Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-03-07
OCEAN LINER SUNK
Waesland Run Down Off the
Welsh Coast.
CAUGHT IN THE FOG
ALL BUT TWO OF THE SHIPS ia
PASSENGERS SAVED.
They Lost All Their Belongings and
Suffered From Cold Before
Being Picked Up.
CAUGHT IN THE FOG

ruary lS Tor L1Verpool, met In COLLISION last
night off -Iolyhead, Wales. The Waesland
sank.
The Waesland carried thirty-two cabin
and eighty-two steerage passengers.
LIVERPOOL, March 7.-Fifty-three of
the passengers and crew Of the Waesland
arrived at Liverpool on board the Har-
monides at 1888 this morning. They were
received by the agents Of the American
line here and were Quartered at various
hotels.
The collision occurred in thick fog at
11:3O o'clock Wednesday night, when the
Waesland was about forty miles southwest
of Hoiyhead. The Harmonides struck the
Waesland amidships and there was terri
BILE shock Most of the Waesland's passen-
gers had retired for the night. Perfect Or
der and discipline prevailed. The crew of
the steamer rapidly turned out the pas
sengers and succeeded In assuring them that
their lives We're safe. The passengers were
greatly Influenced by the cooness Of the
crew and obeyed instructions willingly and
quickly.
The Waesland's boats were speedily got
out, and in less than half an hour the en-
tire ships company had been transferred to
the Harmonides.
Two Lives Were Lost.
Unfortunately two lives were lost. The
dead are a steerage passenger named Dam
gerfield and a child named Elsie Emmett.
the daughter of a cabin passenger.
The Waesland sank in thirty-fve min
utes after the collision. The passengers
and crew lost all their belongings. The ves-
sci carried no mails. The passengers unite
in the highest praise Of the behavior Of
Captain Apfeld and his crew. 1t is expect
ed the company will send on the passengers
by another vessel next week.
The Waesland left Liverpool at l pm.
last Wednesday, and the fact that she got
no farther than Anglesey shows that she
must have been greatly delayed by the fog.
The fog IS general all over the united
kingdom and is great hindrance to all
traffic.
The Waesland Is owned by the Interna-
tional Navigation Company, but flies the
Belgian flag. She plies regularly in the
American line service between Liverpool
and Philadelphia, touching at Queenstown
each way. Formerly she was known AS
the Russia. She is four-masted, bark
rigged iron vessel of 1876 tons net, MeSsrs.
J. and G. Thompson built her at Glasgow
in 1867. The Waesland's dimensions are:
Length, 1851 feet: breadth, 41.9 feet, and
depth, 900 feet. She is equipped with cleo
tricity and has triple expansion engines Of
$500 indicated horse power.
Passengers Lose Their Clothing.
When the Harmonides arrived here her
decks were crowded with half-clad passen-
gers Of the Waesland, whose pale and hag-
gard faces told the story Of their trying ex-
periences. So hurried was the departure Of
the passengers from the sinking ship that
in some cases they were only covered by
blankets, and handkerchiefs were their only
headgear.
When the disaster occurred Wednesday
night. the two vessels were steaming slowly
off the coast Of the Island Of Anglesey. The
Harmonides crashed head-on into the
Waesland, and backed away. but once
again struck the then sinking ship, making
a great gap in her side. Though the sea
was perfectly smooth, the denseness Of the
fog added to the terrors of the passengers
of the Waesland. The women rushed on
deck screaming, but were soon reaSSured
by the officers. The boats were quickly low
cred, but the operation resulted In two
fatalities. The end of one of the lfeboats
slipped from it's davit and precipitated the
occupants of the boat into the sea. steer
age passenger, Edward Dangerheld of Kan
sas, struck his head against the boats fit
ting and was instantly killed, and Elsie En-
Rev. A. Emmett. was drowned. The other
persons who were in the boat were picked
up.
whom were Scandinavian emigrants, was
exemplary. Precedence was given to the
women and children.
Ships Boilers Blew Up.
AS the last boats were leaving the fast
sinking ship, whose decks were already
awash an explosion announced that her
boilers had burst, and forty minutes after
the first impact the Waesland gave a
mighty lurch and disappeared beneath the
waves, sinking about midway between
Holyhead and Tuskar Light. Nothing was
saved except what the passengers and crew
wore The boats containing the passengers
were for a time separated, owing to the
fog, but eventually they all reached the
sides of the Harmonides. and the survivors
were taken on board that vessel, where
everything possible was done for their
comfort. A pilot boat met the Harmonides
of the Island Of Anglesey and communicate
ed the news Of the disaster to persons
ashore, with the result that tugs were dis
patched to search for the Harmonides and
accompanied the steamer to this port. Here
the passengers were landed and comfort
ably housed. They will proceed to Phila-
delphia Wednesday on board the Red Star
line steamer Noordland.
The surviving passengers, as rule, es-
capped with only few slight bruises.
The Harmonides' stem and bow plates
were SO torn and twisted that 1t appeared
marvellous that she escaped sinking. She
also has a deep rent in her port side.
An officer of the Waesland in an inter-
view gave a graphic description Of the
loss Of the steamer.
+ Story Of an Officer.
He said: II saw the whole affair. I was
late in turning in, as the night was foggy,
and we, naturally, were apprehensive
Practically all the passengers had retired
I was taking last look at the weather
and in SO doing peered over the ships side,
when, without the slightest warning. there
came a fearful crash. which made the
"'My Godl We are struck shouted.
''Then there doomed right over our ship 9
bow the steamer which had run into u.s.
It was terrifying, of course. We instantly
recognized the peril. The darkness at that
time was impenetrable, but, there was no
mistaking the terrible consequences Of such
an impact The nose of the Harmonides
appeared to have eaten right into our
side. We were going very slowly, with no
more speed than was necessary to keep
hpadwav We were ST rack at right angles