The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1906-10-26
ONLY FIVE SURVIVORS
One Rundred and Forty five
Members of Florida House.
boat Crew Drowned.
ANOTHER DISASTER FEARED.


Four Hundred Life Preservers, Strange
Iy Marked, Come Ashore at Cape
Hatteras-Pieces of Wreckage Also
Cast up--May indicate Fate OF Pas
senger Steamer.
Norfolk, Va, Oct. 26.-Counting the
minutes, which seemed to them to be
but few, intervening between them and
death; bruised, bleeding, hungering
and athirst, FIVE men adrift on a bit of
wreckage off the Florida coast saw one
Of their companions whose sufferings
had driven him mad throw himself
into the sea to death. Not long after
ward a ship saved their lives.
The FIVE survivors Of one of the
greatest tragedies which has ever oc-
CURED on this coast were landed here
by the British steamer Heatherpool.
The survivors are Frank Revely of
Mariana, Fla; Gus Johnson Of Brook
lyn, Ben Clarke Of Someryille, Mass;
Abner Bell of Kissimee, Fla. and John
Campbell Of Philadelphia.
Hit by the Hurricane.
The five men, with about las others,
were constructing concrete viaduct
for the Florida East Coast railway
through the Florida keys and were
aboard houseboat No. A, which lay an
chored off the coast on the night of
Oct A. The great hurricane which
swept over the coast struck the house
boat about / O'Clock In the morning of
Oct 1S, and No. broke adrift.
The houseboat soon afterward foun-
dered, and all Of the 150 men aboard
were thrown into the sea. The boat
was dashed to pieces by the waves.
Many Of the men were killed by
heavy timbers which struck them as
they were struggling to find means Of
rescue. Six men lashed together two
timbers, one 10 by 20 inches in thick
ness and breadth and the other by IA
inches and both twenty feet long and
lived on this raft until one man be-
came mad from suffering and threw
himself into the sea.
Ships Captain Hears Cries.
On the morning of Oct. 10 Captain
Grieves, standing upon the bridge Of
his ship, heard cries for help and dis
covered the raft. He launched a life
boat and soon brought the perishing
men aboard, where they were given
light food and put to bed.
The survivors are being cared for at
the Norfolk City mission until the com
pany for which they worked or their
relatives can be heard from.
A maritime puzzle that may be the
result of an ocean tragedy came ashore
near Cape sHatteras in the shape Of
more than 400 life preservers.
Between Hatteras and Big Kinnaket
the beach is strewn with the cork jack
cts. Some are marked "Caswitz. Ret
tunysyurcer, G.. R. p, No. 1O8,341. ;,
Others are stamped 'sSealanan." Two
bear the name "Smeskf" Three miles
north of Big Kinnaket a part of a
white yawl boat and fragment of a
boats gunwale washed ashore. There
are no marks on this wreckage.
Disaster to Steamer Feared.
Because all the life preservers and
the pieces of wreckage came on the
beach in such limited area and bez
cause of the large number of Jackets
shipping men here are of TIE opinion
that whatever the cause may be it oc-
Cured not far from the coast and that
ii there is wreck 1t is probably that
Of passenger ship. a search among
the marine records has failed to reveal
any names that correspond with those
on the life preservers. Life preservers
are generally marked with the name Of
the boat they are on. 1t is probable
revenue cutter will be sent out to
search off Hatteras for further traces
of wreck.