Norwich bulletin., 1914-01-15

Yarmouth, N. S. Jan. 14.-Snatched from what seemed almost certain death the passengers and crew of the. Royal Mail packet Cobequid are snug tonight In Yarmouth. The wireless appeals for assistance which she had first made thirty six , hours before were answered late to- E day as the doomed steamer was being racked to pieces on Trinity Rocks, six miles of Port Maitland. The rescue will go down in shipping annals as one of the most notable ever accomplished on the Atlantic coast
 Steamer Had Begun to Break tip.
 The Cobequid had begun to break lip under the caunonadiug of the ter rife seas that had been n1erciless from the time the vessel struck early yeS- terday- Quantities of cargo covered the waters aS the iifeboats ranged alongside The coastal steamers West port and John L. Cam were first to get their small boats into the water and they were followed rubn by the downe and the Rappahannock. As the work of rescue progressed, the sea subsided considerably and no nishap marred the triumph over the waves
 Captain McKinnon of the Westport found the liner on the southeast part of Trinity ledge at 40 o'clock this afternoon At the time there was 9 high wind and rough sea, He took off in three hfeboats loads of f2 per sons, including all the passengers, the purser and several deck officers and part of the crew
 Captain and IS Men Remain Aboard.
 The Westport stood by until 615 L. Cam came up. The latter took off 24 men as the Westport was leaving for Yarmouth. The captain and fifteen men of the crew decided to remain on the ship until morning and the government steamer Lansdowne re- mained by with them
 The Westport arrived at Yarmouth at o'clock and the John L. Cam followed her in
 The Cobequid's stern was not broken count given by Captain McKinnon In fact the after part was highest out of the water. The Cobequid was badly iced up.
 Women First to Leave Ship.
 The gas buoy on Trinity ledge was reported by Captain McKinnon as be- ing in position but badly iced, which might make 1t of little use in a snow storm.
 The 1OS persons on the cobequid included 12 first class cabin passen- gers and an equal number in the sec ond class. Mrs. W c. Zoller and her child were the first to go over the SAIt- 1IiSH ltJllONeu MISS NldISu1I1S and Miss Dorothy James. daughters of the late R. H. James. mayor of St. Georges, Bermuda and two sisters of charity One by one the men were lowered to lifeboats until only Captain Hawson and eleven men remained on the deck
 Preparations had been made here to care for the shipwrecked ones and they were given every comfort that the city offered.
 A Typical Western Blizzard.
 Trinity Rock. on which the Cobequid was tranSdxed at a. III. yesterday, is a pinnacle of granite rising abruptly from the sea halfway between this port and Brier Island, where the struck. The Trinity is awash at low water. The famous Lurcher shoal. which is indicated by a ightship, lies ten miles outside Trinity Rock, while the course up the Bay of F'undy takes vessels still farther off shore
 The bay was swept by a typical western blizzard as the Cobequid, bound from the tropic, began to feel her way toward St. John The last of the ebb tide was running and the ditions which tended to drive the steamer closer to the eastern shore than her skipper anticipated. The crash came just before dawn and g few minutes later the wireless ''S 0. g. was flashing over the angry waters.
 Captain Shows Courage.
 The Cobequid-s operator was unable to give her location for no one on board knew 1t definitely, Four hours later the flood tide and gale had driven the steamer still farther on the rock, breaking her back and food ing the engine room. This put out the fires and interrupted the wireless epparatus. The passengers were great ly alarmed, but the courage of Captain Hawson and, his abiding faith in his ship treasured them time and again. The steamer made water rapidly and the cargo began to tear away. Throughout the day and night that followed the officers scanned the see, for passing craft and the operator worked heroically to restore his wire less outfit
 Meantime steamers that had picked up the first cry for help were search tng for the distressed craft.
 Faced Death Two Days.
 4 heavy vapor caused by the action of the intense cold on the water han dicapped the searchers and it was d fisherman on Port Maitland shore who first made out the Cobequid as the vapor rose late this afternoon and re- revealed the liner on the dreaded Trin- ity.
 Darkness was gathering last when the rescue began. but the boatmen from the coastal steamers knew the rock and the surrounding shoals as well as they did their own front yards ashore and they went at the work be- fore them with perfect confidence Less than five hours later those who had faced death for two days were being whrmed and fed at the hotels here. So far as could be learned tonight none of the party was permanently the worse for their adventure.
 Had to Be car~isd to Hotels.
 All, however, had suffered greatly from the intense cold Most of them ware frostbitten, and every one showed she effects of exposures, When the rescue steamers reached docks here many of their passengers had to be carried to The hotel. For tie 36 hours after the vessel struck seas broke over her continuously and she was coated with ice.
 Benumbed with the cold and dazed by their long ordeal. few of the res cued 4ould give an intelligent account