The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1906-03-22
SHIP GOES DOWN
And Twenty.Seyen Lives Are
Lost in the Atlantic.
FOUNDERED AT SEA.

lnere were many aCtS Oi NeIOlSm dul
Self Sacrifice. Twenty.Pour Mem.
bers of the Crew Were Picked
Up at Sea and Carried to
' Boston.
uffsring, mental and physical, from
numerous acts Of heroism in saving
life, rarely equalled in the record o1
tragedies of the sea, attended the loss
Of the Phoenix li1e steamer British
King, which on Sunday, March IL, In
a raging Atlantic storm, foundered
about $50 miles south Of Sable island
and carried to death q meEbers o1
the crew. Thirteen men We1e rescued
from the sinking vessel by the Ley,
land line steamer Bostonian, bound
from Manchester to Boston, and II by
the German tank steamer Mannheim,
Rotterdam for New.York. Five others
who had been drawn down In the Vor'
tex into which the British King was
engulfed were picked up by the Bos'
tonian from a frail bit of Wreckage
which they had grssped after des'
perate struggle for life In the Whir'
pool. The Bostonian arrived at Bos'
ton Wednesday afternoon and the de-
tails of the disaster became known.
Oapt. James O'Hagan Of the Brit.
ish King died on board the Bestonlan
from the effects Of terrible injuries
sustained in trying to save his ship.
o., of the boats OF the Bostonian was
crushed to fragments and the volun'
teer crew which manned 1t were
thrown into the high running seas,
while engaged in the work Of rescue,
but all were safely landed on board
the steamer.
Volunteers from the Mannheim,
after a heroic battle with the waves,
bad taken eff II from the British
King, but after this neither of the
steamers, in consequence Of the in
creasing gale, could make an attempt
to reach the foundering freighter.
Moreoyer, darkness fell and it was an
utter impossibility to do else but wait
for the moonlight to guide them. In
the darkness the British King, which
was then waterlogged and helpless,
plunged to the bottom.
For three days her captain and
crew, working against uncorquerable
odds, had tried to prevent, or at least
postpone, their ships destruction.
Barrels of oil and wrecksgs forming
into a powerful arm, were driven down
upon her sides with crushing force,
opening up the vessels plates and al
lowing the water to pour ilto her
holds.
The extent of the leak was not uu-
derstood until the following day, how
ever, and then, although all hands
were placed at the pumps, the water
gained considerably. The fires had
been extinguished and the engines
rendered useless by the rising water.
The only remedy at hand lay in re-.
pairing the damaged sections, and
while personally experimenting his
work, Capt. O'Hagan sustained q
fractured leg and internal IL jlries. Al
though he was unable to stand he con.
tinued to direct the efforts OF bis
crew. At the end Of the thrse days
when all hands had labored ceaseless
ly without rest and with little fGod,
the Bostonian and Mannheim were
sighted, and to these Capt. O'Hagan
displayed the signal for assistance.
Both the Bostonian and Mannheim
stood by the scene of the wreck Until
Monday morning, but no bodies were
recovered.
The British King sailed from New
York bound for Antwerp with q mis-
cellaneous cargo OF 150 head Of cattle
The passage was uneventiul until Frl'
day morning, when the ship was strucH
by strong northwesterly wind, whicf
suddenly developed into hurricane
Some of the matches were torn open
great volumes of water pouring into
The ships compartments, disabling
the engines, and soon the ship became
absolutely helpless, the rudder alst
having been swept away. Realizing
the necessity of quick action, Capt
O'Hagan himself went into the hole
and strove to repair the most damag
ed sections.
It was while doing this that a bar
rel of oil fractured one of his legs ir
two places. The injury was 80 severe
that piece OF the bone protrudec
through the flesh. In spite Of this ht
orcered that mis- lex he bound up anc
when this had been done, resumed
command and directed the eff jrt,
which were bo!ng made to plug Up tht
hole In the ships side. But all efforts
at repairs were fruitless. All hands
were forced to take refuge on thu
main deck. The cattle were sWep
overheard gradually by the seas anc
drowned.
At 6 o'clock Sunday morning Capt
O'Hagsn Sly hted the Mannheim aDt
shortly afterwards the Bostonian
b ,th of which hove to. The British