The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-08-29
STEAMER GOES
DOWN IN STORM
All But Two of the Officers and Crew
Drowned.
CARGO OF VESSEL SHIFTED
DISASTER OCCURRED ALMOST IN
AN INSTANT.

ERNANDiNA, Fla, Aug 2S-TWen-
ty men, constituting all but two Of
the officers and crew of the AmeTi-
can steamship Peconic, Captain Jones'
bound from Philadelphia to New Or
leans with coal, were drowned by the
sinking of that vessel off the coast of
Florida today. The disaster was the
result of q, fierce gale, which ragged
along the coast during the night and
early morning. Lashed by the storm.
an immense wave struck the vessel
with terrific force about 1870 O'Clock
this morning. The impact. coming just
as the vessel was making turn. caused
shift of the cargo, and the vessel
leaned over and sank Immediately. The
accident occurred so quickly that only
two of those aboard her-an Italian
and a SDaniard-were able to save
themselves They succeeded in getting
into a life boat, reached Amelia beach
about noon, and on landing told the
story of the disaster.
Went Down Rapidly.
About midnight of Sunday. according
TO their story, during the heaviest part
of the storm. which had ragged all day,
the officer of the deck gave the order
to put further out to sea, fearing they
were approaching the coast too nearly.
In the endeaVor to turn, the ship was
struck with a heavy sea; the cargo
shifted. and she began sinking rapidly
In less than ten minutes after the
alarm was sounded she had gone to
the bottom. One of the two survivors
was at the wheel at the time the order
was given; the other was upon watch
TWO Were Saved.
AS soon as the ship began to careen,
these two men rushed for one of the
small boats, which they jumped into as
the vessel began to sink. With their
knives they severed the ropes as the
waters level was reached, and the
small boat was thrown Ear out on the
waves. They say that they discovered
through the blackneSS and storm the
figures of part of the awakened crew,
some of whom managed to crowd into
another of the ships boats. This was,
however, caught in a trough of the sea,
thrown violently against the ventilat-
ors, and then wedged fast Their pitt
full cry for help could be heard as the
ship went down in the sea
Night Of Horror.
Alone through the remainder of the
night. in the awful wash of waters,
with the storm raging and threatening
each mOment to swamp their small
boat. these two men were gradually
borne ashore toward Amelia Island
landing just at IL a. m. today. The men.
whose names are BageIlini Hum berti,
and Antonio Clark were unable to
speak except in their native tongues.
and il was some time before the facts
of the disaster were thoroughly ascer-
tanned. They have testified to the cor
rectness of the above report before a
notary public, and the community here
cared for their wants.
In the Teeth of Gale.
AT the time of the disaster, the ship
was about 200 miles northeast of here,
heading south and in the teeth of the
gale.
The vessel had been engaged in the
fruit trade from Central America TO
New Orleans but on account of quar-
antine regulations prohibiting the i'm
port of bananas she had been engaged
for two voyages to carry coal from
Philadelphia to New Orleans. She was
a ship of 1854 tons register and had
on board about !. 500 tons of coal. She
arrived at Philadelphia July "A and
cleared for New Orleans Aug. 10.