The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-02-10
While on Way From New York 10
Galveston.
WITH SIXTY PEOPLE.
She Is Now Overdue Several Days
and Is Supposed to Have Found
cred at Sea Off the Coast of North
Carolina Last Saturday-She Was
An Old Vessel.

New York, Feb. 2.-The Mallory
line steamship San Marcos, which
left here on Wednesday for Calves
ton, Texas, with ten passengers and
a crew of so was reported today to
be missing and there are grave
fears that she is the vessel which
went down of Elizabeth City, n. c.,
on Saturday.
The San Marcos was due to pass
Sand Key, near Keywest on Sunday
night, but up to today she had not
been cited off that point. The At
lantic and Gulf of Mexico have
been secured with wireless messages
to the San Marcos, but up to today
there has been no reply from the YES
sci.
The Mallory line officials here to-
day declared that they had nc anX-
ETY. as to the safety of the San
Marcos, but they were forced to ad-
nit that they have heard nothing
from the steamer since she left here
last Wednesday. She is due in Gal
yestion tomorrow, but should have
been spoken by other vessels long
before this.
A message from Key West today
stated that anxiety over the San
Marcos had reached that city and
wireless messages had been sent Out
for a radius of $50 miles from Sand
Key, calling for the San Marcos,
She has not replied. None of the
vessels passing Sand Key have reach
ed the missing boat. .
The San Marcos is nearly 80 years
old, and is one of the more old
fashioned kind of iron vessels. She
was at one time a Ward liner, then
was sold to the government for an
army transport for service during
the Spanish-American war and since
service between here and Galveston,
Texas.
The vessel that went down near
the Diamond Shoals lightship, of
Elizabeth City, n. c., so far as can
be learned, was not unlike the San
Marcos in appearance. She had a
passenger deck like the San Marcos
was plainly a coaster and flew the
United States ensign.
The vessel that went down on
Diamond Shoals was afire at the
stern. She was seen by the observ.
er at Cape Hatteras, by the man
aboard the Diamond Shoals light.
ship and also by those on the Savan.
nah line steamship Savannah, which
was not far off at the time.
The strange feature of the vessel
laundering is that not a trace of her
has been on the sea since. She
was completely engulfed. Not q
single spar, not a boat nor even a
piece of drift wood has been found
Her stern was spouting smoke and
flames when she was last seen and
she seemed as If to plunge downward
nose first.
There was a tremendous sea run.
ming when the unknown vessel Wen
to the bottom. This prevented the
Savannah approaching the vessel
But the Savannah was herself en-,
gagged in keeping her head on tt
the storm and could not have rem.
dered assistance if her officers haG
wanted to.
The Savannah sighted the un.
known vessel hours before she sank
But both vessels were engaged il
fighting their way through the ter
rifle gale with the thermometer a
the time at nearly zero.
Both vessels kept plunging on tc
the southwark, but no signs ever
came from the stranger. The un,
known vessel seemed to be weather.
ing the storm well enough until the
flames broke ont at her stern and
she went down in a few minutes.
The San Marcos was in command
of Captain Davidson. She is of 2.
1SS tons, 81 feet long, SO feet beam
and draws 81 feet Of water. She
had a single funnel and two masts,