Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1909-01-26
SIX LIVES LOST
IN THE COLLISION,
TWO PASSENGERS WERE kILLEu
AND TWO INJURED WHEN
sTATERooMs ARE SHATTERED
AS THEY SLEPT.

New York, Jan. 25. - The fog nav-
ing lifted, the liner Baltic, bearing
1850 passengers from the steamers
Republic and Florida, which were iIs
collision Saturday, proceeded up the
bay at 740 o'clock this morning. Att
that hour the steamer New York;
which conveyed the Florida, was outs
side the bar, but the Florida was not
In sight This occasioned no uneasi-
ness as she was necessarily progress
sing slowly owing to the fog and to
her crippled condition.
The Baltic reached the quarantine
station at 10:30. AS the Baltic came
to anchor in Ambrose channel early
today the Associated Press tug ram
alongside and succeeded in opening
communication through the mega
phone with H. j. Hover OF Spokane.
Wash, one of the Republics passens
gers. Hover described the transfer Of
passengers from the Republic and lat
er from the Florida to the Baltic.
hs Transfer is Described.
The transfer Of scantily dressed
'ssffa frightened men and women froIa
the Florida lasted twelve hours, be-
ginning at 8 o'clock Saturday night
and ending at s O'clock yesterday
morning. During the night the searcht
light Of the Baltic Illuminated the sea-
making weird picture as boat load
after boat load was safely gotten on
board the Baltic. Two of the RepubS
lies passengers tumbled into the seq
while being placed in boat. but
were promptly rescued.
The Crash in the Fog.
Hover said the injury to the Repub,
lie was abaft midships on the port
side, just forward of the center
patch. Two of the staterooms were
stove by the bow of the Florida, which
withdrew from the gap almost ins
stanty and vanished in the mist
astern, leaving one Of her anchors I'M
the wreckage Of a demolished state1
room of the Republic. The impact and
withdrawal were SO swift that no ona
aboard the Republic had chance t0
identify the steamship.
In half an hour, however, summoned
by the distress blasts Of the Republicl
the Florida picked her way through
the murk and came alongside Boata
/ from the Republic and Florida werd
lowered and all the passengers OF the
| former were put aboard the Florida
] The operation took two hours In plat
cid sea. Among the wounded whd
were put on the Italian liner was Eils
gene Lynch, whose wife had been
killed in their stateroom on the Res
public.
No Panic in Two Transfers.
Hover said there was very little
panic aboard the Republic although
many came on deck in their night
clothes, and that the discipline of thej
crew was perfect The collision, hel
said, occurred between 3 and Al
o'clock Saturday morning when ev.,
cry one was in bed. A great many OF
the passengers were thrown FROM
their hunks by the crash and many
rushed wildly on deck in their bare
feet. With the return of the Florida.
the transfer began. Carrying out the
rigid rule Of the sea, the women were
placed in the boats first. In two hours
all were safely on board the Florida.
That ship was terribly crowded, how
ever, and at conference between the
captains Of the Florida and the Baltic
it was decided that another transfer
of passengers would be necessary. Ac-
cordingly this second hazardous un-
dertaking was begun. The waters
were now rough and the operation was
necessarily more dangerous and OF
longer duration than the former trans
fer, but all were safely placed on
board the Baltic.
Republic Sank Last Night.
The captain and crew of the Repub-
lie on board the revenue cutter
Gresham arrived safely off Vineyard
Haven, Mass, early today. Later they
transferred to the derelict destroyer
Seneca and started for New York.
Captain Gresham stated that the Rs
public sank last night nine miles
south by east of Nantucket lightship,
In about forty fathoms OF water None
of the officers or crew were injured.
Six Dead; Two Injured.
Thus the greatest sea drama of mod.
ern times is closed with the loss of
only six lives. Two passengers of the
Depublic and four members of the