The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-10-05

rife fury. I was in the pilot house
with the CAPTAIN. who had just said
that the elements looked threatening
and that he would try 20 run TO port.
When the first fierce gust hit us the
captain tried TO throw the boat up
into the water, bat his efforts To do SO
were unav9iling- Then I Joined him
al the wheel but our combined et-
forts were not sufficient 10 make her
answer the helm.
Became Panic-Stricken.
Then Of a sudden she listed and
began to fill with water. Realizing
that the passengers and crew were
becoming paniC-stTicken. left the
captain i'm the pilot house and ran AT
TO let down the life boat. BY the time
j got aft the Hackley was filling So
rapidly that it was apparent 1T would
be impossible TO launch any boat.
Then came another blast and the up
per works went by the board. Then
the steamer began to sink rapidly and
it was apparent Dhat settling ON the
bottom would be a question of only
few moments.
Eighteen of the nineteen people
aboard her gathered on the deck, most
of them i'm a state of frantic panic. The
situation was made particularly heart
-ending by the women. who shouted
them. and accompanied their appeals
for assistance with prayers
As the boat sank it was clear that
there. was only one hope of anyone
being saved. and that was by clinEinC
90 the wreckaSa. ] gave orders for the
men to put the women on it first. They
did so and behaved wen. every man
remaining on the sinking boat until
the women had been placed on pieces
Of the cabin and other wreckaEe.
There was then a wild scramble on the
part of each man to get such planking
as he could secure and cling to it.
Captain Went Down.
Every man found something to
float on except the captain. who re-
manned in the pilot house to the last.
doing his best to right the boat and
he finally went down with her.
I'VE 6Oated on different pieces and
for a few minutes we were in sight
of each other. but soon darkness came
on and we separated The last person
l saw. except those with me. were the
two Vincent girls, from Egg Harbor.
who were floating together. They
seemed to have recovered entirely from
their first fright and We're making a
brave struggle for their lives, a strug-
sic which il now seems was I'm vain.
Those of us who We're fortunate
enough TO escape chung TO the wreck
age ali night. bitten by the cold wind
and benumbed by the colder water,
and the surprise is that we did not all
die of exposure. We drifted 7 know
not where until picked up by the She
bOygan."
Exhausted When Rescued.
Captain J. f. Johnson of the She
boygan, which picked up the survivors.
said:
This morning. when near Straw
berry island, 7 saw wreckage which
knew was fresh. and began to search
the surroundings in order TO discover
the survivors, if there were any. Down
near Green island discovered five
persons clinEiuS TO wreckage, and got
them on board after much difficulty.
soon I discovered two other men on
different pieces of plankiug, and also
succeeded in getting them on board.
The men were in q state of great eU-
EaustiOn. and the condition Of some Of
them is still serious
The HackIey left MenOminee, Mich,
late Saturday afternoon and was bound
for Fish Creek and Green Bay.