The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-11-20

(COntinued from Page One) astern of me to port As soon as ! saw the Dix was SO close. called 70 what he was doing. He put his wheel over to starboard and she started di| rectIy across my bows.
 Dix sinks stern First.
 q signalled to the engine room Of my vessel to back at full speed. but we could not get out of the way in time. The Jeannie was backing ht- tie when we struck. guess it was pretty well abaft of amidships. and the shock was not enough to have injured an ordinary launch. The Dix listed heavily to starboard, righted herself and tben sank stern first"
 Captain F.. Lermon, master of the steamer Dix, told the story of the col- lision after arriving ct Seattle. He was shaking with the cold, ffs eyes still dilated with the horror of bis ex- perlence.
 T don't know how if happened" he said 'Charles Dennison, mate of the boat, was at the wheel. It was fine clear night and the water was like a mill pond. had seen the lights of a steamer on our starboard quarter some time before, but had not paid any att tention to them. l went below "a col lect the fares There were seventy nine passengers aboard. and it was quite a task to get all the fares. l have been on the run for the past thtr- teen years and knew almost every one aboard.
 sounds Human Seldom Heard.
 ''When I was in the ladies cabin, I heard the bell signal to stop. knew something must be wrong and rushed forward to see what was up. Just as I got on deck on the starboard side, I saw the bow of vessel loom up.
 Almost instantly she struck us. The jibboom crashed through us just aft of amidships and keeled the Dix over like a top. She careened like flash on her port bow and lay there for a min ute or two with the water rushing iD and all over.
 T was thrown against the deck house and almost paralyzed. The steamer lay for almost two minutes on her port beam. This was exactly at TAO o'clock, as my watch stopped then. In a moment l. recovered my breath and sprang up on the house.
 "Just then the steamer heeled back to starboard. There was another rush of water, cries and screams of men, wo- men and children. From below came sounds such as human ears have seldom heard before.
 Many of the passengers were penned below and could not possibly escape. Then the steamer turned her bow up. She filled and her stern went slowly down. until the bow was standing straight half out of the water. For an instant chung to the railing. The sight fascinated me with horror. Lights were still burning and could sec peo- pie inside the cabin. The expressions on the faces were of indescribable de- spair.
 PandemOnlum in Steamer.
 People on deck slid off into the wa ter, or went down shrieking and des- perately clutching at the water or at the Jeannie. which still loomed up only a few yards away. Within the sinking steamer pandemonium reigned. There were cries and prayers from men and women. The wall of children mingled with the shouts of those who were fighting desperately to gain the deck What took place in that cabin will never be known, as no people were saved from there The boat heeled back and went down by the stern.
 ''The other boat was only a short distance away from us all this time. Some of the passengers who had been on deck jumped from her martfngale (the lines beneath the bow sprit). ana In this way elambered up to safety. By this time the Dix was standing on end with her bow way up in the air and then she started to go down.
 T leaped into the water and man aged to keep myself afioat. Others from the supken steamer were fioating