The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-03-31
During Raging Storm One Passen-
ger Committed Suicide and An.
other Became Insane.
STEERAGE OCCUPANTS FRANTIC
Huge Waves Shatter Woodwork
Into Splinters and Bend Rails
and Sheathing-Ship
Badly Battered.

REPUBLIC SPECIAL.
New York. March 30.-The Cunard Line
steamship Etruria. which came into port
this week with decks damaged and rails
lent. as the result Of 4 two days storm.
had one of the most eventful voyages of
her experience.
On board her was a steeragc passenger.
an Irish girl. who had gone insane dur Z
the trip across the Atlantic, and anoih r
girl who had been badly injured while the
vessel rolled and rocked. and there were the
few effects of a second cabin passenger
who had committed suicide and been buried
at sea.
The big liners decks showed plainly
where they had been battered by the waves.
The boat checks are broken ard the sheath
ing forced up out OF place. The iron raining
along the bridge Is bent and twisted whete
the heavy seas broke over II, and there is
some shattered woodwork in the storage
to give evidence to the tossing its occu-
pants received.
Two Days In n storm.
The Etruria LEFT Liverpool on Saturday,
March Is, and sailed from Queenstown the
following day. Until Thursday she had ialr
weather and was able TO keep up an aver
age of over 400 knots a day. On thursday.
however. she found herself blowing through
head seas. The wind had increased to a
gale. and for two days the ship was IN the
midst of n storm. the wind passing AROUND
from northeast to southwest. Heavy seas
broke over the decks again and again. ana
none of the passengers was allowed Oh
deck.
During Thursday night seas swept over
the ship on both sides. The tons of water
poured along the main deck with such force
that the plates of the promenade deck
above were bent and the floor of the prom
enade deck forced upward Aft. the water
struck the boats and forced them on. ot
position, splitting and breaking the boat
chocks.
A few moments later another big wave
broke over the starboard bow. second onh-
,ar ruiz, u-ac on tho bridge Will two look
outs. The wave, passing over their heaus.
nearly swept them overheard; Ihey ciuns
to the railing. however. although II was
nearly carried away, together with the can
Excitement Followed Suicide.
Meanwhile there was a great deal OF X x
rough weather. Thirteen-year-oid Nl9Ia
Lake. who was or the way to VISIT Ieia-
tiyes in Jackson Mich: WITH IN S was T fbrnWn
headlong in the passageway of the second
cabin and had her collar bone broken.
cred on the second day OF the storm tina:
Frederick Sawickia. a second cabin passen-
ger. had committed suicide BY hanging
iavatory. Very little was known about him
on, the vessel. He came from Bucharest.
Roumania. and told some of the passengers
to earn a home for his wife and six chill
dren. whom he had left behind. He SAID
that he bad once been wealthy: t bu, mn nae
IflSl III HIS ltlt tAiA h'AS
a new start in life. His body was cut down
and buried at sea after the storm abated.
In the Storage compartment there was
almost a panic while the storm lasted. ac-
cording to several passengers. Charles
Reynolds Sewed. who lives in San Fran
cisco. and was making his fifth voyage
across the Atlantic. said that he had never
witnessed a scene equal to that in the steer
age.
Irish Girl Deca me Insane.
the women and a great many of the
men, he said. were wild with fright. All
through Thursday night the steera:e was
in an uproar with prayers and screams
from terrified women. The stewards were
going about. trying to calm the. people
most of the time. but in spite of their eff
forts there was pandemonium at times"
While the storm was at Its height one of
the steerage passengers, NOrah Herlihy. an
Irish girl. went insane. it is supposed. from
fright. She uttered piercing screams. and
cried that the vessel was going down. and
tried to force her way to the upper deck.
She finally became SO violent that the Off
GERS of the ship were forced to put her I'M
der restraint. She was still a prisoner when
the ship arrived yesterday. and will be sent
to Ellis Island to he examined.
The big liner was forced to run at half
speed during the storm. and made only 10
knots on Thursday and &c knots the fol-
owing day. When the storm had abated
she started again under full steam. but
was forced to slow up again when she
reached New York because of the fog.