The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1907-02-15
STEAMSHIP SUNK.
Between Seventy Five and One Hun
dred Drowned. Passengers Thrown
Into Frozen Waters. ~

E%$hblOcK& &lSl0nQ, II. l., teD. 1S.--A ma
rine disaster with an appalling loss,
Of, life and entailing suffering almost
beyond the limit Of human endurance,
came to light today when a lifeboat
Of the Joy line steamer Larchmont,
bound from Providence to New York,
drifted into Block Island harbor.
8 In the boat were several bodies of
men who had died from the effects
Of long hours Of exposure to death
= dealing temperature. In the boat al
so were il men whose sufferihgs were
SO intense that they seemed oblivious
to the fact that death was in their
midst and that they had escaped on
ly by virtue of their ability to with
stand the rigor Of zero weather in an
open boat at sea.
The boat brought tale Of disaster
that has rarely been equalled in New
England waters and it is believed that
when the final count is made it will
be found that not less than $50 lives
were lost. Following closely in the
wake Of the solitary life boat came
bodies, cast upon the beach by angry
waves. Then came life boats and
rafts. Each of them bore their burden
Of grim death as we'll as a load of
suffering humanity, and each brought
a tale of horror. .
Owing to the condition of the survi-
vors of the tragedy it was impossible
to get from them an estimate of the
loss of life. Anywhere from rs to $50
persons went to their death, and at
late hour tonight it was believed
that the latter figure is nearer correct
than the former.
Capt. McVey's Statement.
For several hours after he was res
cued, Capt. McVey Of the Larchmont
was not able to talk. When he had
partly recovered, he communicated
with his home and later dictated the
following statement Of the disaster to
q correspondent of. the Associated
Press.
D "We left Providence: at o'clock.
A brisk northwest wind was blowing
and we were off Watch Hill at about
IL o'clock. l had gone below to look
over the passengers and freight, leav-
ing good pilot and quartcrmaster in
the pilot house. [ returned to the
pilot house, passing through there on
my way to my room. Everything was
o. k. in the pilot house as l stepped
into my room, and prepared to retire
for the night. Suddenly I heard the
pilot blowing danger and hurried in
to the pilot house. There was a schoon-
CT on the port side and her crew
seemed to have lost control of her.
Without warning she luffed up and
before we had opportunity to do
thing headed for us. The quartcrmas-
ter and pilot put the wheel hard aport,
but the schooner was sailing along Nn-
der heavy breeze and in moment
she had crashed into our port side,
directly opposite the smokestack. I
tried to signal to the engineer and
mate, but the collision had broken the
main steam pipe, filling that part of
the boat with steam and cutting off
communication with the pilot house.
Schooner Disappeared.
"After cutting into our vessel, the
schooner fell away and disappeared
to the leeward. I sent the quartermas-
ter below and in few minutes he re-
ported that the ship was filling rapid
ly. The officers and crew were sum
moned to their station and when |
saw that the Larchmont was settling,
I ordered all hands to prepare to leave
the ship. When l saw that every one
was making ready to escape as fast
as possible, I went to my boat, which
was hanging on the davits, and took
into it six Of the crew and four pas
sengers. When the steamer had set
tied almost to the waters edge, we
cleared away~after we had made sure
that there were no passengers on
board who had not been taken care
Of. After our boat dropped into the
water, we remained in the immediate
vicinity until the steamer sank and
then we pulled away. The boat was q
heavy one, and we found it impossible
to row to the windward, so we turned
to the leeward and started for Block
Island. The cold was terrible. We
struggled for hours and hours, and
the pain from our frostbitten hands