Omaha daily bee., 1901-02-23

! so we lett OGderb tnal Wneu lne WeHtueT
| cleared We should go further in.
AT a. m. the fog lifted. We could see
the Clff house and the north light and
told the mate 20 heave short. After we
started heavng short the wind came in
from the northeast and the fog settled in
thick and ! told the mate to stop heaving.
! Then the captain came up and said Let
her go. We can 80 ahead
Pilot Jordan's Remorsc.
Captain Jordan made this statement to
| Captain Freeman and his friends. who
crowded around him. To Captain Freeman
| he said "Aint I lp a - -- OF fx?''
Captain Freeman put his arms about the
pilot and said Don't talk about it. You
are here and that is all we care"
Captain Jordan then continued his story.
! You see my watch stopped at $40. when
the vessel struck | ordered all the boats
out. The first boat out was that of the
doctor. 1t was half filled with water no
placed a woman on It and we began to de-
sceud. She had a boy with her, a child OF
| about years. She gave him 10 me. ! held
/ him in my arms and the little fellow had
| his arms around my neck The woman and
! I were about half way down the ladder
when the Rio gave a tremendous pitch.
| was flung off the ladder. | saw nothing
| then OF the woman or the boy. I went down
with the ship about fifty feet. I worked
my way up TO the surface and got hold OF
some wreckage. | had sense enough left
| to turn on my back and drift with the
wreckage Then | came across what seemed
| to me the top of house with Il Chinaman
on 1t. He helped me to Chamber onto the
roof and with him drifted out toward the
| North Heads
"I was then rescued by the fishing boat.
| | cannot say who the woman was. I believe
she had a husband, but he was not on deck
when we left. saw nothing either of the
woman or the boy after | was flung off the
ladder into the water"
| Ibid you see Captain Ward7"
"I saw nothing OF him after we struck.
l believe he is lost"
william Brander Of the Arm OF Brander
G. Co. London, was one OF the cabin pas.
sengers. Mr.. Brander was making a tour
OF the world and boarded the Rio at Yoko.
hama. He carried large amount OF lug
gage, all of which was lost. When taken
to the harbor hospital Mr.. Brander was
chilled and very Ill.
william Brander's Account.
He made the following statement: IL
was asleep when the accident happened.
was awakened by a series of Jars and
scrapings and as | arose and heard the
screaming of women in the cabin dressed
hastily and went on deck. ] saw Captain
| Ward and some officers directing the
handling OF boats. | was excited, OF course.
but could not fail to observe many women
who were crowded aft about the boats.
One of the boats, l remember. was full OF
water and useless. / ran for a lfe-pre-
server and had got one arm through 1t when
the forward part of the vessel gave n
l.g.
standing near one Of the shrouds and I
remember grasping these just as the ves-
sci went down. When / found myself in
the water | was compelled to force my way
through the ratlines of the shrouds. /
finally reached the surface and saw people
swimming near me among lot of wreck
age. Among those l recognized Russell
Harper, journalist of Nagasaki, who called
out to me that both his legs were broken.
l lost sight of him for time, but was told
that he was picked up. / was picked up
and taken ashore to the hospital
Mr.. Brander could not recall events def
nitely lie does not remember whether
the women he saw on deck we're taken off
in the boats. What surprised him was that
these women were fully dressed, a circum-
stance he attributes to the fact that they
had arisen in order to witness the start.
II had only time to grasp few of my
valuables," he said "and went on deck.
should judge was there only fve or ten
minutes when the ship went down, carrying
me with it, II is possible that all the
cabin passengers reached the deck before
the fatal plunge, but doubt 1t. The
Chinese in the steerage were in the greater
danger and | am convinced a large num-
Der OF Celestials were drowned"
Mr.. Brander's watch stopped at twenty
I al IL AI,g t.,lt Nttaer
that the ship went down at that time.
Among Mr.. Brander's valuables were let
ters Of credit and cash In excess of 81, 900.
steerage Stewards Experience.
II. Donohue, the steerage steward, gives
the following as his experience II was
below decks but partly dressed when we
struck the rocks. The ship seemed to be
riding even and suddenly thought OF the
steerage / ran with all my might to the
steerage cabins where hauled and yanked
people out OF bunks-white and Chinese and
what not | threw them about, whether
they had clothes on or not and finally got
twenty-five or thirty OF them on deck.
told them to save their lives then IL they
could. asking them to get life preservers.
By this time the ship was turning over and
l left these people l ran to the middle
deck.
When | reached there / ran In my be-
wiledment to the forward deck. where !
distinctly remember seeing Captain Ward as
he ascended the bridge. | felt the ship
, going and fled for the rigging climbed
with all my strength and speed and just
as reached the cross-trees l locked be-
low. There ! saw Captain Ward--I am
sure 1t was he-standing at the bridge and
. wildly swinging his arms. Then saw
the waters swirl about at his feet and
suddenly cover him. At that instant
realized that we were plungng to the
bottom. had not felt our descent while
in the rigging. While | was making up
my mind to this | was amazed and ter
ifed to have my feet thrown aboye my head
by the force OF the water rushing from
J. below Then ] was torn from the cross
> trees and plunged below. I held my breath
y and fought against the terrible suction
, coming finally TO the surface again. BY
u some strange chance was not struck b;
g spars nor caught In the rigging 1t was
u one chance in a million. struck out
y when | came gaspng to the surface anC
{ a few minutes later, just as my senses
a were slipping from me, | was picked up
8 am confident | saw the Captain go doWI