The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-07-23
BODIES PILED HIGH.
Steamer Deck Was One Great Bier,
Covered With American Flag.

Steamer Deck Was One Great Bier,
| Covered With American Flag.
Oakland. Cal. July 2s.-P. c. Walk
Roanoke. which arrived today from
| Portland, told in an interview of the
| havoc and the scenes of distress which
were witnessed after the collision of
| the steamers Columbia and San
| Pedro.
He said:
! THE Roanoke was bound south
and at noon Sunday we reached the
scene of the collision which had &C.
CURED between the steamers San
Pedro and Columbia at the previous
midnight.
| 1.-The surface of the sea all around
| the scene of the collision was strewn
with wreckage of the lost vessel, and
| the deck houses of the San Pedro and
the deck load of lumber she was car
rying at the time of the collision.
| The steamship George w. Elder
and two steam schooners, whose
names we failed to hear as they were
| just resuming their course north, were
at the scene of the wreck. The Elder
| had a line fastened to the San Pedro,
and her officers and crew were en-
| deavoring to get tow line aboard the
| latter in order to tow her to port.
1.-The San Pedro's aftermast had
| been broken off even with the smoke
stack. She was badly listed and wa
| q,
| stern that the sea swept the after
| deck. Foo
while we drifted across the bows
| OF the Elder, several of the members
of the crews of theeS San Pedro and the
| Columbia, who had been rescued by
| the Elder. requested us to report to
their families and friends that they
were safe; but I could make out only
one name. namely, Kavanaugh. who,
1 think, was an officer of the lost
eft m resident
| Broadway. 7..5.
1--WE noticed the shipwrecked pas
sengers of the Columbia on the deck
of the Elder clothed in tablec1oths
large bier on the upper deck, on which
the bodies recovered from the sea
were piled. and covered with an
American flag.
service, she resumed her course south
| ward. This time the captain of :he
Elder responded to the parting signal.
miles from the scene of the wreck.
boats; neither had any living thing
aboard. One of the life RATS was Sc
cured. The water key had been
wrenched from the deck. and the
had been drawn and bent, showing
that the raft had been damaged as it
was launched from the deck of the
doomed steamship.
the Roanoke's deck the body of a
man foated from under 1t. This was
secured. and pulled aboard. A life
preserver encircled the body and the
hOrrlfying expression on the face in
dicated that death was not due to
drowning. but to fright.
He was fully dressed save for the
head covering; He had evidently
was put on inside out: He was tall
and slender man. and had good crop
of very dark hair.
They searched the body for some
thing to identify him and found let
ter in one of his pockets addressed to
- Butler, Portland. The initials /
have forgotten. The oars and boat
hooks Of the other raft We're picked
up but the life raft itself, which was
in good order, apparently. and had on
deck key filled with water, was
turned adrift.
1--WE noticed afterward that a white
hulled schooner which was crossing
in the vicinity picked up the life boat
and the raft. The boatswain of the
Roanoke recognized the RATS as those
with which she had been equipped at
the Fulton Iron Works shortly after
the big fire.
Everything about the scene of the
disaster and the condition of the San
Pedro indicated that the San Pedro
had struck the Columbia squarely
amidsh1ps and the San Pedro's stem
had suffered no damage, while the
sea was Uttered with the wreckage
of the lower cabins of the foundered
steamer.
mo effort was made to transfer
any of the survivors of the disaster
from the decks of the Elder to the
Roanoke. Perhaps this was due to
the fact that the wind was blowing
strong and heavy sea running at
the time.
We presumed that the Elder
would carry the living and dead and
tow the waterlogged San Pedro TO
Humboldt bay, where we the previous
day had passed the latter as she was
coming out and we going in.
The Roanoke has a full list of pas
seEsers, and the dreadful experience
witnessed off Shelter Cove unstrung
the nerves of all of US, many remain
ing on deck all night last night, and
everybody deserving their cabins as
soon as the vessel entered the fog
belt and began sounding the fog sig
mails. We sail for San Pedro tonight, |
and are due in Los Angeles on We'd |
nesday morning.
Topeka Girls on Ship.