The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1903-02-18
OLIVE
SINKS
IN RIVER
Seventeen Persons Drowned and
Six Suffering From Exposure.
Struck by a Cyclone.

Norfolk, Va, Feb. 1S--A cyclone struck
the passenger steamer olive. which plies
between Franklin, Va, and Edenton' n
C., Monday night and sent her TO the
bottom OF the Chowan river, Off Wood
ley's pier. between Mt Pleasant and
divers wharf.
Seventeen people arc known TO nave
been drowned and others who were res
cued are I'm a serious condition.
The whirlwind when It struck the
Olive caused her TO go over on her beam
ends and when she righted 1t was only
10 sink on account OF the water she had
taken In
A majority of the passengers and crew
were below at the time and had no op-
portunity to reach the pilot house or the
vessel This point was the only portion
left above water, and in it standing waist
deep from the time OF the accident until
C o'clock in the morning Capt. George
H. Witty and five others were found and
saved.
No complete list OF the dead has been
obtained but Il Is known that the fol-
lowing perished:
Charles Lasslter, white. hardware sales
man.
Mrs. Bennett, white. Franklin. Va, and
her young child.
Easter williams, colored, deckhand.
An aged white woman. unknown.
Abraham Cooper. colored. fireman.
Parker colored, fireman
six colored members Of the crew un-
known.
Four unknown passengers. one white.
Those saved were: Captain Witty, En-
glneer Conroy. Purser Bell. the colored
.t.sN
At this morning the river steamer
Petit hove in sight and rescued the al
most frozen survivors.
A SMALL STEAMER.
The Olive was a small screw steamer
owned by y. -Prettnw- of FRANKLIN. VA
and has been plying between North
Carolina and Virginia for several years.
She left Franklin last evening for Eden
ton and had almost reached her destina-
ton when the cyclone struck her
The Olive was an inland passenger
steamer halling from Norfolk. She was
built in 1869 and was OF PSI tons gross,
1903 feet long 204 feet beam and seven
feet depth OF hold.
According TO the statement or Captain
Witty, beside the IL known TO have been
lost on the sinking steamer llfeboat
loaded with Engineer G. l.. Conway, As
sistant Engineer J. Il. Murphy. Purser j.
n. Bell, one white and two colored pass
engers, unknown, and two colored deck
hands, which left the steamer In hopes
OF reaching vessel whose lights could be
seen In the distance. Is yet unheard from.
Capt Witty reached Norfolk yesterday
afternoon. He made the following state
1--WE left Franklin on our regular trip
to Edenton yesterday morning at II
o'clock. A heavy southwest wind was
blowing, but along the Chowan river we
did not mind 1t very much. AT o CLOCK
last night we headed for Edenton bay;
The weather became heavy that
would not risk the open water and put
the boat about to return up the river
for safety
BLACK AS INK.
about . o'clock everything became
| inky black and n terrible roaring broke
| out. ] was alone in the pilot house ana
most OF those below had turned in. In a
| second something struck the boat on her
| port beam and turned her over on her
| starboard side.
| II thought she would never right herself
| and monster wave dashed over us. 1T
| flooded the hold and smashed everything
her hold the Olive slowly righted and I'm
| less than two minutes after having been
| struck she was resting on the bottom,
with only the pilot house above the
1.-TWO llfeboats were swept away, and
one was left. Into this the engineer. as
sistant engineer purser and one whte
| and two ColOred passengers climbed and
put Off in hope OF catching up with tow
boat that could be seen ahead OF us.
never saw them after they left the side
IAn- zLcanaer- sank quickly that those
below had no time To reach the deck ard
they must have been drowned In theil
| bcrths."
| special to the Virginia Pilot from
! Suffolk says that the crew OF eight whC
embarked I'm the lfeboat were picked NJ
after rowing four hours by the tug Ga
! zclle and landed at Tunis.
10 was learned last night that a whit,
man named Wilder OF Coleraine, n. c.. &
, | among the drowned. making the 18th vic
| tim. Work will be started tomorrow {,
recover the dead bodies, and IL possible
/ | g., rafea tbA ataorrar