Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1901-02-22

.''',''"s mas been seen Of the Wildman
Iam'Iy since the vessel struck tbe
rock The pursor John Rooney ~
missing and an Of bis papers IT Is he.
He'od went down with the vessel and
until he Is found alive or his pouch is
recovered it w.ll be impossible to fully
determine The total loss Of life until the
agents Of he company in the orient and
in Honolulu can be- communicated win.
One OF lhe rescued passsnpers gives
it as his belief that the loss of M, ives.
sci was caused by the explosion Of her
boilers.
The bodies VI t0ur Chinese and two
white women have been washed ashore.
The Rio Is now entirely under water.
There are several conflicting stories
concerning The fac Of Capt. Ward. Tie
steward Of the Rio says lhal he stood
beside the captain when the vessel went
down. Two other survivors say that
they also saw the captain, but Fred.
erick Llndstrom the quartermaster Of
fcer Of the Rio, emphatically declared
that Capt Ward emulated Admiral
Tryon Of her British majestys ship
Victoria in going down to his cabin,
where he met his doom behind locked
door
1t IS certain that Capt Ward was
drowned however.
1t IS impossible to definitely ascertain
how many lives were lost by the sink
ing Of the Rio. The passenger list and
the roster o! the crew were In possess
sion Of the purser, John Rooney
ana he is among the missing
From the stories told by the surviv.
ors Of the calamity all Of which con.
fict more or less In detail It is safe to
presume that Pilot Jordan Is the only
living person qualified to tell exactly
how the catastrophe happened and who
IS responsible for It. Capt Ward is dead
and between him and the pilot the ship
was steerod 70 her doom,
The pilots story Is to the effect that
after the ship had entered the heads and
the fog enveloped her he notified the
captain that II was unsafe to proceed
but the latter ordered him to go ahead.
The captains order was obeyed, and
therein the captain confessed himself
at fault for at the moment the ship was
taken in hand by him his authority In
all matters pertaining to her nayiga-
ton was supreme and he was solely
responsible for her safety and the lives
Of the people aboard her There is also
conflict of statement as TO the conduct
Of the officers and crew Some people
say that the officers and sailors were
cool. and consclentiously endeayoring
to get out the boats and save as many
passengers as possible, while others de-
clare that as soon as the seriousness OF
the situation became apparent there
was an end TO discipline
among the seamen and that Il
was every man for himself" Capt.
Wards voice was heard above the din
occasioned by screaming women and
bowling Chinese, ordering his men to
save the women. In the launching OF
the boats It is evident that confusion
prevailed for one load Of passengers
and sailors was dumped into the sea
The first boat that got away carried
several OF the ships officers Another
boat was impaled upon spar as the
men aboard It we're trying to row 1t
away from the suction caused by the
sinking vessel Four boats altogether
we're cleared from the davts, but so
far as can be learned, only one OF them
got safely away and landed its pas
seneers. italian fishermen rescued the
others
The wreck lies about three fourths OF
a mile south Of Fort Point. and about a
thousand yards of the rocky shore
Quartermaster Lindstrum says the
lead was CNTelull4 NStl "hA'c Wv N'''F
was coming in. and that the sounding
taken a moment before she struck
showed a depth Of water more than
sufficient to float vessel Of double her
drawing capacity, Fog signals were
sounded ana every possible
precauton was taken against accident.
I.instrum is at a loss 20 account for the
ship getting so far away from the reg
ular channel.
HISTORY OF THE STEAMER.
New York Feb. 1.-THE steamer city
Of Rio de Janeiro sailed from Hong
kong January 22nd. for san Francisco
via Yokohama, in command OF Capt.
Ward. She belonged 20 the Paclnc
Mail steamship company.
The city Of Rio de Janeiro was an
ron vessel built at Chester Pa, In lS'''
by Roach & Son. She was 3ii feet long'
% feet beam and 2s.9 feet deep and
.ceistered S.5iS tons gross and 2.2's tons
net.