The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-12-29
An Unknown Vessel Staq-
gering on Diamond
ShoaI.
MEN WAIT HELPLESS
As Yet no Boat Can Live in Those
Thundering Seas Amid Which, Out
There in the BIackness of HeIl's
Hole, the Tempest-Battered Vessel
is Straining.
(By the Associated Press. }


Norfolk, Va, Dec. 2S.-Battered by
heavy seas that have been lashed 10
fury by forty mile gale an unknown
steamer lies helpless on the inner Dia-
mond Shoals. eight miles off Cape Hat
teras tonight. and faint lights seen
now and then carry a ge to the
life saving corps on shore that there
are human lives aboard the wrecked
craft that cannot be saved until wind
and sea have calmed sufficiently to al
low the surf boats TO be launched.
The observer of the United States
Weather Bureau at Hatteras. first saw
the steamer when the fog lifted short
~ before noon to-day. At that time
she appeared TO be in distress. and
later 1t was seen that she had grourc-
ed on the inner shoal, known TO mari
ners as Helfs Hole or the Grave
yard OF Shipping. The heavy seas
cdreened the vessel on her beams and
at o'clock this afternoon She was
lying on her port side with seas wash
ing ali over her.
The smoke that her funnel emitted
early in the day was no longer dis
cernible ana it was then supposed that
her fires mad been extinguished by
NNaNCa hiiAilB TIE nun.
The steamer has three masts and
one funnel. Her engines and boilers
are aft and the funnel is between the
main mast and mizzen mast From
her description it is thought she NAV
be one of the fruit liners that Div be-
tween West Indian ports ana IBalti-
more or New York.
Waiting and Watching.
At O'Clock tonight the observer at
Hatteras reported that the life saving
crews of several stations along the
Carolina coast in the vicinity of Hat
tefaS were ready on the beach to
launch their surf boats the minute the
wind and tide had abated sufficiently
t allow them TO. AT that time the
wind mad dropped from forty to thirty
SIX miles an hour, but the mercury
was falling as steadily as the gale and
the approach Of freezing weather
BODIES Ill for the crew imprisoned upon
the stranded steamship.
The report states that at sunset the
vessel had apparently righted herself
somewhat and that if the wind and
sea did not increase there was good
chance OF her remaining intact until
morning. If this is the case the pros
poets are bright for the life savers
being able to reach her
From the size OF the steamer it is
estimated she carries a complement OF
twenty-five men, but 1T has been inn
possible 10 secure q view that would
allow any Surmise as to her character
being made. There may be passengers
aboard.
Word from the scene expresses 1T
tie hope that loss of life can be avert
Ell. For several hours to-day. while
on her port beam. the steamer WAS 1T
times completely covered by the
breakers that piled upon her decks
and sides with terrific force.
1t was with surprise that the life
savers saw lights upon the craft to-
night. These appear to those on shore
to be torch lights and not signals OF
any regular character.
desperate effort will be made by
the combined crews of several life saw
ing stations to take off the people on
the vessel at the first opportunity.