Los Angeles herald., 1909-01-26

port, and the Florida rammed the Re-
public.
According to the same account, the
captain of the Florida picked up an
iron spike and dealt Ramolo a. blow
over the head at the moment of the
impact
The quartermaster was badly hurt
He maintains he was asleep in his
bunk at the time of the accident.
Graphic Word Picture
Fascinating word pictures of the
drama of the high seas were drawn
by many passengers. Those who were
in the heart of the crash told of their
experiences and feelings and depicted
the bravery, anXieties, weakness and
overruling calmness which obtained
until help came through the fog.
Those on the assisting vessels and re-
lief boats have related their observa-
tions, from the first wireless call to
the taking aboard of the last twice
transferred passengers, and altogether
the story Of the day and nights has
been woven to completeness.
Two women who occupied a state
room second from the one where Mrs.
Lynch was killed, and a woman who
occupied the one between Mrs. Lynch
and the other which crushed, graphi-
Woman Tells Experience
The former, Mrs. J. S. Crandell and
Miss Elizabeth Potter of Chicago, were
among the first to reach the deck
Mrs. Crandell said in telling her ex-
periences:
"Only one stateroom separated ours
from the one in which Mrs. Lynch met
her death. I heard agonizing screams.
Every light went out.
"From the corridor we saw three
rooms smashed in very close to ours,
a huge anchor in one.
Through the mass of wreckage two
stewards were already lifting g.
woman who had been caught in the
impact.
1T was evident from the start that
the passengers were in the hands of a
little army of men trained to care for
them in the best manner possible in
the face of such an emergency. and it
was this knowledge that kept the feel
ing of fear from our hearts
"At no time was there a panic"
Got Their JeweIry
Miss Potter, Mrs. CrandelPs state
room mate, made her way four times
from the deck to their stateroom and
was able to get her iewelry and that
of Mrs. Crandell.
Before the order for the transfer Of
passengers to the Florida came" said
Miss Potter, "nearly all the passen-
gers were crowded well forward on
the Republic.
Eagerly they watched the captain
on the bridge. Distinctions between
first-class passengers and steerage had
been done away with.
''We were all fellow passengers in dis
tress. 1t was long, long time before
we knew we were to be transferred to
the Florida.
Finally Captain Sealby turned to-
ward us with his hands appraised as a
signal for our attention, which, need
less to say, was duly given. Then he
said:
The passengers will be transferred
to the steamship Florida
One Coward Revealed
'He said the women and children
would be the first passengers. There
was no jostling and no exhibition Of
fear.
"AII in all, the conduct of the wom-
en- was excellent. 1t is unfortunate that
right at this time there should have
been an exhibition by one of the men
that was otherwise. He was not an
old man. either, but he surely did seem
the most crazy person of all. He clam
bered into the first boat load. Thera
was yell of derision from the pas
sengers.
''The sailors who were to row the
lifeboat and the officer in charge plain
ly showed their contempt for the fell
low.
He came back to the high deck of
the Republic in igonminious fashion.
the passengers Jeering all the while
ne was making the journey.
Discipline DispeIs Fears
The lifeboats made the trips in al
most uniform procession. There was
so much to admire in the PROCEEDINGS
that our fears were all the more dis
PEELED.
I'VE made our way to the deck Of
the emigrant vessel up a ladder and
found ourselves on a very different
sort of ship from that from which We
had just journeyed.
I'VE had left what to the mind OF
most of us had been truly a floating
palace.
''When we left it only the ugly cash
in its side detracted from its gran
deur. From that abode we journeyed
to hovel for the poor.
women Squatted on matches. sat on
potato bags or leaned against the
rails. The air was filled with the
odor of macaroni.
'Macaroni proved to be the largest
portion of our fare during the long
wait on the Italian boat for the second
rescue