New-York tribune., 1901-02-23
oTER 4 HUNDRED LIVES LOST
BY SINKING OF CITY
OF RIO .LANEIRO.
PACIFIC NAIL STEAMSHIP STRUCK
ROCK IN FOG OFF SAN FRANCISCO
CONSI IL-GENERAL WILDMAN
AMONG THE LOST.
rRY rFI.EeR.PH TO THE rRrBUNE.l

U steamer city Of Rio Janero early this
,yg led to the wreck of the vessel on Fort
,,,,,, Ledge outside the Golden Gate. and the
% r2l persons out of total " a'a on
-, The explanation Of the terrible loss Of
= ,hst the vessel sank in fifteen minutes
u,' ne struck. thus carrying down most of the
Ill boats. which stll hung on the davits. The
- sboU,ed great GOODNESS. and the passen-
- bshaved we'll until the bow hogan 10 sink
suddenly. -, -
Then. when IL was seen that the Nessel WAS on
-. mint az sinking there was a Wild panic
a., and women ran screaming TO the boats
-, ~ fnd them not lowered over one nun
srss Chinese Were huddled together below SIM
=, s,sd win terror Many jumped overheard
20 were carried down by the suction or the
,..nsr All about was thick darkness. which
,robshlv prevented many from escaping. tp TO
,s,s bour only eight bodies have been recovered.
:. she tide runs swiftly out 10 sea where the
,sssel s,rucx. and il is feared that most Of the
,tctins will never be recovered. The following
are the saved
Cabin passengers-Captain hecht, OF 'he VT
,..n army. Mrs X West, returning from emma,
rbo lives an Pajaro. Cal; r. HolZ. business
nan of shanghai. returning 20 do military duty
n Germany: " Brander jr., broker or Lon
A, injured in wreck: Russell Harper. owner or
revsnaper IN Nacasaki. ]. X Carpenter min
mr.
p,nlsv q nurse from Honolulu; -- Brisonl on
,hs NAV 20 Italy from Honolulu 20 get lahorers'
Miss Gabrielle Leheron. Mr.. Irvada. - Nusen-
h.uu r. n. Long Philip Mussenblatt. Mrs.
roh,ns Robbins and Miss Robbins. Of salt Lake
City
oscers and crew-The second officer, Cough
Ian. the chief engineer, Herlihy' pr' "Nelli'
she storekeepor, Borge; the carpenter, Tramp
the naindeck watchman. Russell; the quarter
masters. Mathison and L.ndstrom' water
tender. lem; the steerage steward bohahue'
the Chinese crew saved number forty-one'
The following were lost;
Cabin passengers-Ro Rounseyille Nildman, Con
s,u-ceperal at Hong Kong, wife, two children
ana nurse; Mr. and Mrs. A. Hart, Of san fran
cisco; DR. Dods oculist, Of Butte, Mont; Dr.
rttaUsra ans servant, Of Japan; c. ". Henshall,
q Honolulu attorney, who married one or the
Along girls; Mr. ana Mrs. Woodwork, tourists;
e Dowdan a barrister, OF Shanghai VINO Was
on his way TO San Diego. where his wife rs n
p Seymour, proprietor Of The Manila Ameri-
can: H. c. Mattheson. IN. Imperial Chinese
Customs Service; W. A. Henshall, Miss Jehu'
snd William Caspi
Ships officers-Csptain William Ward J. {
Johnson. first officer, John Rooney, purser; G. j.
Fnglehardt, freight clerk; c. j. Holland, thra
orHcer; D. A Carvin J. Russell and ]. Brighton.
uusrtermaster: r F. Maccoun, first assistant
engineer. T IL Brady, second assistant, W. A
Munro third assistant; William Savage. j. ID.
smith H. NJ Lewis, p Walter Smith and . y
Greenway water tenders II. A. Scott, cher
steward; Paul Guiro. steerage steward; Edward
BarWick. butcher; ]. L. Dermann, stewaroess;
A. Malcolm saloon watchman, and J. A. Nc
Arthur, storage watchman.
CONFLICTING DETAILS OF DISASTER.
The reports Of the disaster were conflicting.
Pilot Jordan declares that they were coming in
slowly when a thick fog settled down on the
water. They were going al about six miles an
hour and the tide was racing out at four miles
an hour. 1t was dangerous 20 go any slower.
and the only thing 10 be done was 10 keep on
and watch carefully. He could see the lights
near the Cliff House and at Fort Point. and he
figured they were we'll in the stream when the
vessel suddenly struck Captain Ward asked
what should be done. and Jordan, judging from
the great damage that would be done by Jagged
rocks, said: get out all your boats at once"
Captain Ward sprang 10 the starboard side
and was getting boats out when the bow sud
denly dropped down. Jordan rushed from the
bridge TO the deck, realizing that the ship
was sinking He helped Mrs. Wildman into a
boat and had one of the Wildman children grasp
him around the neck Then the vessel sank.
He thought he went down fully fifty feet When
he came up the child was gone. He could see
nothing Of the steamer Of any boats, so he
struck out. and was soon able TO climb on part
of the deokhouse. on which one Chinese was
floating. After three hours they were picked up.
Surgeon Arthur O'Neill was picked up with
one Japanese and seven Chinese passengers by
the Russian ship Harbinger. The surgeon was
not injured by his experience. and he told one
~ the clearest stories Of the terrible disaster.
He said:
Il was exactly 5.25 O'Clock when we struck.
as took note OF the time by my clock The
snip struck with awful crash and the blow
must have torn out her entire side near the
bow. She sank very rapidly, and was under
water In such a snort time that no orderly ef-
Tort could be made 10 launch the boats. Almost
IN moment the ship presented scene Of wild
disorder. Nearly all the passengers were asleep
Nhen the ship struck, and they came rushing
up in their night clothes only 10 ind no means
~ escape. When ] hurried out on deck / met
onarfermaster LindstrOm He said the shin
vas ashore. I asked where. and how much
water was under her. He said ne did not know
Mrs. Wakefield and her daughter were on deck
Immediately and asked me what happened 1
sald, Nothing, except that the snip is ashore"
linen ] heard the second assistant engineer
hrady, say that he could not work the pumrs
on account OF the water in the engine room i'm
reply 10 a question from the chief engineer \
looked down into the engine room and was sur
pflsed 20 see II fun Of water. Almost immedi-
sley all the electric lights in the ship went out
""o the vessel was left in total darkness.
TRYING To GET BOATS AFLoAr.
IN the brief interval before the Rio sank Jor-
ssh enoeaVOred 10 establish some order out OF
me prevailing chaos, and ordered the boats
,auhched hurried aft 10 the boat TO which I
Nas ~as assigned and climbed in with four OF the
nnhese crew 10 lower her 20 the water Two
~ =. the crew were stationed at each end 10 WORK
@ @,'e ials, The stern Of the lifeboat was lowered
,Ss quickly, and. striking the water, nlled ran
laiy. When the boat was anoat ID was aIles
60, water up 10 the seams I held onto the