The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-11-05
SHt LOST oNE SCREW
STEAMSHIP ST. PAUL COMES INTO
PORT WITH HER STARROARD
ENGINE WRECKED
ONE PROPELLER BROKEN OFF
Accident May Have Resulted
From Heavy Sea or strik-
ing Dere-
Iict.

NEW YORK, Nov. 4.-The steamship
St. Paul, of the American lire, Capt.
Roberts in command, arrived in port to-
day, twenty four hours late with her
starboard propeller gone and her engine
room badly damaged. Statements of dif.
ferent officers vary as to the causes Of
the accident but the, damage sustained
by the steamship will probably amount
to several hundred thousand dollars
The St. Paul left Southampton and
Cherbourg Oct u, with a full cargo. 21O
cabin passengers and 245 in the Storage.
About o'clock Wednesday evening
last, while some of the saloon passengers
were still at dinner, and other pas
sengers promenading, a sudden shock
was felt all over the ship, although it
was not sufficiently severe to cause
panic. The engines were stopped in
few seconds after the Shock but it is
said that during that brief time the
wnirling machinery, free of the weight
of the propeller, wrought havoc in the
engine room. The officials of the steam
ship refuse to allow any one to enter
the engine room.
James A. Wright, second vice president
of the international Navigation COM
pany, which controls the American line,
was p passenger on the steamship, hav-
ing gone abroad in October to bring back
his family. He said:
81 was smoking in my state room when
I felt q Slight tremor throughout the
ship. I thought that probably her head
had fallen away a few points and that
she had in consequence shipped a big sea-
The shock was so slight that the aver,
age passenger did not apprehend that
anything unusual had occurred. l went
below to find out what was the matter
I found that the ship had lost her star
board propeller. and had Otherwise dam
aged her machinery.
PROBABLY STRUCK A DERELICT.
Capt Roberts and Chief Engineer John
Hunter are under the impression that we
struck a derelict We were running at
full speed at the time, but were not oyer
taxing her engines or driving her. Chief
Engineer Hunter at the moment of Che
accident, happened to be passing through
the pantry and Immediately turned the
emergency valve, thus shutting off the
steam. About the same time the as
sistant engineer happened to be in the
vicinity of the tail shaft when the pro-
peller struck sonnet hifg and dropped oft
carrying with it a portion of the tail
shaft which broke just inside the stern
Of the ship The governing machinery
worked splendidly and the engines were
brought to a full Stop in ten. seconds.
The St Paul. will leave Tuesday for
Cramps ship yard, Philadelphia, where
the necessary repairs will be made.
Meanwhile the Friesland, which sails IN
Wednesday for Antwerp, will take the
st. Pauls passengers, mails and freight
to Southampton"
Samuel BEETLE, the acting manager oe
the American line, said today, after con-
sultation with Chief Engineer Hunter:
None of the crew were injured, and
there was no excitement among the pas
sengers, many of whom remained undis-
turbed at dinner, unaware that an acct
dent had occurred. The ship had a sue
cession of strong head winds and seas
throughout, but it was not through driv-
ing her that she lost her tail-end shaft
propeller and stern tubing"
One of the engineers of the st. Paul
made the following statement:
ut will take five months to repair the
damage which is to the extent of from
$25O,000 to 100000 The starboard engine
is a wreck. The ship did not strike
derelict, but an unusually big sea struck
her, throwing the stern out of the water,
and the propellers, having no resistance,
made frightfully rapid revolutions, which
caused the starbOard engine to race and
the starboard tail shaft broke in two and
with the wheel fell into the water The
amount of damage is not surprising when
you take into consideration the sudden
liberation of 10000 horse power. Four of
the six cylinders are completely wrecked,
two piston rods are bent one connecting
rod is bent and the Starboard engine
shaft is sprung six inches The starboard
engine IS wrecked beyond repair"