New-York tribune., 1900-12-25
!STEA UER WRECKED ON A BAR
THE ANTILIA STRANDED AT GREAT EGG
HARBOR-LIFE SAVERS TO
THE RESCUE.

Atlantic CITY. N J., Dec 24 (SpeciaD-The
British steamer Antilia went hard aground at
o'clock yesterday morning on the bar in the
South Channel at Great Egg Harbor during a
heavy fog For two hours afterward Captain
T. MonteIl. the commander of the vessel, made
every possible effort to extricate his ship from
her dangerous position but the more rapidly
the propeller churned the water the deeper she
settled down into the sand.
Two hours after the vessel grounded a gun
was fired and the whistle was blown TO attract
attention and bring assistance. These signals
of distress were heard by Captain Rider at the
Great Egg Harbor Life Saving Station, ana ny
Captain Corson at the Ocean City station ana
they, with their crews, went in search OF the
vessel in their surfboats as quickly az possible
The progress of rescue was necessarily slow on
account Of the thick fog that enveloped every
thing and hung low down on the water The
life savers could not see more than boats
length ahead OF them. and it was more than an
hour before either of the crews reached the
Antilia which lay about one mile oftshore from
Ocean City Captain Corson's crew were able
to reach the steamer by tracing the waste which
had been used waddng in the gun ana
which was found floating the water.
Two passengers were on board the Antiha-
They were coming home to spend the holidays
and were John A. Sherman, an importer OF
sponges Of ST Louis Mo. and Charles r.
Brown an actor. of Denver, Col. They were
taken off by Captain Corson, who landed them
at Ocean City. They left later in the day by
rail for their homes. Captain Montell and MS
crew of twenty-three men remained on board
the steamer.
When IL became evident that neither the
steamers crew nor the life saving crews could
get the Antilia off the bar. word was sent to
the Delaware Breakwater for an ocean wrecking
tug. The North America arrived off Ocean City
at 2:30 p. m. and has been standing by the
portunity make attempt to pull her Off
This, however. will be difficult task as the
steamer has settled deeper and deeper on the
bar, and her position last night was said to be
unfavorable, Owing to the dense fog which stlll
prevailed and the draught Of the North Amer1-
ca, the tug was not able to get in close to the
steamer, and in case the Antiia is pulled OH
the bar she will be confronted with other dan
gers in the rear, for before she became STRANDED
she had crossed several of the outer bars the
tide when the Antilia went aground was eigh-
teen inches higher than normal flood tide If
the sand washes out from under the ship during
the ebb tide she will break in two. ConSe-
quently the prospect of saving her is not en-
couragng. Captain Montell had evidently lost
his bearings during the fog. as he inquired OF
the life savers how far from Barnegat he was,
ward OF that point
The Antilia was bound from Nassau, New
Providence, to NewYork. with a general cargo.
She is a West Indian trader. and was built in
1893 at Grangemouth. Scotland. and is owned
by F. NJ. Montell. Her home port is Nassau,
No. 93 Pine-st, New-York. She is built Of steel
and registers 929 gross tons.