The news-democrat. (Providence, R.I.) 1906-1909, 1907-12-14

Hughtown. scilly Islands. Dec. 1.-THE
American seven-masted schooner Thomas
w. Lawson was wrecked in Broad Sound,
Scilly Islands during fierce gale last
night and. so far as known, all OF her
crew, excepting two men were lost.
The schooner turned turtle during tho
night and is now floating bottom up.
Three dead bodies have been found off
Annet Islands. an uninhabited islet of the
scilly group.
The first survivor, who has been landed
at st. Agnes by the St. Agnes lifeboat, Is
only partly conscious at this writing. La
ter another man, whose name is un-
known, was picked up.
Signals OF distress were heard at the
Bishop Rock lighthouse at 4 o'clock yes
terday afternoon. Two lifeboats at once
put out and found the Thomas w. Law
son anchored in dangerous position just
north OF Gunner's Rock Great seas were
running aud the lifeboats, although they
stood by the Lawson for several hours,
were unable TO render assistance ON this
account.
At the request or the captain OF tho
Lawson. the ST. Mary's lifeboat, the
masts or which had beeS broken of In
schooner. put back with the purpose of
telegraphing for a tug TO come to the as
sistance OF the Lawson The st. Agnes
lfeboat' was left standing by. A little
later. however, this ifeboat had To leave,
as one of its crew was believed TO be dy-
ing OF exposure. while the others wero
almost completely exhausted.
At about 10 minutes before this morn
ing the lookouts at the ST. Agnes ard
Bishops Rock lighthouses and the coast
guards missed the lights of the Lawson
at the same time and when lfeboat re-
turned To the scene. oil fiickering on the
waves indicated the disaster. few min
utes later the lifeboat crew found the
Lawson bottom up.
Searching i'm the vicinity. the st. Agnes
lighthouse boat picked up the solitary
survivor. George Allen OF London, and
found three bodies Off Annet Island The
survivor and the dead were brought back
to ST. Agnes
The gale is still blowing fiercely and the
seas are running mountain high. A doc
tor from st. Marys has gone out In a
lifeboat TO render assistance to other pos
sible survivors
Among the drowned is W. c. Hicks, a
Scilly pilot, who managed to scramble on
board the Lawson during one of the at
tempts OF the st. Agnes lfeboats to help
the ill-fated ship.
coasts OF the United Kingdom for the past
few days show little signs OF abating and
the heavy rains have flooded almost all
the interior lowlands. Communication
generally is much hampered.
The harbors are crowded with vessels
that have run in for shelter. There have
been many small wrecks, but outside Of
the loss of the Thomas w, Lawson, the
fatalities thus far reported are not nu-
merous
The most serious wreck happened near
Sheerness this morning The cutter gun
boat Speedwell was struck by a heavy
sea and went down. There were 13 liberty
men on board at the time and only five
of them were rescued.
The entire Thames valley IL huge lake
The river is out OF it's banks and rising
rapidly The ground floors of scores Of
riverside residences are uninhabitable.
The search up TO noon failed to reveal
any further survivors, and IL now seems
to be established that Allen is the only
member OF the crew who did not lose his
life The number OF drowned Is said to
be 49,
Allen was seriously injured and the doc
tor i'm attendance Is doubtful X he will
live out the day.
From scraps of information that have
been obtained from the semi-unconsci-
Gus man. IL seems that tho Thomas W.
Lawson encountered prolonged bad wealth.
er and lost all her boats on the trip out
from Philadelphia She sighted the Scilly
Islands yesterday afternoon and finding
herself in a dangerous position. dropped
both anchors. the captain hoping that the
weather would moderate.
The captain thought Il wise TO send
back one OF the lifeboats that came out
TO secure the assistance of steam tug
The st. Agnes lifeboat continued TO stand
by the straining schooner until the ex-
hausted condition OF It's crew made IL ad
solutely necessary TO seek the shelter OF
a harbor.
At midnight the wind rose to hurricane
force and the vessel, battered by the
waves. finally turned over.
Allen says that he last saw the captain
and mate OF the Lawson and the pilot
lashed 20 the rigging.
CREW NUMBERED IS.
Boston, Dec. 1.-THE officials OF the
Coastwise Transportation company stated
today that tne Lawson carried IN addi-
ton ~ Ctpe Dow, two mates three en-
gineers, two cooks and ten men before the
masts. The company only knew the
names OF four OF those on board, being
those already given.
Capt. Dow was 60 years old and we'll
known mariner, having commanded the
schooners Everglades. Albert l.. Butler.
and the barks Colorado and Auburndale.
He left the last-named vessel several
months ago TO take command Of the Law