The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-11-27
BOATS COLLIDE; ONE GOES DOWN Four Passengers Are
 MiSSine. ACCIDENT DENSE FOG Steamer Ance Sinks ia New , York Harbor. Papanna Liner Struck by White Star
 F,reighter George and Great
 Hole Is. Cut in Her

New York Nov, 26-In the thick of d fog off Sandy Hook soday. the stout steel freighter, Georgic of the White Star line. rammed and sank the lightly laden Panama steamer Finance, outward bound with eighty-five pas
 sengers, the Finance going down
 within ten minutes. carrying to their
 deaths, tbree of her passengers and one of the crew.
 The rest of the passengers included nieteen women and fourteen children, as well as others of the crew, were rescued by the boats of the Georgic. The freighter was not damaged
 Miss Irene Campbell, of Panama, a passenger. who was lost, clung fran tically to the rail of the sinking ves- seI and could. not be persuaded to re- lease her hold nor were the men who manned the. small boats able to forci- l bly remove her. She was seen cling | ing determined1y as the vessel was engulfed.
 William H.. Todd, third assistant | engineer. jumped overheard and was | lost When a roll call of the pas sengers of the Finance was called, it l was found that Charles H. schwein- l Ter, a policeman of Pauanna and Henry Mule. a railroad conductor of Panama.
 had disappeared and there Is little |
 | The disaster occurred in the main ship channel off Sandy Hook at o'clock this morning and as both ves' l sels were groping their ways through A fog. The Finance had weighed anchor and was picking her way down | the swash channel when Captain | Mowbray who was on the bridge heard the whistle of an approaching liner. | The Finance was immediately put | astern and was slowly backing when
 the Georgic in bound from Liverpool,
 loomed out of the fog and moment | later crashed into the port side and l just abaft the beam of the Finance. l The prov of the freishter penetrated l the side of the Finance nearly ten feet, tearing away an unoccupied state room and leaving ragged hole | through which the water rushed in. I The Panaraas steamer 1leeied over far to I the starboard, while men and women, I many of whom had been awakened from sound sleep. were thrown from their berths Hastily covering them : selves with bed clothing they rushed | in panic to the main deck, which l was fast sinking to the surface of the water. Many of the passengers jump | ed overheard, not stopping even to | provide themselves with life preserV- | CTS That more were not lost was due to the discipline of the crew of the Finance and the prompt and in- telIigent work of the sailors from the Georgic.
 Immediatsiy after the accident the freiRhter backed off and anchored, her l comnnander Captain Clark. in the meantime having ordered the lifeboats l lowered. The boats of the Finance
 were also cut away as quickly as pos 1 sible. though with difficulty because
 of the heavy list of the sinking steam
 CT.
 | A score or more of those who | jumped overheard were picked up by l the small boats. Meantime the | Finance was settling steadily To ada
 to the confusion, a moment after the Efmpact, there was an explosion of an l ammonia tank in the forward hold of the Finance and the fumes drove the
 engineers and firemen to the deck. William Todd. the third assistant en- | aineer was partially overcome by the fumes and, staggering to the rail, threw 1 hirnseIf averboard He was not seen | again. Probably half of the passen- | gers with the crew stood by the ship
 awaiting rescue, and these were got- ten off with remarkable expedition
 Captain Mowbray and several or tne | crew remained in lifeboat near the sunIen shin. only the masts. stack and part of the superstructure of the Finance remained above the surface.
 The shipwrecked passengers and crew were brought to this city tonight and placed aboard the Panama steamship company's steamer Allianea where the
 women and children were provided with clothes. The passengers will de-
 part on the next outward bound steamer for Panama.
 Captain Clark of the Georgic states
 that he was feeling his way into port slowly and hearing a whistle on his
 mort bow tried to veer off and thought he would clear the Panama steamer
 which unfortunately began to go
 astern, with the result that the two
 steamers collided. The Finance had
 over 700 bags of mail aboard.
 Four elephants in the Georgic's hold
 were uhdisturbed by the collision.