Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1906-09-28
ECHOES OF THE STORM.

The usual September equinoctial gale
was little worse than for several
years. The Atlantic coast is strewn
with recks, and some lives were lost.
A typhoon also visited the Asiatic
coast, killing thousands in China. Japan
and India. The fishing fleet at Hong
Kong, consisting of COO junks,. was
totally wrecked.
The menhaden fishing steamer At
lantic, belonging to the Cape Fear
Fisheries Company, was sunk by the
Clyde Line steamer Navahoe near Fort
Caswell, Wilmington, N. c. Only one
mast and smokestack of the Atlantic
were left out of the water. Pilot
Harry Corbett, of Southport, is the
only one hurt. The Navahoe was not
damaged.
Monday night of last week when the
State police boat Emeline was steam
ing out Of Norfolk harbor, where she
had gone during the equinoctial gale,
she signaled big iron tramp several
times to pass to port, and received no
answer. Her master and two seamen
dead, her cargo shifted, heavily listed
TO port, her chart house gone, all save
one of her boats missing, her bridge
torn to pieces, the steel sides of her
house bent and her superstructure a
practical wreck, she was found to be
the British tramp steamer Laura from
q Texas port. She showed signs of be-
ing worse handled by wind and sea than
any steel ship which ever before entered
the port. She had battled with storm
for thirty-eight hours or so, and was
struck by hurricane, below Cape
Hatteras. Captain Adams and two of
his men were in the chart house on
deck when two great waves arose,
one upon either side of the ship and
rising to point higher than the ships
bridge met and fell, crushing it. Then
the receding waves, assisted by the
awful wind, carried it away to sea, and
it and the occupants vanished from
sight. First Officer johnson was
thrown by wave against a stanchion.
The steward rescued him, but he lapsed
into inconsistencies and was near dead
from pain. The second officer is a
hero, to the crew. He lay sick in
his bunk with fever of 1O3 degrees
when the master was lost. He was
carried up and took command, and
saved the ship. When he anchored and
told of the loss of lives aboard and of
the storm, he had not slept, and weak
ened as he was, with badly crushed
foot, tears filed his eyes and he could
hardly speak. He was taken at once
to hospital. The third officer also
suffered injury. His head was swelled
to near double its natural size. Every
man aboard the ship was bruised, sore
and suffering, and all were sent to the
hospital.
sNArCHED FROM THE JAWS OF DEATH
From Monday morning at O'Clock
until Thursday evening following, as
darkness was drawing near, thirsting
and starving but for three small fishes
which were cast up by the sea upon the
bit of wreckage on which they rode,
and were divided and devoured raw,
John Koerber and Karsten Berntsen,
seamen aboard the late three-masted
schooner Nelson E. Newbury, rode a
raft on the sea off Virginia coast, al
ternating between faint hope and deep
despair, until the steamer Egda came
along and saved them.
The story which they told simply, of
their escape from death and the drown
ing of their shipmates, is particularly
pathetic. They said that the Newbury
sailed from Port Royal, S. c., Septem-
Der 9th, for New York, with cargo and
deck load of lumber; that they were
becalmed outside for eight days, but on
last Monday morning when they were
off Charleston, hurrican struck them,
which, within fifteen minutes stripped
every sail grom the vessel. Next,
the deckload on the lee side was
washed and blown overheard. Then
the schooner dipped her stern and
the cabin deck was washed away.
Within few seconds the vessel was
turned over and all hands tried to
climb over the weather side. A big
sea came then and swept four of the
six men off the wreck, and the sur
vivors, who never saw them again,
are confident they were drowned.