Omaha daily bee., 1907-02-23
ELEVEN TAKEN FROM WRECK
su- ,s$ y .sOusd from Steamer Berlin
- Many Hours Heroic Work.
+, WOMEN AND CHILD SILL ON SHIP
They Were Too weak 90 Attempt
Trip Through surf and Another
Effort VIII he Made to
Reach Them Today.


as result of the courage and determina-
tion Of Prince Henry Of the Netherlands,
the prince consort that which last night
appeared to be an impossible task, has
been achieved and the heroic and unfiinch-
ing efforts of the Dutch lifeboat men have
/ succeeded in rescuing alive eleven more
Of the survivors of the Steamer Berlin.
The gallant Dutch lifeboat men we're re-
/ warded after more than thirty hours OF
/ hard and dangerous work. Buneted and
driven back time after time they refused
to relax their attempts to rescue the hand
! full OF shipwrecked people, and finally at
$3.50 o'clock this afternoon the receding tide
and some improvement in the weather
having made the conditions easier, their
1 long fight was crowned with success.
| Although several of the persons rescued
were in the last stages of exhaustion, they
are on the road to recovery and some of
them have been able to tell OF their awful
experiences Two women and a child are
stin on board the wreck. but Il is feared
that they are dying. Nothing daunted,
however, the brave Dutchmen are prepar-
ing to make further desperate efforts to
rescue these unfortunates.
Rescuers work All Night.
When daylight broke a handful of sur
vivors of the Great Eastern Railway
company's steamer Berlin, from Harwich
| to Rotterdam, which was wrecked on the
Hook of Holland yesterday morning. could
still be seen clinging TO the after part OF
the steamer. The efforts made to rescue
this survivors yesterday were continued
throughout the night, but proved futile
owing to the furious seas and heavy snow
storm. which ragged all night long, rem
dering 1t impossible for the tugs or NE
~. NH n
mountainous seas continued to dash with
terrific fury. So intense was the cold last
night that It was thought that those who
were still alive on the remnants when
darkness came must have been frozen to
death. but some six or eight persons ap-
pear to have survived the terrible ex'
perIences of the last twenty-four hours
The stern of the Berlin is so firmly EN-
bedded in the sand bank on which 1t went
ashore that It does not appear to have
moved during the night. At high water
this morning the poop deck house was th'
only portion Of the steamer visible, and
there the few survivors were huddled.
Lifeboatmen Unable to Act.
A lifeboat which went out to the wrecl
at midnight, accompanied by three tugs
, remained there, anchored close to the Ber
ling, for three hours, but was unable Y
get alongside of 1t. as the heavy sea-
would have dashed 1t to pieces.
The lifeboatmen report that they hear'
an occasional shout for help. but they ulti
nately were forced by the rising tide ant
increasing dangers to temporarily abandon
their efforts to rescue the survivors
. Captain Parkinson of the Holt steamship
line, who was on his way to Amsterdam
on board the Berlin to join his vessel, tn
&otx q hac clr to Tfv0rDOOl. 1
. . the sole survivor of the disaster who thu
far has reached the shore. He said thi
/. morning that the catastrophe was due t
: the fact that the Berlin broached to In tn
terrific sea as 1t was entering the water
way and that before It was able to recove
itself it was dashed upon the pierhead
Immediately "crunched up like con
certina" and parted amIdships.
Bodies Come Ashore.
The struggling little village Of the Hoo
of Holland is filled with anxious relative
of the passengers and crew of the Berli
and heartrending scenes are witnessed a
the improvised mortuary, where thirty o
the bodies which already have been washe
ashore, are in.
Most OF these are battered beyond recos
? milton and some are without heads an
u others without arms OF legs.
Veteran pilots and seamen, who wer
watching the Berlin being driven to II
doom, say the gale was the fiercest in man
years. One OF the eye witnesses describe
the scene follows:
'As the vessel approached it was nc
ticed that 1t was being carried out OF 1t
course by the force OF the wind and tn
! tremendous driving power OF the waves
The trained eyes of the officials on III
lefty, who were awaiting the steamers al
rival, saw 1t was in imminent peril an
= a fare from the Berlin showed that IN
inevitable had been realized by those o
: board. Before the flare died out the oras
! came. It could be heard above the din {
the storm. When the Berlin struck III
waves were sweeping the northern part {
the pier, which is little more than breal
; water, from end to end, and the tremer
dous seas which washed over the Berli
from bow 10 stern. quickly battered it
pieces For a short time the hapless vess
lay at the mercy of wind and waves. Hug
rollers struck 1t and carried OF deck gea
and swept some of the passengers into II
/ churning waters Suddenly a great reT
,s Raped amidships and the boats bow an
" stern parted, hurting nearly all on boar
3 into the sea.
81 Prince Henry OF The Netherlands arrive
4 here this morning and twice went out in
n steam patrol boat as near the wreck as
was possible 10 approach. Subsequent
,e the prince visited the building which
A. being used as a moFgue, and passed dow
N the lines OF white draped figures, stoppir
v with bowed head for a few minutes befo
ST the body of fair-haired child. The lif
A. boat put out again at noon. although Il
As efforts TO save the few who are still {
the wreck are regarded almost hopeless
The prince consort, after his first visit
n the wreck, when he saw there were ST
some Survivors on board, declared:
L 1--WE won't return to The Hague befo
we save them; we must get them som
how"
The news that this determination hl
been fulfilled reached the waiting crow
al this afternoon and there was then wi
~ rush OF the people to the various poin
T. of vantage overlooking the harbOr. 1t vi
ID we'll that a special force OF police al
ht soldiers had been brought into the Hoo
at for duty, for the excited crowd at Of
IN time threatened to become uncontrollabl
siren Announces Reseue.
Long hours OF waiting followed and 4
people begun to doubt the truth Of the 7
port that ten persons had been saved, Al
IL II was not until after o'clock that 4
te steam pilot boat heralded It's approa,
~ with piercing shrieks of triumph from