The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1909-12-18
SEA TRAGEDY
eapsain and His Wife and Eleven Sea-
men Lose Their Lives.
SCHOONER is WRECKED

SCHOONER is WRECKED
sai1er picked Up in the Wreckase
of the Governor Anes and Car
ried t, Charleston by the Steam
ship slawmut, Gives Graphic sto-
ry of catassrOphse..
The 6ve-masted schooner Cover
nor Ames. bound from Brunswick
On. to New York. with a large car
40 of railroad crossties, grounded
and went to pieces OF Wimble
shoals, twenty-five miles north OF
Cape Hatteras. Monday afternoon at
nbout 6 o'clock. The captain, the
crew, consisting OF twelve men, ana
the wife of the captain, were az
killed or drowned with one single
exception.
This. says The News and Courier,
IN the story told by the sole sur
viyor. a Nova Scotian, by the name
of Josiah Spearing, seaman Oh
me vessel. He was picked up from
= mass of floating ties by the steam
ship Shawmut. while on her way
rom philadelphia to Charleston
where she arrived Wednesday nisnt
with Spearing on board.
Capt. A. Syenson. of the ShaWmut
on Tuesday morning about q O'CLOCK
discovered a figure signalling on
mass of wreckage. The Shawmut
was about two miles from the scene
but Immediately hastened to wher"
she wreckage lay. The sea was too
rough to lower boat, but LADDER
was thrown over the side of the yes
sci and Spearing climbed aboard.
Spearing was suffering from the
vold, the shock and particularly from
seyere bruises inflicted by the float
ing wreckage, which beat upon him
eo account Of the heavy sea dash
in2 it to AMI fro. His legs and arms
hear blue and black marks. and ne
Is unable to walk. His mind, how
ever is clear and he is able to give
y frj, account of the calamity, which
he did to a reporter of The News
and Courier, and from that account
we make up this report:
,sFesring, hailed the iShawmut by
waxing. an oil skin coat, which ne
managed to save before the schooner
went down. lie says that in the
forenoon Monday the wind assumed
large proportions; it was foggy, ana
drizzling, and he says the man at
she wheel was near-sighted AMI could
not see where he was steering; that
he could only steer by the way she
wind filed the sails, or by aid OF
me, stars. That at 1880 O'CLOCK
in the morning the schooner struck
rocks and broke aft The sea came
IN on the quarter deck and tie sail
nrs lashed the captains wife to the
soanker rigging. 1fcn the men Wen
down to get life preservers. When
Il was triei to use them they fell
TO pieces before any one could get
nhem on. Rope yards were then
,lashe around the preservers by each
man who had one.
While the men were trying TO
make the preserves seaworthy tne
vessel broke aft, and the captain s
vie w3s rushed to the forward deck
and lashed to the mast. She was
.slmost frozen, suffering from the
sold wind and from the cold sea
ahat was filing the boat. The men
rushed down into the cabin for
Blankets for her, and they had hard
81 gotten en- deck again when the
stern broke in two and the cabin
vas filed with water.
1t was about o'clock then, and
the wind increasing, the vessel broke
I'D completely. The woman I'aS lash
cd to the mizzen rigging, and then
as the rigging began to break, she
was taken away and lashed to the
hoops of the mainmast. on the fore
castle. The sea was so violent that
Sne mast broke, AMI, falling upon
ne woman, crushed her to death.
&rearing said as the woman fell he
heard a man give death scream.
% the same mast had fallen upon
R1m and killed him.
Spearing said that as soon as he
and the mate saw that the captain S
wife was dead they knew they could
Do no more, so they made an effort
10 save their own lives by running
10 the jib as it was the safest place.
When the vessel began breaking
aft she swung arouni so violently
that they couldn't stay on her any
longer. Three big seas washed over
eae wreckage and Spearing managed
20 hold on.
The fourth sea was so strong, how
ever, that he fell overheard from the
Wreckage. He grabbed to han l.
rope at the flying jib and was for
&unate enough to land on the deck,
which was floating. He had scarce
b landed when two seas struck him
Knocking him down before he could