Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1902-01-11
Il LOST IN SHIPWRECK
Steamer Walla Walla Sunk in Col
lision With French Vessel.
Many KILLED IN THE CRASH
French ship Disappeared In Dark
ness and Offered No Assistance.
Passengers Were Asleep When the
Arold.,& no...S
Acoldent ono,lrr.d

the french bark Max, resulted in
the sinking Of the steamship and the
probable loss OF AZ lives. The
Walla Walla. owned by the Pacific
Coast Steamship company, sailed from
San Francisco January for Puget
Sound ports. She carried 3S first
class passengers, % second class and
crew Of 80 men,. When of Cape
Mendocino, on the California coast,
at 40 o'clock Thursday morning, the
bark loomed up in the haze and crashed
into the Walla Walla's bow. Then
the sailing vessel slid of into the
darkness and was seen no more. All
the passengers and crew Of the Walla
Walla, except the few on watch. were
asleep, but were aroused by the crash.
The Storage quarters were in the
bow, and it In believed that some of
the steerage passengers and crew
were crushed to death A big hole
was made in the steamers bow. and
she sank in 35 minutes. The officers
and crew maintained strict discipline
and boats and life RATS were low
cred. A choppy sea was running, and
the small boats could not make land
ing on the shore, a few miles distant.
They drifted about ali day. and finally
90 people were picked no by the
steamer Dispatch, which took them to
Eureka. Another boat, under COM
mand Of Engineer Brown, and con-
tanning IL passengers, attempted to
land at Trinidad, and was swamped.
John Wilkinson. quartermaster: Will
liam Martel, fireman; l.. Drube. a pas
senger, and three unknown men were
drowned.
Word has been received from Trim
dad OF boat which put in there.
The survivors had a terrible expert
ence, and only five or six are left out
OF a boatload. The dispatch states
that Ii were lost. The boat was cap
sized several times in rough weather
Thursday morning, and each time sew
erai persons lost their lives. A citi-
zens' committee has arranged for a
patrol system covering As miles of the
coast, both north and south of Eureka.
SO that should any SURVIVES come
ashore they will be taken care of.
Captain Johnson, OF the steamer
Dispatch, was loud in his praise of
the bravery displayed by women whom
he rescued, two in particular to whom
he gives much credit for the calnness
they displayed. According to CAPTAIN
Johnson, the women were far mora
nervy than the men and gave vaIu.
able assistance in caring for the sur
vivors, as each succeeding raft was
picked up. In most instances ii was
with great difficulty that the survivors
were got aboard, owing to the heavy
sea running.
The captain and the crew of the
Dispatch gave every attention to the
wants OF the passengers. In many in
stances their wardrobes were entirely
depleted. While many of the passen-
gers had ample time to robe them
selves after the alarm had been given
many failed to do SO, and as a result
not few were thinly clad, while those
more fortunate were drenehed TO the
skin and suffered equally with the
others.
Captains Account of Disaster.
Eureka, Cal, Jan. 4.-Captain A. l.
Hall, master of the wrecked steam
ship, says:
About 40 a. m. | was suddenly
awakened by an awful crash ON the
port side, well forward The housing
especially in the vicinity of my cabin.
was badly shattered, the main force
or the collision striking her Just for
ward of my stateroom. After the
crash the vessel, which I think was a
French bark, Judging from the Ian.
guage used by her sailors. rebounded
and CROPPED alongside. l called to her
to stand by. She drifted away and
was lost to view. The vessel began
to fill Immediately and she sank in IS
minutes.
There was no confusion on board.
The officers and crew kept the passen-
gers from becoming panic-stricken.
The crew was Immediately ordered TO
man the lifeboats and RATS. and an
effort was made to save the baggage.
This was given up, however, the yes.
sci filling at such an alarming rate
that no thought was given but for the
safety of the passengers. I gave or.
ders to have the port boilers blown
out, it being necessary to give the
'SSS~A - AASS ~ hCCP TIC gaping mole
In her side out of the water. In
few moments all the lifeboats and
RATS were out, with the exception OF
two, which were smashed. 1t was
very dark at the time, and the uncer-
tain light interfered to a great ex-
tent with the rescue of the passen-
gers. l remained on board, assisting
them in every way possible. | went
down with the ship. After had been
down, / don't know how long. the so.
cial hall deck broke off and / fioated
to the surface with it. Sighting a life
raft. commenced swimming, and sue
ceeded in reaching 1t after a hard
struggle, and was pulled on board by
the three occupants.
From the information l have con-
corning the rescue Of the passengers
and crew, am not able to state how
large the death list will be, but In
my opinion it will not be less than
a, and possibly may reach so.
II Ia oil 4o4~