Connecticut western news., 1907-02-14

Schooner Rams Joy Line Steamer Larchmont.
 Block Island, R. l., Feb. 13.-A ma rine disaster with an appalling loss of life and entailing suffering beyond the limit of human endurance came to ! light when lifeboat Of the Joy line l steamer Larchmont sunk in collision with the schooner Harry Knowlton, drifted into Block island harbor. The Larchmont was bound from Boston to New York. The collision occurred at Il p. m.
 In the boat were several bodies of men who had died from the effects of long hours of exposure to a death deal ing temperature. In the boat also were eleven men whose suffering was so intense that they seemed oblivious to the fact that death was In their midst and that they had escaped only by virtue of their ability to withstand the rigor of zero weather in an open boat at sea.
 At Least t5o Dead. The boat brought tale of disaster | ludl bttn SNuaitu lH NtW England waters. It Is believed that when the final count is made it will be | found that not less than 150 lives were | lost Following closely In the wake Of the solitary lifeboat came bodies cast upon the beach by angry waves. Then came lifeboats and rafts. Each of l them bore their burden of grim death as well as load of suffering human | ity, and each brought tale of horror, of suffering and of despair.
 Owing to the condition of the sur vivors Of the tragedy 1t was impossible to get from them an estimate of the loss of life Anywhere from seventy | five to 150 persons went to their death. It Is believed that the latter figures arc more nearly correct than the former. | The cause of the accident has not been satisfactorily explained. 1t oc- cured just off Watch hill, when the three masted schooner Harry knowl. ton, bound from South Amboy for Boston with cargo of coal. crashed into the steamers port side amidships.
 Cause of Disaster Unknown.
 The steamer. with huge hole torn in her side, was so seriously damaged that no attempt was made to run for shore, and she sank to the bottom in less than half an hour. The Knowlton, after she had backed away from the wreck, began to All rapidly, but her crew manned the pumps and kept her afioat until she reached point off Quonochontaug, where they put out In the lIfeboat and rowed ashore. There were no fatalities on the schooner, but the men suffered greatly from the ex. treme cold.
 Unfortunately the point of collision was In that part of the steamer where was located the signaling apparatus connecting the engine room with the pilot house. Captain Mcvey, standing in the pilot house, could not communi- cate with his subordinate officers be- low decks and therefore was unable to determine the extent of the dam age. The quartermaster was hurried below to make m investigation.
 The passengers meanwhile thronged on to the decks. Few of them had waited to clJtle themselves. Their fear was So great that the first pene- trating blast of the zero temperature | was disregarded, but the suffering from the clements soon became so in- tense that personal safety was forgot ten in n general effort to keep the blood in circulation. Those who had not stopped to clothe themselves now found it impossible to return below and do so.
 Victir7s Freezing and Frantic.
 While some of the seamen held back the frantic, freezing passengers by brute strength, others were preparing to lower the llfeboats and rafts. There was not time to think of the comfort of any one. Even before the boats were cut awat Captain McVey knew that the list of victims would be great CT than those who survived.
 It was physical impossibility for any but the most hardened to with. stand the cold, which turned ears and noses white with the frost and which so benumbed feet that both the pas sengers and members of the crew stumbled rather than walked to tho small craft in which they were to leave the sinking ship.
 Soon a thin coating of ice enyeloped  every one Those who were fully cloth, ed suffered from frozen faces aud numbed feet. but there were many who had on only their nightclothes.
 Insane Victim Kills Himself.
 One man in the captains boat, al- though dressed warmer than many others, was suddenly driven insane by his intense suffering. He pulled big claspl.nife from his pocket and gashed his throat No one stayed his hand, and again he plunged his knife into his throat. Those who sat near him either were too dazed to interfere or looked upon the act of self murder as justified The unknown mans body l fell to the bottom of the boat, where it remained unheeded.
 Practically the entire ablebodied pop ulation of the island Is patrolling the beaches watching for more bodies.
 The few survivors are in pitiable condition. In almost every case their