The Calumet news., 1913-10-16
SEAS GRIM TOLL
OF FIFTY YEARS
Many Thousands OF Lives Lost In
Fires, Collisions and Storms

The burning of the Volurno adds 10
a striking list of steamship casualties
| i'm ocean travel for the last fifty years
one of the earliest of these was the
iamburg- American Line steamship
Austria. watch burned TT sea on Sept.
| 10, 1883. The Austria left Hamburg
for this port on Sept. /. touched at
Southampton three days later, and
took fire AT > o'clock In the afternoon
on the 18Th, when half way between
Southampton aud New York Seventy
six persons in boats were picked up by
the French bark Maurice, hut those
who perished numbered 40
! The next disaster comparable 10 the
loss of the Austria was the loss of the
British vessel Atlantic on April J..
| 1879. The Atlantic. with 952 persons
on board, was caught in a heavy storm
OF Halifax, and In attempting 10 bring
his ship To that port the Captain ran
her on Mars Head. at Cape Prospect.
| The vessel keeled over. and sank al
most Immediately. With her, $50 per-
sons went down.
Two years later on May Z. 1875. the
German steamship Schiller, OF the
| Eagle Line bound for Hamburg from
this port. ran on Retainers' Lodge near
the Scilly Islands, In q terrific sea. OF
855 persons on board only AZ were
saved ir...
On Jan. 80, 1895, tho North German
Lloyd steamship Elbe, carrying 35f
| persons. was run into by tho British
steamer Crathie OF the coast Of SUI.
/ folk. England. The Crathie struck the
! Clbe abaft the engine room and then
pulling free, began To steam away. y
terrible panic ensued on the Elbe and
as a result only 90 persons were saved
while 234 persons were lost.
The sinking of the French liner La
| I3ourgogne on July T. 1895 was one of
the greatest ocean tragedies OF this
generation. The Bourgogne was in
collision with the British ship Cromar-
tyshlre in a fog about sixty miles off
sable Island. She sank within ter
minutes. OF the 7S9 persons on board,
/ $50 lost their lives, and of her passen-
gers, none of the 1s4 in the first cabin
were saved. while only hrty-four pas
sengers from the steerage and second
! cabin were rescued.
| Some Ships That Were Burned.
! Several ships have burned at sea
within the last thirty years. The emil
grant vessel Cospatricll took lire while
| on her way 20 Auckland Oh the night
OF Nov. Il, 1874. There were i76 per-
sons on board but only six escaped,
and these were picked an ten DAYS
! later, Nov o. ,.s---r-
Another big fire was that of tho
Chinese river steamer, Wsah Young,
! trading between Hon kong and Cam
ION. She waa destroyea-.off the night
OF Nov. 10. lSss. while on her way mp
The Canton RIVER. About 100 Chinese
passengers lost their lives.
The China Navigation ,company's
steamship Shanshai was burned near
Ching kiang In the China Sea on Dec.
-. 1880. lO1 persons losing their lives.
The Sardinia of the tllerman Line
was burned al the cutranee 20 the Port
ot Valetta on Nov %, l0eS. Moro
than 100 lives were lost.
The burning of the General Slocum,
an excursion steamer. in New York,
WIS the worst disaster OF its kind. She
was going up the East River with the
annual excursion of ~. Marks Church,
on June Is. 1904, when she caught fire
OFF both street. Her commander. Capt.
Van Shaick, succeeding In beachins
her on North Brothers Island. Nearly
.000 persons. mostly women and chill
drcn. lost their lives.
But the greatest marine disaster IL
still fresh in cvcrybodys mind. This
was the sinking of the new White Star
Liner Titanic. which ran into an ice
berg and sank Oft Newfoundland on
the night Of April ii 1912. The death
roll which included many distinguish
ed and honorcd names, tetaled l59J
persons. Those rescued numbered 745.