The Corvallis times. (Corvallis, Or.) 1888-1909, 1904-10-15

of Maine had come to witness the
launching, and the party entertain.
ed by the officials of the company
included Governor M. Terrell, of
Georgia, Congressman Carter Tate,
Mrs. Tate, Widow of the late Major
William Tate; Miss Stella Tate and
others of Georgia. Miss Tate, in
her duties as sponsor, also had per-
sonal supervision Of the launching.
Toxic. Oct. 1.-THE Japanese
.gunboat Hei Yen struck mine in
Pigeon Bay, west of Port Arthur,
September 18, and sank. Only fonr
of her crew were rescued.
The loss Of the armored gunboat
was announced today and permits
sion was granted by the authorities
to publish the details of the disas-
ter
/ The Hei Yen struck a mine off
Pigeon Bay on the night of Septem-
ber 18 and foundered. Nearly 800
persons, her entire complement,
were drowned. Two petty officers
and two sailors managed to reach
EChiaopai Island, from which they
were rescued. .l.-.
B The Hei Yen, which was engaged
in guard duty off Pigeon Bay, was
missed by the feet and a search for
thevessel was Immediately begun.
The petty officers and sailors found
on chiaopai Island reported that at
, dusk on September Is, a storm
came up, accompanied by high seas.
Tie Hei Yen endeavored to return
ITO her base, when she suddenly
struck floating mine, which ex-
ploded under her starboard side
amidships. The vessel began to
sink and an attempt was made to
lover the boats. The boats were
swamped and the crew jumped in
to the sea, where, owing to the
heavy combers, theyswere quickly
drowned.
The Japanese feet carefully
searched the patrolled locality, but
failed to find any other survivors
An official announcement Of the
disaster, issued today, says:
1T is highly regrettable that no
lrepeSt 10 any form has been receiv-
ed 81 the fate Of the other survivors.
The sad event was made worse on
account of the weather, which must
have added greatly to the already
awful result caused by the explo-
sion of the mine"
! The Hei Yen's compliment was
300 officers and men. Eleven Of
the crew had previously been de.
tached for special duty.
Astoria, Or, Oct. 1.-THE steam
er George w. Elder arrived in port
this morning with the flag at half
mast out Of respect to the memory
of Boatswain James Williams, who
was drowned by being thrown over
board by pitch of the vessel after
che had passed over a rough bal
when the Elder was near the ga!
buoy. During the passage of tht
vessel from San Francisco it Ia Gus
tomary to scarry small: boat OF
the davits over the side to be of i'm
mediate use in case Of an emergen
cy call for its use. In swinging
this in from the davitts, Boatswair
Williams was in the boat, and witt
a lurch was thrown out into tn
river.
1t was at $40, and the ebb tid
was running very strong, but a
soon as the cry of ''man overheard
: was heard, Captain Randall signal
ed to stop the engines and callet
: for volunteers to man a boat, as th
sea was running too high to orde
: boat away unless the men con
sented. First officer Mason wa
: the first to respond, and selecte'
three men to accompany him, ant
the small boat out Of which th
boatswain had been thrown wa
= quickly lowered.
When the first cry of "man over
board" was made some one thre,
!. from a stateroom a life-preservel
which it was thought at the tina
= Williams had secured. Mason an
= his crew of three men searched fo
40 minutes on the breaking bar fo
their comrade without success, an
Captain Randall never expecte
!, that the boat would reach the El
der again, and blamed himself fo
permitting it to start. The bar tn
Wallula was in sight, and whe
= her captain saw that something wa
= wrong, hurried to her assistance
= ran out over the bar and picked u
: the life.preserver, but saw nothin
: of the man.