New-York tribune., 1908-03-03
|COAMO GOES AGROUND.
GOT OFF WITHOUT INJURY
Lwes of Passengers from Porto h'co
ENDANGERED by Fog.

In the dense fog which covered the Atlahtic sea
board all yesterday, the steamship Coamo' Oh tiie
New York and Porto Rico Steamship Cofhpa"y'
for New York from San JUAN went aground on
Joness Beach on the Long Island shore ABOUT
twenty miles east of Sandy Hook and twelve
,,i,es ,rest of Fire Island at S:35 I'm the morning
At that time the tide was falling. and IL was I''
until II rose again at 6 D. m.. that the Coarno'
with the assistance of the wreckins tug l. J.
Merritt, foated-
The Coamo has board 10 passengers
The fog will keep her at Quarantine untii tiiiS
morning 1t is thought the ship sustained no
serious injury According to one report which
reached the city, plate on the hull had starIeu
slightly and the steamship was leaking enough
to keep the pumps working
When she went aground the Coamo was al
most thirty miles out of her course so oiindins
was the fog which enwrapped the steamship
that Captain F. J. Dalton was unable 10 see
enough of the shore to tell Vhere his vessel had
struck The Coamo is equipped with wireless,
but though he Immediately communicated with
his owners here he was unable to tell them Just
where to send help. The Coamo's whistled sig
nails of distress finally revealed her position TO
the beach patrol of the Zachs Inlet hfesaving
station one of the stations on the sandDars
that shut Great South Bay from the Atlantic
Soon afterward the tug 1. ]. Merritt and the
wreeking steamer Relief left here for the
stranded vessel with Captain Lloyd port cap
tain of the New York and Porto Rico line, on
hoard Little concern was felt for the safety Of
the passengers. as the was gentle with not
more than a cupfuI of wind blowing Captain
Dalton kept the Coamo's crew busy during the
afternoon jettisoning some of her cargo. mostly
fruit, to tighten the ship and make 1t easier to
float her when the tide roses
When the wreckng tug reached the Coamo
hawser was made fast. AS the tide neared its
flood the tug began 10 strain at the line. while
the propellers of the stranded vessel beat the
in effort to get off the sand. A rousing
cheer from the passengers as she began
slowly to slip into deep water. Once OFF the
bar the Coamo cast off the tugs line and pro-
ceeded under her own steam toward the en-
trance to the harbor, twenty miles away.
The Coamo was originally the State of Cali
fornia of the old State Line. and was built in
Glasgow. in 1891 Yesterday was not her first
experience aground. for in 1900 before she was
purchased by the Porto Rican line, The vessel
struck Rams Island Ledge after leaving Port
land for Liverpool. All her passengers were
rescued and the vessel itself though in a dan
gerous position. finally saved by wreckers-
She also grounded near Governors Island on
March TO- 1906, but was not damaged
After leaving San Juan on February % the
CoamO called at both Ponce and Mayaguez. Ac-
cording TO officials of the line her cargo con-
sisted of 200 barrels of molasses, 1000 bags of
sugar, 1900 packages of assorted fruits. in
Guiding pineapples and oranges. and a miscel-
laneous cargo of tobacco and cigars 1t could
not be learned last night how much of this had
been jettisoned yesterday to tighten the vessel
Among the passengers on board the steam
ship were DR.. and Mrs. Graber. Bishop Luther
Il. Wilson, of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
with his wife and daughter; General DruTy. Mr..
and Mrs A. H. UnderhiIl. William b. Aitken.
Mr.. and Mrs. c. Raymond Young, DR.. g e.
Prebin, DR.. j. Riger and Dr.. II. II. Register.