The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-12-01

4 Il
~ boats Sausalito and San Rafael
coIlided tonight in a dense fog and
the san Rafae. sank in between ten
and fifteen minutes. 1t is thought that
not more than twenty people We're
dvowned, although the san Rafael car
ried between $50 and 200 passengers
The Sausalito was not seriously in
jured, and after rescuing all the pas
sengers on the San Rafael that she
could ind, proceeded to San Francisco
under her own steam.
At midnight it was impossible 20 Oh
tain the names oC any Of the missing
people, and it is believed the estimate
Of the loss Of life has been exaggerat-
-. 1t is barely possible that nearly all
The passengers viii be accounted for
eventually. Captain Mckenzie of the
san Rafael says that nearly every one
was rescued A number jumped into
the water but they all got out. he
thinks. He said Il was the last TO
leave the sinking vessel and there was
no one on her when she went down.
The SausaHto and san Rafael belong
TO the San Francisco & Northern Pa
cific railway. They ply between san
Francisco and SaUsalitO, a suburb
across the bay in Marin county. At
SausaltO train connects for Ross
valley and SaG Rafael where Esany
san Francisco business men max their
summer and winter homes.
Dense Fog on the Bay.
The San Rafael left San Francisco at
els with between $50 and 200 passen-
gers. There had been a dense fog on
the bay all day long and as night fell
il seemed TO thicken. Captain Nc
Kenzie Of the San Rafael sent his ship
along under a slow bell. He was some
where near Alcatraz island when the
Sausalito, coming from SausalItO to
San Francisco, crashed into her There
were but few passengers on the Sausa-
Ito, but they were badly scared and
Tor a few moments it looked as if both
ships Were going down.
When it was seen that the SausalitO
was not badly injured she stood by the
San Rafael and officers, crew and pas-
sengers engaged in the rescue Of the
unfortunate Passengers of the sinking
vessel Both ships were side-Wheelers
and ordinarily carried many hundred
passengers. Fortunately this was the
water season and the last trip, so there
were not so many passengers as usual
Marin c05nty from SausalitO to San
Rafael, a distance of twenty miles, Is
lined with homes Of wealthy people.
During the summer the ferry boat ,raf-
fic is very heavy. but in the winter it
iightsus and there are comparatively
few people who travel on the boats
during the winter season.
News in San Francisco.
The news Of the disaster did not
reach the city until nearly o'clock,
and the news spread with great rapid
ity. There was intense excitement at
the opera house, where an immense
crowd was listening to Calve in Car
men" Many people left the house and
rushed to the new SNAPPER offices to OBJ
tain information about friends and rel
atives who might have been on board
of one Of the vessels.
Captain Mckenzie Of the San Rafael
was the last one to leave the ship. AS
she was going down he seized a rope
/ flung to him from the Sausalito and
was pulled on board. He thinks thai
most of his passengers were saved, as
Hsny of them jumped to the SausaEto
ard others went on the gang plank
run between the two ships to safety.
The list Of those lost will probably
not be available tonight. It is safe To
say, however. that those st We're all
prominent people in the community.
Story Of a Passenger.
Attorney Thomas J. Lennon, one of
The passengers on board the san RAJ
fael. gave the following story: The
san Rafael was struck by the Sausa-
Ito auOut twenty minutes after leaV-
ing her berth. I was in the restaurant
at the time and had Just left he table
whelsI was knocked fifteen o. twenty
feet by the collision. 1 fell face dowa-
ward and was covered with the wood
en- partitions After SCrambling Out
with great difficulty I went on the
MINER deck in search of my sister-in-
law. Miss Josephine Lenhart. I then
noticed a boat at the side of the vessel
which had been lowered by the passeu-
gefs. J. Hayn : Of san Rafael, who
was on board called to me to lower
Miss Ienhart into the boat. This I did
II should judge that there was al
ready ten or twelve people in the boat
at that time. After looking around for
more women and not seeing any.
told Haynes to pull to the Sausalito
which was standing by and then "a
return. II was very dark and you
could not see three feet away.
Rescue Of Passengers.
About this time Captain Mckenzie
\
-farted to break the glass windows on
.be upper deck in order to get on board
the SausautO, which was uT against
n side of the san Fafael. BY doing
his the passengers could, Win a little
assistance get on board the SausalitC
without even getting the sOles of their
shoes wet. The first few 20 get out o.
the windows were some cut about tEeiI
hands. Those who had broken the
glass helped 10 pass the women and
children from the San Rafael to the
sausaHto
After some time had passed I no.
ficed that the bow of the SausalitC
vas -. ting closer to the san Rafael
'hen something in the water attracted
nv attention and when I again looked
the prov. to my horror. ] saw q
eek hand pinned between the prov OF
.ae Sausalito and the side Of the OJner
soaG with his tongue handing out. be-
az slowly crushed to death.
~ then thought I feit the boat sink
aud jumped into the water. I am
airl, good swimmer, notwithstand-
my 217 pounds and in short time
vas alongside the Sausalito, yelline
chose on board to throw me rope
1t a reply that a boat would be Tow
n. Thinking TO rest myself, y trrned
on my back and fi0ateC around 10.
rould judge about five minutes.
II Life Boat is Capsized.
stnany a boat was lowered and
Of us got in. We then started %
Gtaround looking for the other IN
tllates ard passed another boat
about twelve people in IL A man