Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1907-02-14
Passengers on the Sinking Larch-
mont Left to Shift for
Themselves.
MOST SURVIVORS EMPLOYEES.
Twenty Per Cent of Crew Saved,
But Only Eight Per Cent
Of the Passengers.
Number Of known Lost Hundred and
Thirty Eight--Seycnty-O Bodies
Have Been Recovered.

Providence r. l., Feb. 14.A new ele-
ment was injected into the horror at
tending the loss of the steamer Larch-
mont in Block Island sound Monday
through a collision with the schooner
Harry KnowleiOn, when Capt. MoYey
of the steamer early today admitteI
that his lifeboat was one of the first, II
not the first to leave the sinking ship.
This statement was made in reply to
charges by Fred Hicrgsell, an 1s-year-
old lad of Brooklyn one of the SURVIVE
ors, that the passengers were left to
shift for themselves; that the ships
crew crowded the boats without at
tempting to provide foI the passengers.
and that Capt. McVey was the first to
desert the ship The statement OF the
boy created sensation in view of the
fact that 10 OF the survivors were ems
ployes upon the ship on in other words,
that while 90 per cent OF the crew was
saved only 5 per cent of the passengers
survived
Capt. McNey explained that while his
boat may have been the first IN the wa
ter IL was because he had q good crew
and that he remained by the ship until
II went down. He said that he made no
move TO yet into his boat until he had
given orders to his men to lower all
the boats and clear away the RATS.
While his boat was In the water 1t was
fastened TO the ship by rope in the
running gear that had become caught,
ana this was cut by Boatswain Tobe-
son, who saw that with the ship settling
rapidly the boat and its occupants
would be caught in the whirlpool and
sucked beneath the surface The cap
tain's boat was on the wlndward sidO
and he said he called to the passengers
10 jump into the boat, which
would hold about % persons
in all. but the electric lights
had been extinguished and in the dark
ness and confusion none needed the
summons. Everybody was on the lee
ward side and he ordered HIS men TO
row around there. he claims, but the
gale ballSed his plan and AS the boar
was driven away from the steamer. his
men had to give up their task and
crouch IN the bottom of the boat out OF
the way OF the piercing wind.
AT 5 o'clock this morning the num-
Der OF known lost in the frightful 60
lamity stood at 1888 At least 157 per-
sons were known to be upon the steam
er and there Is every indication tllat
the number was nearer 200. seventy
one bodies had been recovered up to
o'clock and 40 OF these are in the
morgue awaiting identification.
The stream of persons passing
through the morgue looking for miss
ing relatives or friends did not cease
until after midnight and at that time IS
of the dead had been identified. Many
persons We're carly on hand to file once
more between the long lines of dead.
and very train brought more people up-
on the mournful quest.
The survivors at Block Island nro
reported ''as well as could be expected"
The weather has moderated this
morning and was clear and mild. Tn
der the conditions there was little ex-
pectation Of more bodies washing
ashore today