The sun., 1908-05-26
OCEAN BOAT HIT CITY PICNIC.
GREAT SCARE FOR GUESTS ON
THE THOMAS 8. BRENNAN. ..
Two Hundred. Mostly Women, Jump %
the Marayai while Her Noso 10 In tho
Brennan-Many Chamber Back but
Some Land wearing IAfe Preservers.

Some Land wearing Afe Preservers.
big municipal picnic in wooden boat
was hit by an iron ooeangoer In the foggy
harbor yesterday and great was the scare
The Charities Department steamer Thomas
8. Brennan was returning late In the after
noon from the launching Of the new ambu-
lance steamer Lowell at West New,,Brighton.
Staten Island, with Commissioner Robert
W. Hebberd and many other Charity
Department officials aboard besides
party Of Brooklyn Aldermen and about
800 invited guests many Of them women
just north Of Robbins Reef she was struck
almost amidships on the starboard aide
by the nose Of the British steamship Mara
val. which was on her way from Brooklyn
to Perth Amboy. The Maravals bow
broke in a hole wide enough to admit q
four horse team and eight feet deep In
the overhang and the second deck cabins
Of the Brennan and stuck there.
The fog made 1t impossible to see 200 feet
but more than half the passengers on the
Charities Department boat saw the coll
lision coming. and panic was saved only
by the coolness Of Commissioner Hebbsrd,
DR.. Samuel T. Armstrong, superintendent
of Bellevue Hospital, and the crew OF tho
Brennan. The life preservers were hauled
out, however, and about 200 persons, most
of them women, climbed over the punotured
side of the Charities boat and dropped to
the deck of the Maraval The Maraval
kept way on her and did not withdraw until
1t was certain thit the Brennan had s,is-
tanned no injury below the water line and
until most Of the passengers who had hur-
ried aboard the Maraval had climbed back
to the Charities steamer. Neither Conn
missioner Hebberd nor any of the Alder
manic party, which included A Aldermen
Gunther, Downing, Mulvaney, Wentz and
Muhlbauer, deserted the ship.
Miss Ruth Hoadley, daughter of the Rev.
James H. Hoadley, pastor Of the Thirteenth
Street Presbyterian Church, who had
christened the Lowell with bottle Of cham
pagne, was one OF the first to get to the
Maraval, wearing a life preserver. When
1t was seen that the Brennan was not badly
hurt Commissioner Hebberd signalled to
her to come back, but she declined. She
was finally taken aboard the Charities De-
partment steamer Fidelity, which relieved
the Maraval OF those refugees from the
Thomas 8. Brennan who were too timid to
return.
The Maraval. owned by tho Trinidad
Shipping and Trading Company. which
had got in on Sunday from Port Of Spain.
broke a hole several feet in diameter in her
own bow eight feet abaft the stem. She
dropped anchor and was still anchored
when the Charities Department squadron
left her to take the badly frightened pas
sengers to Pier A.
The launching Of the Lowell at the ship
yard Of the Frank A. Verdon Company was
great event in the department Tho
steamer 10 to cost about SOS, 900 and is to be
used to carry patients from the foot Of
East Twenty-sixth street TO the new Chari-
ties Department hospital now building on
the City Farm Colony near Castleton. Staten
Island. The Brennan is the flagship of tbs
department fleet and while che was built
In 1854 she has been recently equipped with
new boilers and new fittings She left the
Charities Department dock at 2:3O O'Clock
yesterday afternoon. Among the guests,
besides Commissioner Hebberd. DR.. Arm
strong and the Brooklyn Aldermen. wers
Coroner's Physician Weston. Prof John
Larkin Of the College Of Physicians and
Surgeons the Rev Father MarMahon Of
the Church Of the Epiphany. Deputy Com
missioner John j McInerny. in charge OF
Brooklyn; DR.. Edward T. Devine of the
/ Charity Organization Society; Tenement
House Commissioner Edward Butler. DIR.
Lee X. Frankel of the Charity Organization
Society, DIR. Robert W. Hill Of the State
Board Of Charities. Thomas M. Mulry, q
former Charity Commissioner; DIR. John j.
Fitzgerald, superintendent OF the Kings
County Hospital; George B. Robinson, presi-
dent of the Catholic Protectory; Joseph p.
Byers, superintendent of the House Of
Relief; the Rev. James H. Hoadley. his son
Harwood. an instructor at Columbia, and
his daughter Ruth, who christened the new
boat. and the wives. daughters and friends
of the department officials. With Commits
sioner Hebberd were his wife and his father.
Gilbert Hebberd, who is in charge OF the
downtown relief bureau Of Trinity church
So many persons responded to the invita-
tions to the launching that Commissioners
Hebberd decided to send the overflow down
on the Fidelity, which usually runs to the
potter's field. Deputy Commissioner r. G.,
Baker was in charge Of this boat, which car
ried brass band Of sixty boys from the
Children's Hospital and Home on Randail's
Island, led by DR.. Paul Schmolk, and about
seventy-fve passengers. 1t was planned
that the Brennan and the Fidelity were 70
run abreast of each other and as close as
possible, in order that the Brennan might
get the benefit OF the music. The two
steamers made their trip down according
to schedule. 'i
At the shipyards the launching exercises
were not elaborate. Borough President
Cromwell DIR. Devine and Assistant Cor
poration Counsel Widdecombe spoke briefly
Of the many charitable acts Of Mrs. jose
phine Shaw Lowell. for whom the new boat
is named. and Mr.. Hoadley offered prayer.
Miss Hoadley broke the bottle of champagne
over the bow OF the Lowell and the chip
backed into the water In good form.
Shortly after O'Clock the boats started
back for Manhattan.
The fog was so thick that II wasn't com
sdered wise for the steamers to run TOO
close together, and the Fidelity got a lead