The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-01-26


lencia.
Sixty-one persons are believed to |
have been aboard the Valencia when |
she broke up. The list, which does not |
include those who had been drowned |
before the wreck went down, follows: |
Captain 0. NJ. Johnson. master.
w. Holmes, first officer.
A. a. Beerg, fourth officer.
w. Downing, chief engineer.
E. E Hopkins, second freight clerk.
j. Z. HoddinOt, CHIEF steward.
H. n. Campbell, second steward.
- Wilkins, barkeeper.
Mrs. Musgrove, steWardess.
- Hughes, porter.
Eight women, names unknown, three !
children and forty men names un-
known.
Arrival of Survivors.
Seattle. Wash, Jan. 26-The steamer
City OF Topeka, sent to the rescue Of
the persons on board the Valencia which
struck on a reef near Cape Beale and
was pounded to. pieces-more than six
score of lives being 1Ost-arrived in Sc
attic at $50 o'clock this morning with
% survivors aboard.
A majority of these remained on
board the steamer until the Offices of
the Pacific Coast Steamship company
were opened this morning. They were
taken to a hotel and provided for. Not
a man who was saved brought any of
his personal effects off the wreck with
the exception of the clothing he wore
and what few articles were in his pock-
cts.
During Wednesday night the City of
Topeka lay aside the straits ana early
Thursday morning ran westward along
the Vancouver shore toward the scene
of the wreck. The weather was clear
and everything could be seen on the
Washington and Vancouver shores.
When opposite Carmanah light, fog and
rain set in around the ship and the
shore line, a half mile away, was blot
ted out.
At 10 O'Clock the tug Lorne was
sighted near the place where the Val
encia struck She reported having
cruised five miles to the westward and
had found no signs of the wreck.
Joe Clgalas the hero of the wreck,
who tried to swim to shore with a life
line and was all but drowned, vOlun-
teered to show the Lorne's life saving
crew that was going ashore in small
I boat, where the Valencia lay, and he
was transferred from the Topeka to the
tug.
Could Not Land.
The Lorne then ran east about two
miles, but the lifeboat could not land
near the wreck The Salvor was next
/ sighted by the Topeka, lying farther up
/ the coast to the westward, flying sig
| mails. The Topeka ran alongside ana
! Captain TrOup, of the SalvOr, reported
( that he had on board Boatswain Tim
! Mccarthy and the five men who landed
at Cape Beale from the Valencia and
! reported the wreck He also reported
/ having seen two men on shore who had
! ripped up a semaphOre. The SalvOr had
not been able to make landing
A small tug was sighted in the break
( ers where the wreck was reported to be.
/ The waves appeared to be sweeping all
! over her and when the tug first sighted
| her she was mistaken for the wreck.
At 1880 o'clock this tug came along
| side the Topeka and proved to be the
Orion Of Victoria. She reported the
/ wreck all broken UP, nothing standing
but the stump of the main mast; had
seen no persons on shore and no bodies
in the wreckaga. 1t was impossible to
make a landing.
During the afternoon the Topeka
made an effort to send provisions ashore
| through the surf. The Lorne was to
| take them near the shore and cas-! them
/ adrift but found it Impossible ta get
close enough to the line Of breakers
Just at sunset the Topeka started on
her return trip to Seattle VIA Pert
/ Townsend. As the vessel steamed up
! the straits past the place where the
Valencia met her fate long lines of
/ broken spars and other wreckage float
ed past on the ebb tide toward the sea
The steamer proceeded slowly through
these mute reminders of the av ful fate
that had Overtaken a hundred lives,
and on to Seattle.
Engineers Story.
When the Valencia went on the rocks,
K. F. Carrack, first assistant engineer,
was in the fire room. In describing the
/ disaster he said:
q felt the ship strike and then strike
again. then came the order, reverse,
full speed ahead We backed for five
minutes and crashed ONO the rocks.
The whole port side of the ship by the
fire room seemed to give way and the
water rolled in, striking Us waist high
and throwing US against the boilers.
Just as the ship struck the engines
stopped. The water drove us out of he
fire room before we could draw our fires.
sprang through a doorway into the
engine room and lifted the levers oe the
safety valves.
We were on slow ball when we
struck The last sounding that I heard
was 50 fathoms at 10 O'Clock. We struck
a few minutes before 1925.
After doing all I could do to prevent
an explosion of the boilers 7 w.sn- on
/ the main deck. We could sle nothing
around US but breakers aad did not
know whether we were on a ledge or on
the mainland.
Weather Indications
-