origin Unknown.
The origin of the fire is unknown. 1t
started amidships, and was discovered
by the chief cook when he left his ca bin
at $3.50 o'clock in the morning. He i'm
mediately gave the alarm, and then
went to work waking the passengers.
At first everything was done in perfect
order. The captain ordered his crew to
quarters. They responded with fire
buckets and hose, and for Is minutes
fought the fire, but the Nutmeg State
was tinder box. The painted wood
work fed the flames, and every moment
saw the volume of smoke greater. BY
this time the passengers had been
aroused, and most of them were on
deck. Soon the captain realized that
the ship could not be saved, and he d.
rected Pilot Weatherwax to run the
boat ashore. At full speed'the doomed
craft sped toward the rocks of Sands
point. One by one the engineers and
the firemen staggered up, driven from
their posts by the flames, but before the
fire had stopped the engines the ship
was hard aground.
Fought in the Water.
It was during this race for the shore
that the most agonizing incidents oc-
Cured. The first boat lowered was full
of women and children, when it was
seized by the freight handlers, and the
people in it were spilled out. In the
water they fought each other for their
lives. They tried to crawl over one an.
other as they clung to the boats sides
to oars, life preservers, steamer chairs
or anything else that floated. Those
who had hold of the boat tried to bea,
back those who struggled to reach it
Men who had placed their women and
children in the boat dived from the
steamer into the tangle and sought tc
save them. Thirty or 40 persons were
struggling in. the water when boats
from the steamer City of Lawrence
picked them up.
Another Boat Upset.
The City of Lawrence, the yacht Kis
met and the tugs Chester and NJ. H
Reed chased the burning ship as shs
fled toward the shore. She struck with
a crash, and almost Immediately an
other boat dropped into the water. Il
was fearfully overcrowded, but it wa.
fairly launched and every soul in il
could have been saved had not three
men, apparently members of the crew
jumped from the upper deck of the Nut
meg State right on the heads of tn,
women, who constituted the create,
part of the lifeboat's freight. The i'm
pact drove the boat under the water
Over it went, and there was again .
frantic struggle in the water. Other
boats were launched, men sprang past
the Gordon of officers and passenger!
who sought to keep the right of wa,
for women and children, and clamberet
down the falls into the boats and ont,
the life RATS.
Capt. Brooks and the Pilot stayed a,
long as they thought anybody else wa,
left on the ship. They escaped to on,
of the boats. The passengers and res
cued members from the burning shi,
were placed aboard the City of Law
renee, and the body of Baggagemaste,
Jaynes was also conveyed to the Hart
ford liner, which proceeded on her wa,
to this city. OF the 70 Of the rescued
aboard only four needed hospital treat
fnent. They were: Mrs. Joseph Will
and Harry j. Wilt, her son. Philadel
phia; Mrs. Wilkes, Of York street. Phil
adelphia, and Mrs. H. Purcell, New Yorl
city. - =, :. 4. s..~* +: -, -
The Nutmeg State was a wooden pro
peller, OF little over thousand tons
and Tor the last seven years has carried
freight and passengers between Con
necticut towns and this city. sh. 4. ! !.