The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-01-10

the male passengers worked heroiealIy
10 launch The life boats" said Bennett.
and the first WAS reserved FOR the
women and children. Il was loaded
with siiHculty. An angry sea was roll
ing. but this boat cleared the ship and
RODE tho waves for about ten minutes
al a sudden it got into the trough of
the sea and before the Passengers on
deck could realize they saw its load Of
humanity eogulfed in q sea which vas
running eighteen feet high.
The sight was terrible one and We
could plainly hear the screams Of the
helpless women and children as they
ioundersd about for a few moments
before they sank. The wind screamed
about US and waited their dying cries
on deck. where stood two score Of
brave men. who gazed at their death
struggles. pOWeriess to lend q helping
hand.
'eFhe second boat to be launched
lived but q short time longer than did
the first. 1t contained q mixed load OF
Eeeu and women, mostly the former.
The boat was tossed about by the
waves as if It were a cork and went
down in the trough of a swell with ali
SIS occupants Some may have after
wards gotten on RATS. but if they did
I am not aware Of it. So far as know
not woman or child survived.
Stayed by the Ship.
when ! realized that the third and
last boat launched was about TO meet
similar fate I turned away. unable
10 witness another such terrible end.
1 stayed with the doomed ship and
together with the remaining passengers
did all I could to bail the water out
of her hold.
THE Holyoke was the first tug TO
come to the rescue. though in my opin-
ion had the vessel been equipped with
flashlights and rockets she could have
summoned the whole Victoria fleet
her assistance long before the HoIyoke
put in an appearance.
when the H0ly0ke took hold OF Us IL
was with a line fully one-eighth Of a
mile long. She tOwed Us towards Port
Townsend. instead OF steering for the
beach. the passengers on board mean
time baiiing water out of the hold.
When il became apparent that the yes
sci was doomed some of the crew sig
nailed TO the Holyoke 20 abandon the
tow and come alongside. Either
through misunderstanding Of the sig
nails or failure TO comply with them,
don't know which, the greatest loss
of life on board the Clailam occurred.
The HOlyol1e did not respond, and the
vessel began to list We then realized
that our only chance was to take to the
water. and the majority jumped into
the sea in their life pTeserveTs.
4 was in the water about FIVE min
utes before I got hold of a life raft
After clingins to this for half an hour
the Sea Lion came along and took me
aboard. There We're half a dozen other
passengers on the raft with me and all
were gotten aboard the tug"
Might Have Been Saved.
Isaac Hewitt, q passenger who re-
sides on Vancouver island, stayed with
the ClalIam until she foundered and
went down. He shares the opinion Of
Charles G. Bennett that had the Eol-
yoke responded promptly TO the signals
Of the crew on board the Clallam many
passengers would have been saved.
who had stayed with the ship in the be-
lief that at the critical moment the
Holyoke would abandon her tow ana
come alongside to rescue the passen-
gers.
We all believed that the HoIyoke
would let go her line and come along
Their effort to save the ship was use
less said Bennett. This belief served
to keep Us buoyed Up until a few
minutes before the ship sank. we sig
nailed the HOlyoke repeatedly to come
TO our aid. hut she continued to tow us
with a line which put her out of range
Of the human voice. I noticed that red
I lamps were used by the crew on the
CIsllam. I don't know whether thfs
is the proper signal in such cases but
in any event it had no visible effect
upon the Holyoke's crew.
The Sea Lion wasted no time when
she arrived in rendering all the assist
anCe possible. Every member OF the
crew rendered heroic assistance and it
was largely due to her escorts that any
Of the survivors live 10 tell the story of
the wreck.
Pumps Refused to Work
''Fhe Clauam's pumps refused 10
work from the start and she was kept
afloat only by the efforts Of the pas
sengers and crew who remained on
board. Water rushed into her hold in
q perfect deluge and all we could do
was to stave of what every one below
deck realized would be the inevitable
end. great deal of water poured in
through the dead lights and human
effort was powerIess 10 bail out as fast
as il accumulated. All this time we
were working in the belief that II the
boat began to sink we could get aboard
the HolyOke and not until she failed to
come to our rescue did those on board
fully realize their peril. Then the rush
for life preservers and life RATS be
gan. Those VINO were able 30 ger
on the RATS were rescued In
short order by the Sea Lion. Too much
cannot be said in praise OF this tugs
officers and crew for the assistance