The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-02-23

| By the time had got a number OF Inc
| frightened passengers out OF their state
| rooms and on the deck. many OF them
! dressed only in their night clothes. the DOW
OF the ship had got under water, ana. al
though It was dark as pitch and 1 could not
| see the water. knew from the slant OF the
deck that 1t was all up with US.
II saw a few of the boats get away. out
| did not try to get into one myself, all loi-
| lowing the orders of Captain Ward. All AT
| once felt the water under my feet ana
made dive for the rigging As l started
| to climb I noticed Captain Ward on tne
| bridge of the pilot house yelling something
| to a number of the crew who were ryihs
| to get a boat away. I climbed as far up
/ the riggings as / could, but she settieo
| faster than climbed. for I'm minute more
| ! again felt my feet In the water. "heh
the sea was up to my waist l let go anu
! struck out for safety. / fioated around tor
| about fifteen minutes and was then picked
| up by Carpenters boat
| mo; saw nothing of the captain after
tfat. 1 suppose he is dead before ie nne
boat was in started for the shore the f'io
/ was out of sight.
CONFLICTING STORIES
ABOUT CAPTAIN WARD.
| The Rio Janeiro was on her way IN from
Oriental ports via Honolulu, with valuable
| cargo. She carried a crew OF ii0 men, TWEEN,
| ty-nine cabin passengers, including severai
| from the Islands. and hfty-eignt Chihese
| steerage.
| The steamer sailed from Hong Kong jan
uary % for San Francisco, via Yokohama
| She was three days overdue when she ar
| rived of the Heads last night
The City of Rio Janeiro was an IRON
vessel. built at Chester. Pa. in 1873. by
Roach & Son. She was 344 feet long, 81 ieet
| beam and 2s.s feet deep. and registered S''4o
tons gross and 2.z7s tons net.
| There are several conflicting stories con-
| cerning the fate of Captain Ward Inc
steward of the Rio says that he stood be-
| side the captain when the vessel went
| down. Two other survivors say that they
| also saw the captain to the last, but Fred
| erick Lindstrom. the quartermaster OF the
| Rio, emphatically declared that Captain
| Ward emulated Admiral Trion Of her Brit
| ish Majesty's ship Victoria, in going down
| to his cabin, where he met his doom penino
| q locked door.
\ Of the first to land at Meigg's Wharf TINS
| morning, and one Of the first statem> Us ne
F, made was that Captain Ward had gone
| down with the wrecked steamer.
| According to his story. Captain Ward.
| after consulting with Pilot Jordan. came
| down from the bridge. He was standing on
| the deck when the vessel crashed upon the
rock There was a cry Of Man the boats"
but 1t was apparent that in the midst Of the
| awful confusion a systematic effort to save
| the passengers would be of no avail Every
body was scrambling for his own safety.
| 1t was at this time that Lindstrom says
| he saw Captain Ward standing on the for
ward deck. Suddenly the captain turned
\ and, walking hurriedly to his cabin, disap-
reared behind the door. which he closed
A second later the vessel was plunging to
| the bottom Of the sea
ANOTHER DESCRIPTION OF
THE SINKING OF THE SHIP.
Second Oficer Graham Coghian was on
| the bridge with Captain Ward. Pilot Jordan
and First Oficer johnson as the vessel was
making port. The Rio had passed Point
Bonita light and few moments later Port
| Point light was sighted. Then. without a
/ word of warning. the big steamer went
crashing upon the rocks.
Immediately everything was chaos. In
| the steerage below 1t was announced that
water was rushing in upon the sleeping
passengers and a number OF the crew
rushed to the deck. Shortly after the shock
four big boats in the davits were lowered.
A large number Of passengers. hastily sum-
moned from their rooms by the commotion.
crowded into the boats and they pushed
o.
Ten minutes later. according to the second
officer, the vessel sank The lfeboats in
the chocks floated of as the vessel disap-
peared below the surface of the water and
there was a scramble on the part OF many
persons in the water to get into them.
"The order was given to arouse the
passengers," said Coghlan. "and the crew
went about the work coolly. They could
not have acted better. and every one was
apparently summoned. / myself went in
search of Consul General Wildman and
family, but could not find them. Just be-
fore one of the big boats, which l COM
manded. pushed off saw Captain Ward
going forward and then We started for the
shore.
I'VE could see many persons In the water
and others crying for help. and assisted
some to get on the life RATS. The boat
was in saved thirteen Of the people on
board, and after being picked up by gaso-
line launch we were towed to shore There
were three life rafts and there were a
number Of people on them"
In the boat with Coghian were Captain
Hecht Of the German Navy. Mrs. Ripley,
Mrs West and Miss K Leharen.
Mr. Coghlan is the son Of Captain ]. B.
Coghlan Of tho United States Navy.
TOLEDO MANS FEARFUL
STRUGGLE FOR LIFE.
William Caspar Of Toledo. o.. was among
the survivors who, while houndering in the
water. encountered the raft on which were
r H. Long and a number OF Chfnamer-
Caspar was put of his bunk and on deck
when the first alarm was given He agrees
with Long that most Of the steamers pas
sengers were on deck when the vessel
struck.
IT scrambled to the hurricane deck" said
Caspar while telling Of his experience at
the barge office ''but had been there only
a second when q heavy sea washed me on
7 went down, I don't know how far. and
thought It was all up with me- The water
was full Of wreckage. which knocked me
about when reached the surface. 1
etarted to swim ashore. but on the way met
the raft and was pulled on board
Caspar was formerly attached to the
transport Lawton.
One of the life-saving boats picked up f.
q. Helms, a passenger. about half an hour
after the ship went down. He was greatly
exhausted and is now very Ill. He was
twice drawn under the water by the suction
and as he came UP the second time his head
struck a floating spar with considerable
force Half stunned, he grasped the spar
and clung 10 1t until rescue came. lie says
that several other people were saved by
clinging to the spar which came so near
stunning him and actually was AS means
of salvation.
TWO ITALIAN FISHERMEN
RESCUED SEVERAL PERSONS.
At the instant the Rio went on the rocks
Andrew Ademi. an Italian fisherman. was
not a great distance away In small
smack. Near to him was g. Albert. an
other italian fisherman. Both men saw the
Rio Janeiro in the gloom and marveled
that she could be SO close to the shore.
The next moment they knew something
was wrong and each headed for the ship.
proceeding cautiously ere they might be-