The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1905-10-17
nvE SWEPT orr liner
Wave Rolled Over Crowded Deck the
Campania In Mid-0cean.
THIRTY PERSONS ARE INJURED
smashlnu An Of the Gangway Doors
Formed Slueeway Through
Which the Victims Were Hurled to

6mashing An OF the Sah9"SJ S""'S
Formed a sluIceway Through
Which the Victims Were Hurled to
Death.
New York. Oct. l6.-Five lives are
known to have been lost and more
than 80 persons were injured. one OF
them fatally on the Cunard line
steamer Campania. when gigantic
wave rolled over the steamer ana
swept across a deck thick with steer
age passengers. So sudden was the
coming Of the awful disAster and so
great the confusion which attended
and followed 1t that even the officers
of steamer themselves were unable
upon the vessels arrival here to esti-
mate the full extent of the tragedy.
Mrs. Benade. Of Philadelphia. said
that she was seated on a steamer
chair on the promenade deck directly
over where the sea broke.
at was all over in few minutes,
she said "All | remember was
dreadful crash. the grOans OF the IN
jured. and think saw one of the
young women who was lost struggling
in the water, but of that am not GER
tain. The smashing in of the gangway
doors formed a sluiceway through
which the lost passengers were carried
into the ocean My daughter had called
nv attention to one OF the waves.
which was rolling in from the por
side.
when this wave got within 80 feet
of the vessel II was joined by another
wave. travelling in an opposite direc
ton. The one rolling toward the ship
must have been the stronger. for II
carried the immense volume OF water
on the main deck Nobody could have
prevented the affair. The officers did
everything they could to bring us
safely through.
The steamships officers say that the
awful disaster came without the
slightest warning. The Campania was
blowing along under full Roadway A
heavy Quartering sea was running, but
the weather conditions were far from
unpleasant. and the big boats decks
were crowded with passengers. The
steerage deck was covered with merry
makers. and there was nothing TO in
dictate the approaching disaster, when
suddenly the big steamer lurched TO
port and scooped up an enormous sea.
The wave boarded the steamer about
midships on the port side and swept
clear across the steerage deck. com
pletely filling the space between that
deck and the deck above and carrying
everything with it. The steamers side
was buried so deep that the passen-
gers on the deck above the steerage
were submerged to their waists as the
immense volume Of water rolled aft
and then surged forward.
All the cabin passengers on the up
per deck succeeded in clinging 10 sup
ports while the waters surged around
them. and were saved. but the unfor
tunates on the steerage deck found
themselves utterly helpless. The ire
sistible rush of waters. sweeping
toward the forward part of the ship.
carried everything before it,
So great was the volume and force
Of the rushing waters that door In
the rail was smashed. and through this
opening five Of the helpless ones who
had been caught by the wave. were
swept to their death. Others who were
dashed against the rails and other like
distractions escaped death. but many
of them received severe injuries. One
Young woman had both legs broken
AT the thigh. and several persons sut-
fered broken arms and ribs, while
more than a score were bruised and
battered.
When the wave cleared the vessel
the forward part of the deck was
strewn with injured. and for hours Or.
Verden. the ships surgeon. aided by a
number of physicians among the cabin
messengers. were busy in attending to
their hurts. In the meantime an In
spection of the steerage showed that
five Of the passengers we're missing.
John Graham. Of Milwaukee, was
one Of the passengers washed over
board and lost He was travelling In
the steerage. The others who are
known to have lost their lives were
two Irish girls. a Danish boy and
man whose nationality has not yet
haan ascprtainad