Los Angeles herald., 1909-08-29
OFFICERS AND
CREW PRAISED
-
CLAIM OHI0'S MEN ACTED IN
BRAVE MANER
THREE EMPLOYEES OF SHIP SAC
RlFlCED LIVES
Captain of III=Fated Steamer Remained
at His Post and His Presence of
Mind Prevented Complete
Disorder
tcontinued from Faee onel

tContinued from Page OneI
lighted lantern just coming up. That
was the last [ saw of him"
Capt. I. P. Rumsey of Rumsey &
Co, Chicago. grain dealers, said:
IF the Ohio had gone when she first
struck everybody would have been
drowned.
After reaching Carter bay we struck
again. Some people at once swan off
to the nearest shore, but on account of
the cliffs could not make a landing.
No blame can be attached to any one,
but I want to criticise the way the
boats were slung. They hung over the
deck instead of at the sides of the ves-
sci. When the boat listed this made
it difficult for the sailors to get them
off. Luckily they were got off in time,
however, to take all the women and
children"
Men Behaved Calamity
Mrs. c. d. Murane of Tacoma said:
when 1 and my three little boys
got up we at once went to the social
hall, where we encountered a lot of
women. We could scarcely believe
anything serious had happened. All
of the men We're very cool and this
buoyed our spirits up. Not a man at
tempted to get into a boat before all
the women and the children were in.
Everything was orderly and the cap
tain kept calling out orders. When
We left the ship we could still hear
the captain on the ship ordering the
crew around"
With her decks crowded with pas
sengers in various stages of undress,
the steamer Rupert City reached port
at noon today, bringing 131 survivors
of the Ohio disaster.
The passengers told of a terrible ex-
perience. Following the shock of the
wreck and the embarlking in the life
boats came the long wait for daylight,
while the rain poured down and men
and women huddled together on the
exposed rocks, until the Vancouver
fishing steamer Kingfisher came to
their assistance, and every passenger
and crew Joined in praising the fisher
men, who gave them every possible
assistance and lent them clothing,
afterward landing them at Swanson
bay.
The passengers gave every sign of
having been through a shipwreck, for
their costumes were made up of odds
and ends of garments gathered during
the rush for safety.
Grim Note of Tragedy
A grim note of tragedy was struck
by the presence of a rough coffin on
body of Wireless Operator George c.
Eccles. The coffin was obtained at
Swanson bay, and a big bruise on the
forehead shows he was struck on the
head by floating wreckage when he
jumped from the Ohio.
The disaster came with appalling
swiftness and thirty minutes after the
Ohio struck she went down with only
her forecastle head and six feet of her
smokestack showing.
AS the liner was proceeding up Fin
layson channel on Thursday night,
bound for Alaska ports, transforms
came on and the weather became very
thick The American vessels take a
course on the right of Saren island,
while the Canadian steamers and hall
but boats take the channel on the op-
posite side.
Shortly after / o'clock the rain be-
came heavier and it was impossible for
the lookout to see ahead. Then came
a terrific crash and a noise as If thou-
sands of bOilermakerS were rlVetlng,
The liner seemed to give a jump and
the alarm was spread that the Nessel
had struck a rock
Can't. John Johnson knew the least
DELAY might have terrible results, so
he instantly decided to beach his sink
ing vessel. Full speed astern was or
dered and the crippled vessel backed
off the rock. Then her helm was put
hard aport and she nosed into little
place called Carter bay.
Goes to Beach
Here she took the shore about two
shiplengths out and the work of trans
ferring the passengers to shore began.
Rain was falling in torrents The Of
fcers had trouble with a crowd of
Greeks who were travelling steerage
These men tried to rush the boats, and
only the sight of a revolver backed by
a resolute seaman kept them off.
The boats were launched with diff
Guilty. Boat load after boat load was
sent away to the beach, women ana
children going first while some of the
men took life belts and swan ashore
Meanwhile Operator Eccles had been
sending calls for assistance into the
night KetchiFan got them, but it was
through staying at his post as long as
possible that Eccles lost his life. The
last boat to leave the Ohio was over
crowded, and twenty men had to SWIM.
Fccles and two freight clerks jumped
overheard and the clerks We're picked
up by a lifebOat ECCles was struck
on the head by Wreckage and drowned,
but his body was recovered and taken
ashore.
The dynamos kept working until half
of the passengers had been transferred,
and then the electric lights died away,
and darkness added to the horror of
the. situation. Blue flares were lighted,
aI9Q by their aid the palltd faces Of the
passengers huddled on the rocks could
be seen from the ship.
The nearest settlement was at Swan
son bay, twenty miles away, and it was
decided to send for help in that direc-
ton.
Relief Crew Is Formed
Second Officer Stewart formed a crew
and manned d boat and set off at top
speed. They covered the distance un-
der adverse conditions in three hours.
At Swanson bay they found the New
England Fishing company's steamer
Kingfisher, Captain Holmstrom, lying
with steam up waiting for bait on her
way to the halbut banks in Hecate
straits.
Anchor was hosted at once, and un-
der fun steam the fishing vessel set off
for Carter bay, which was reached at
3 o'clock yesterday morning. AS the
Kingfisher slowed down the fishermen
manned their dories and in a minute
the bay was dotted by the little craft
making for the rocks In forty-fve
minutes every one Of the passengers
and crew with the exception Of Captain
Johnson, the mate. chief engineer and
boatswain these electing to stand by
the wreck, We're transferred to the
Kingfsher, which Immediately became
a scene of hospitality, concerning which
the passengers are enthusiastic
"FlapjackS never looked so good to
me before" said one, land Jack, the
cook. was turning them out at the rate
of a hundred minute should think
The fishermen gave the refugees
,,.o,,r, ,IotbiDo and their SOdden rags