The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1904-07-07

of the bows of the ship with the sol
id granite, followed by a grinding,
rasping sound as though the hull was
being showed over huge rocks. Then
silence as the changing bells brought
the engines to stop. Those Of the
passengers who were standing at the
time the steamer struck the rock were
thrown against the bulkheads or on
the decks and had not recovered their
feet when a stentorian voice gave the
terrifying order:
Rush for the Boats.
"All hands on deck; men hurry or
you may sink
:. Immediately there was rush for
the narrow companion ways and men
women, and children pushed and
struggled and made every effort to
reach the deck where the boats swung
from the davits. Many persons, re-
tanning their presence Of mind, seiz-
ed life preservers only to find in some
instances that the strings were rotten
and they could not quickly be put
around their bodies. Those who reach
ed the deck saw the nose of the Norge
pinned directly against the rock. It
remained there only few minutes for
Capt. Gundell, commanding, who had
Immediately gone to the bridge, gave
the order to the engine room to re-
verse the engines. Some men of the
engineer force had relatives among
the passengers and after seeing them
safely to the boats they heroically
returned to their stations below. Slow
ly the ship backed off and as she
gained way, it was found that water
was pouring into her hold. This add
ed to the supreme fright and agony.
The passengers who were piled in the
boats were the fortunate ones who
were to escape while the unfortunates
who saw death near clustered in the
! Vicinity Of the seething, struggling
mass, some on their knees praying,
surrounded by children, others sup
plicating aid from any one and Shrek
ing for permission to enter the boats
elbowing and fighting their way to
the places from which the boats were
being lowered. The sound of grind
ing ceased, the bow Of the Norge
yawned as the steamer returned to
deep water. The sea rushed hun
grily into the huge rents made by the
rock in the iron hull. Swiftly the
vessel began to sink by the bows.
Boats Crushed by Waves.
Without waiting for orders, with
out paying attention to their proper
manning, the occupants began to low
er the boats. The starboard life boat
began slowly to fall when to the horror
of those on board the stern tackle
failed, while the bow tackle ran free.
Soon the bow were in it chung des-
perately along the sides and seas, I'M
til great wave came towering along
and struck the boat, smashing it
against the side Of the ship. The occu-
pants of the boat who were not killed
by the impact were thrown into the
water The crew and passengers on
deck had no time to spare to assist
the few who had chance to escape,
but had lost it. Undeterred by the
experience Of the first boat second,
loaded principally with women and
children, was lowered. This time the
tackle ran smoothly, but the hopes Of
escape Of the passengers on board
were blasted. The moment it touched
the water, waves picked up the small
craft as if had been a feather and
dashed it against the side Of the, ship
in spite Of the frantic efforts of the
passengers to fend it off. The crash
was heard on deck.
| Then the sea swallowed more vic
TINS and pieces Of wreckage slowly
driftly towards the rock.
The upper deck of the Norge at the
time of the disaster to the second
/
Batson, Tex.-Tom Best, white
man, and Joe Nunce, Mexican, both
gamblers, shot and killed each other
with pistols about five o'clock Tues
day morning in a saloon in the ne
gro quarter Of the town. The Mexi-
can was shot four times but lived
about two hours. One shot only struck
Best but it killed him instantly. The
shooting grew out Of an old difficulty
between. the two men at Spindletop