Waterbury evening Democrat., 1907-05-30
NO WHITE MEN
Ryan of Cincinnati Tells Story of DakOta's Wreck Like
 Landing of Columbus
LINER DRIVEN ASHORE

NEW YORK, May 30.-With a graph ic account of how he, his wife and
 daughter were saved from the wreck of the Dakota on the coast of Japan,
 John J. Ryan, theatrical manager, of Cincinnati returned here on the big liner Kaiser Wilhelm der Crosse. Mir Ryan lost nearly all his personal effects in the wreck, and it was only through his own efforts that he. his
 wife and daughter were got ashore
 alive
 '"The Dakota was wrecked<at Shira-
 han, fishing village forty-five miles
 from Yokohama" said Mir. Ryan, "and
 the people of Shirahan had never seen
 a white man or white woman until we
 went ashore. I have read how Colum-
 I can aplseciate his experience, be- cause the Japanese at this little fishing
 village came over to us and pinched our arms and felt our cheeks to make sure that we were alive.
 "The Dakota struck the rocks almost abreast of the Nojima beacon.
 Tt was as bright as day fifteen min utes before we struck. At about 5 o'clock great bank of fog rolled in from the land and enveloped us. We went on the rock at full speed, and the bottom of the ship was slit up through the middle along the keel until the rock had reached a point about amid ships. The hull of the Dakota was then the shape of the letter Y, the for ward part being torn asunder.
 "The moment after the Dakota fetched up, unable to go any farther because of the rock in her bottom stopping her headway, she careened to port. could not find my wife and daughter and ran below deck in search of them. found them in the saloon with hundreds of others shouting and screaming. and I dragged them by force to the main deck.
 There was a Jacobs ladder lying over the rail on the starboard side leading down to the sea. Scores of sampans. type of small Japanese boat. filed with natives, were cruising around the wreck, knowing from past experience that no vessel ever struck there and lived. I hailed the occupant of one of the sampans and forced my wife and daughter down the ladder.
 '"The Japanese in the small boats were afraid to come alongside because they expected that the Dakota would momentarily go down and drag the sampans with her. One of the navi- gators of a boat ran out a long bam- boo pole to me. and I grabbed 1t and pulled the boat toward the Dakota. Then I threw my wife and daughter fin. got several other passengers into the craft and jumped in myself.
 Before I left the ship I looked up and saw Captain Franke on deck seem- ingly unable to act. There was no dis | cipline. The crew ran around and did | what it pleased. Fifteen minutes aft CT we left the Dakota was half sub merged.
 We landed at the Nojima beacon. | The natives who had never seen a white man before were half scared to death when we walked of the beach. They ran away. and it took us half a day to coax them back But they knew how to loot a ship well. Nothing that came ashore escaped them. They touched us to see that we were alive, and they touched me In several other ways before I got away"
 Mir. Ryan did not get a chance to replenish his wardrobe in France be- fore he boarded the Kaiser Wilhelm. 90 when he arrived he was dressed in ! panama hat, a fur lined oyercoat. blue flannel trousers. flannel shirt with baby blue spots and Q red tie.