The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1912-12-23
TWENTY-FIVE men
IN SH|PWRECK
/ Lost |. ! ] ! LIVES :! | '||:'' J
Steamer Florence, q Fumes. Line,
Pounded 70 Pisces Her III
s., Jahns, \. \ :. & 81
FL FIVE MEN ONLY SURVIVORS l1.'' Y q J
Tell Narrowing Experience in Their
Fight With the Wind Il.
and Waves.
TIVE MEN ONLY SURVIVORS
Associated Press Dispatch.

!. 5 III = F. q. IL -
Associated Press Dispatch.
st. Johns, Newfoundland, Dec. 90.
Twenty-Five of the twenty-seyen
members OF the crew Of the Furness
line steamer, Florence, from Halifax,
Nova Scotia to st, Johns, lost their
lives in the. wreck of the vessel on
the ledges west OF st. Shotts during
a noithern gale last Friday.
I'ivo exhausted survivors reached
land in boat and brought the news
TO Trepassey tonight. The steamer
carried no passengers.
Capt. Barr, of the steamer Flor
: ence, and all his men reached shore
after the vessel struck, but the
lofty, inaccessible cliffs of st.
Shots prevented their escape, The
biz tide backed up by northwest
gale made it impossible to rescue
them and all hands We're obliged to
get back to the ship which was
pounding heavily on the rocks.
s Tire captain felt confident that thu
wind wonia go down, bat Second
Mate Hedle9 volunteered to take
foqtr spea II one pf tfe ships boats
and aeek i more favorable landing
place Rlong the coast.
5,.5 I'M the heavy seas then running
the captain Mss unwilling to risk
more lives and gayes5#.his consent To-
the second mates expedition with
s reluctance. =.1 .., NJ :.]1;. ... 81. q
a. With difficulty Hedley. piIoted his
small boat along the. coast until he
saw a break In the rugged line OF
csias. Pointing the nose Of the
beat directly. into the surf he adj
yanced toward the outlying rocks
and in the crest of a great breaker
he ran his craft in without being
upset. Tumbling out hastily to
avoid being sucked by under cur
rents the mate and four men made
their way back along the cliffs to
Where the steamer lay.
The winds from the seas had in
creased in the meantime, the comb
ers broke continually over the deck
Of the vessel which was on the
Jagged rocks.
Hed'ey searched in vain for some
path by which the cliffs might be
scaled and the crew of the Florence
helped.
The coast in the vicinity is unin-
habited. The fshermen's huts
were deserted for the winter and
Hedley had TO take refuge in one
of these abandoned shacks. Awak-
ening Saturday, Hedley found that
the wind was gradually increasing.
lie made his way to the point at
which the Florence lay, but could
see nothing Of the ship; some OF
her cargo of lumber was found
floating along the shore, but no
small boats were visible.
The five servivors made search
along the shore for their shipmates,
but no trace of them was to be
found
They then started for ST. Shott.
the nearest inhabited place, which
they could see in the distance. Two
Of the men We're so exhausted from
cold and exposure that they had to
be assisted These two men were
left at ST. Shots to recuperate while
the ethers pressed on to Trepassey
where they at once sent word of the
disaster to this city. They are not
expected to arrive here before the
middle of the week
The steamr Florence was of 1900
ton burden and was built In England
in 1899. She was 293 feet in
length