The San Francisco call., 1907-06-19

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he Cazadero was much
shattered about It's bow, but
was able to proceed under
Its own steam to Sausdlito,
where the city bound pas
sengers were transferred to
the steamer Tamalpais and
brought 10 San Francisco.
The Vallejo ferry steamer General
fr-Soie went TO the aid OF the damage
craft and towed the Donahue 10 Lom-
bard street dock The fog was SO
heavy on the bay that no other yes
sells heard the signals of distress
sounded by the entangIed boats.
though two men Of war were anchored
IN the stream in the vicinity Of the col
usion.
Antoine Rogers. a deck hand on the
Donahue, saw that collision was i'm
minent and ran into the bar room TO
warn men there of their danger That
part OF the craft das demolished and
though Rogers saved others from in
iury he was caught in the crashing
timber and his arm was hurt
The Donahue left SaUsalito at 7:15,
being 10 minutes late in starting. In
the cove at Sausalito the night was
clear, but as soon as the Golden gate
was breasted the fog came down and
cnvelOped the bay. The whistles were
sounded and every watcher was placed
20 avoid disaster.
DR.. Guy E Manning OF the board
of health, q passenger on the i'll fated
vessel, gave the following account of
ais experience:
7 was standing in the fore cabin of
I'd
aight was dark and thick and the deck
hands were standing on the apron,
shouting and signaling with gestures
70 the captain. They would stand with
their hands behind their ears straining
into the darkness in an endeavor to de-
.ect the approach OF danger.
LAS soon IS we struck the fog the
whistle sounded and IL had not re-
peated 20 blasts before 7 saw the Ca
zadero come out Of the mist. not two
, boat lengths directly ahead of rs Col
-fision seemed imminent I Taught the
boats would meet bows on.
Instantly the engines were reversed
and both boats slowed down. But we
were in the grip OF the food tide and
were borne directly together. The GAIA
dero had Veered to starbOard, but not
enough 10 avoid us. Instead OF meet
ing headon the CaZaderO crashed nrst
into the after port rail and then cut
into the wheel box
..The crash OF timber made a terrible
noise There were a hundred passen-
gers on board, the most of whom were
on the lower deck Women screamed
ard nearly all fed To the rear. The
boats were tightly locked and neither
settled so order was restored. The
captain went into the engine room and
returned with the announcement that
We Were not shipping water.
Then some one shouted to me to
climb on the Cazadero and I made my
way over the broken rails TO the deck
of that vessel. The two steamers were
held tightly together and the crews
with axes opened Up the splinteTed
heap OF woodwork and made passage
ways for the passengers
-sThe boats were so tightly locked
that when the Cazadero tried to clear
away it had TO use fun steam"
". T Haberly. wholesale butcher
OF l540 Broderick street, was another
passenger on the Donahue and he told
q graphic story of the conduct of the
passengers. Haberly was in the upper
cabin when the crash came. He did
not know of the danger in which the
boat was until he felt himself hurled
from his seat by the force OF the eolii-
sion. other passengers were knocked
TO the floor and the air was niled with
the cries of the frightened people.
Women were crying and striving to
reach life preserveTs and men rushed
about the deck to save their compan-
ions" said Haberly When I went on
deck the scene was terrible. The two
boats We're grinding into each others
vitals there in the cold fog. which
hung so heavy that even though every
light was aglow the decks were in
semidarkness. The people rushed to
the rear Of the boat to be as far rs
possible from the menace of the GAIA
dero.
Near me stood woman with life
preserver about her She rushed to
the rail The boilers have exploded,
she cried. and she would have leaped
into the bay had not 1 and a deckhand
grabbed her and by main force re-
strained her Many other women
tainted.
Finally the crew persuaded the pas
sengers to go aboard the Cazadero. Full
credit must be given the captain and
crew for the perfect order that they
maintained
After the passengers had been trans
ferred to the Cazadero that steamer
stood by until the General Frisbie
steamed UP and towed the Donahue to
the Lombard street wharf. There the
tug Alert towed the vessel, which was
now in a sinking condition, into the
slip and attached its pumps. The tug
pumped all night to prevent the sink
ing of the wrecked ferry boat.
The James NJ Donahue was built IN
1878 and is the oldest ferry boat in
operation on the bay. She is 730 tons
register and measures 219 feet in
length, 80 2-5 feet in breath and draws
2 feet inches. She is of the early
type of ferry steamer and not double
ender"
Captain verdelet OF the Cazadero
said last night that he kept his usual
course on the way to the Marin shore
from tlas side. and was surprised to
encounter the James NJ. Donahue.
owing 10 the density of the fog"
said Captain Verdelet, lit was impos-
sible to see more than a few feet
ahead. We had been whistling at in
fervals and as soon as we saw how
close we were 20 the Donahue we blew
warnings but in a moment the two
boats had come together"
Captain Verdeiet saw his passengers
safely landed the other side and
then returned to San Francisco.