Camas Prairie chronicle. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1901-1917, 1901-08-23
TWENTY.SEvEN LIVES LOST
Steamer Was Struck by an Iceberg = A
Number of Lives saved-sixty Persons
ACCOMPLISHMENT Well Known People
Among the Los.

Ol Ok LhC Aloohoh AOuSSS OPSaNeSN ~
the Canadian Pacific Navigation COM
pany of this city, struck an iceberg off
/ Douglas island at 2 a. m. on the morn
ing of Thursday last and went to the
bottom, carrying 55 to go souls, fnclud-
! ing passengers and members of the
crew. Some the survivors arrived
this evening by the steamer Queen.
They report that as the Islander went
down her boilers exploded, causing the
death of many who might have escap-
ed. Captain Foote was on the bridge
when the vessel struck and stayed
there, going down with his steamer.
The Islander was on her way from
Skagway to Victoria.
Among the passengers lost on the
Islander were Mrs. Ross, wife of Gov
ernor James A. Ross of the Yukon ter
ritory, her child and niece; DR.. John
Duncan of this city, W. G. Preston and
bride of Seattle, F. Mills, Mrs. J. G.
Henderson, w. H. Heating and two sons
of this city and Los Angeles, CAL, J. v.
Douglas of Vancouver, Mrs. Phillips
and child of Seattle, Mrs. Bell and Mrs.
Captain Nickerson, Mrs. w. Smith, Van
couver; ]. A. Blethen, Vancouver; Mrs.
J. l.. Wilcox, Seattle.
The members of the crew lost are
Captain Foote, George Allen, third en-
gineer; Horace Smith, second steward;
s. J. Pitts, cook; two Chinese; Buck
holder and Burte, oilers; two firemen,
one coal passer, Night Saloon Watch
man Kendall, Joe Beard, second pan
tryman; two walters, G. Miller, the
barber; N. L. Law, M. p. Jock, Porter
and Moran, coal passers.
#. G. Hinde-Bowker, late manager of
the British American corporation Of
London, who was a passenger, says:
my first intimation of an accident
was the running of passengers on deck
which woke me up. l was in a cabin
with Mr.. Muchtin. got UP, looked out
Of the cabin and saw the steamer sink
ing at the bow. l woke my partner up
and we dressed. By this time she was
still lower in the water. By the time
l got out of the cabin the water was
about level with the smoking room
floor. l went on the upper deck, fol
lowed by my partner; l saw the boats
were gone; l went to the side, but at
this time only the stern was out of wa
ter l saw raft in the water with
eight or ten people on it. l slid down
a rope on to the raft and as soon as I
got on the raft the stern of the steam
er sank and sucked the raft and people |
down. We were some time under wa
ter, but / held on and when the raft |
came up only two of us were left. We |
hailed two men who were swimming |
and got them aboard, also a Chinaman. |
By this time the steamer had sunk out |
of sight. Many people hung onto the
raft at different times, but it was not
air tight and we had much difficulty
keeping af1oat. We were turned over
once by others climbing on, but gener-
ally managed to right ourselves.
THE scene was heartrending. The
boats were scattered and overcrowded
and people were adrift begging, plead
Ing and crying for help. We gathered
lumber and made our raft float. We
were picked up by one of the boats re-
turning from shore. can not speak
Too highly of the officers and crew."
There was $275,O0O in gold on the
steamer, 100000 of which was carried
by passengers. III. H. Part, who has
spent Is years in the Klondike, lost
$4,000 in dust.
There was heavy fog at the time
Ind Pilot LIE Blanc was on the bridge.
Captain Foote was at lunch. When he
heard the crash, he ran on deck and
vent down with the ship. 1t is said,
however, that he reached a raft, but
when he saw the extent of the damage
lie jumped overheard. No accurate list :
II the dead will be available until the ,
trivial of the purser on the steamer
'arrallon tomorrow.
George Mel. Brown, agent of the
,anadian Pacific, after interviewing
he passengers who returned, said:
The purser is remaining in the
orth attending to the forwarding of :
assengers. 1t is said he gave partial !
list OF those lost, but it is thought It is
Glow the figures mentioned. 1t is my
pinion that the loss of life will not
xceed 90"
Word of the disaster reached Tread :
'ell at 1925 a. m. by party of passen- :
ers headed by an engineer, who walk a
up the beach a distance of Is miles 9
appeal to the city for help. The
readwell steamers Lucy and Jenniker h
40 the Juneau steamer Flossie prompt h
: responded.
The Flossie arrived from the scene
wreck at IL o'clock with her flag at
alf mast and six dead bodies ON board I
I'D the surviving passengers. The de- n
'ription of the disaster by the suryiy- p
$ is heartrending. They say that the g
lander struck an iceberg and so Sc p
ire was the shock that every door was ia
mined fast in the staterooms and the m
fated passengers, numbering 1O7 and b
% crew OF IL, were forced to break ST
rough the windows to reach the deck.
steward Simpson lost 10 in his de-
Irtment, and his description of the
reck is clearly given. He was awak. T.
ed by the shock and could not get pI
{ OF his stateroom until he broke ont at