The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-10-17
~ [ W. L q &.
BANKERS VESSEL
STRIKES SANDBAR.
Steamer ST. Johns Stuck for
an Hour Near Dutch
Gap.
ASSISTED BY LITTLE AURORA
Despite Rain Large Party En-
joys Excursion on James
River.
ASSISTED BY LITTLE AURORA

i y . . fHi
Despite steady downpour Of fain
that began shortly after midnight and
continued intermittently all day long,
l,soo members of the American Bank
ers' Association, visitors and Rich
monders. crowded aboard the ST. Johns
and the Pocahontas yesterday morning
for the bankers excursion down the
river sto jamestown Island and New
port News.
No amount of ram and no threat
from leadep skies could have inter-
rupted the success of the excursion
The men came provided with ra.nroat Is
and the women came appareled in
waterproof wraps,tand they came In as
large numbers rs the entertainment
committee expected. There was ample
open-air space. rooted and tarpaulincl
TO accommodate all who elected to stay
in the open. and banda and quartets
within drowned In 4 sea of melody the
rumble of the elements outside.
STEAMER ST. JOHNS
STICKS ON SANDBAR
n lone mishap marred the arrange
mentS-of the entertainment committee
At the lower end OF Dutch Cap the
st. Johns. broad of beam, and accus-
toned to the deeper waters of the
Chesapeake Bay, vehtured too near the
right bank of the river, and dug her
nose into a .sandbar. All efforts of the
two de-wheels to dislodge her proved
futile. and 900 passengers on board
began to see visions-of forced
biyouac.
The steamer ran aground Mt 10
o'clock in the morning, Gust as tho
dining-room doors We're thrown open
TO hungry multitude. The crew
worked heroically to back the boat off
the bar. but she appeared mired for
good. In the darkest hour appeared
q guardian angel in the form of tho
steamer Aurora, of the Furman Line,
bound from Petersburg. to Richmond.
The Aurora Is 4 small boat, as James
River steamers go, but she is 90 44-10O
per cent efficient. Her captain threw
a line to the grounded st. Johns. and
the crew of the halted steamer made
1T fast. There ensued a twenty-min-
ute tugging match. in which the
plucky Aurora pulled manfully-lf n
steamer can pull that way-to dislodge
Aurora's engines, combined with the
reversed side-wheel propellers of the
st. Johns, turned the trick, and an
hour after she ran her prov into the
sandbar the vessel turned her nose
into the open channel, free.
BANKERS CHEER
CAPTAIN OF AURORA
Hundreds OF delegates crowded
against the rails to cheer the captain
the manoeuvres from the bridge.
Hhe st. Johns blew n grateful blast,
alAxfe whistle Of the Aurora answer
ed ;iftodestly that it was nothing worth
mentioning-mer neighborly turn
that one sister may always expect of
another. The steamers interchansed
several more toots and proceeded in
opposite directions--the ST. Johns to
Newport !, s, News ahd the Aurora to
y x
With the steamer free of the sand
bar the oxcursionists lined UP before
the lavishly stocked buffets with pro-
nounced relief Mt having escaped a
threatened overnight stay at Dutch
Gap. Kessnich's Band struck up a live
ly air. and the incident was closed.
There was. however, an inevitable af-
The sixty minutes lost on
the sandbar could not be made up. and
the stenmer proceeded to Newport
News without stopping at Jamestown
Island for tho hour-and- -a-half stay.
scheduled OIL tho program. The island
was passed I'M q driving rain. "A ma
tority of tho eycurslonists were we'll
'cbntent to view the first permanent
Continued on Eighth Pago.) ~