The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1914-02-04

Il
for the Monroe.
They found only the strugglinp
survivors afloat in the icy sea, cry.
ing frantically tor help. Many OF
those picked UP were utterly ex-
hausted and unable to help them.
selves. Several had 70 be hauled over
tho side Of the Nantucket with ropes
Thomas r. Harrington KEEP. his wife
afoat by swimming with her hair IN
his teeth. only to have her die q few
minutes after she was hauled aboard
the Nantucket. Lieut.. L. p. Curtis
U. s. A., was rescued. but died after
reaching the Nantucket.
Capt. Johnson Of tho Monroe and
all OF his officers got away from the
sinking vessel and were rescued. All
OF the officers and tho crew Of both
the Monroe and the Nantucket were
held here tonight TO await an inves-
tigation Of the catastrophe. which will
DO begun Immediately by the federal
steamboat inspection service.
E. ]. ]. Newly, United States navy,
chief petty officer. who was on ten
days leave. intending to spend It in
New York. was among the survivors.
Newly gave tho Associated Press an
interesting description Of the accident.
Judging from my watch. which
stopped after i went into the water,
the accident happened at 1.4s. My
watch stopped at 1.5S and I Judge
that 1t was not more than ten minutes
from the time the boats struck until
1 was In the water.
II was In bed when the crash came
and Immediately grabbed my trousers,
coat and cap and what little money I
had. Almost Immediately the vessel
listed strongly and In going up on
deck. l had to crawl like a monkey.
Tho officers of the vessel acted
with promptness and efficiency. In
an incredibly short time oil Of the
officers were at their posts and the
members OF the crew not caught In
their hunks were In their proper
places.
There was no panic in the ordi-
nary sense OF the word. "a used in de-
scribing accidents at sea. There was
excitement of course. but the passen-
gers and crew all conducted them
selves as. far as could see, in a
proper manner. Efforts were made 10
launch boats and RATS, but with very
little success. There was hardly time
for anything.
Tho engine. room was evidently
Hooded almost immediately. as In a
few minutes the lights were out and
undoubtedly this caused "a greater ios.
of life amopg the passengers than
would otherwise have occurred
Many unfamiliar with the ship evil
IDENTIFY lost their way in their efforts
to get On, deck and were swept down
in the whirlpool.
Many OF the passengers and crew
who lost their lives were evidently
killed In their hunks or pinioned there
so that they could not escape. The
vessel was struck on the starboard
side just forward Of amidhips anu
SC quickly did she go to pieces. that,
az was leaving, 1 noticed the paint
on the bulkheads was crumbling and
scaling off,"
To the Associated Press Capt. p
Nelson OF the old Dominion steam
ship Hamilton. which conveyed the
Nantucket from the scene Of tn,
wreck into Norfolk harbor. said:
We were able TO do very little, o.
the work was all over before We
could get on the scene. Our wireless
picked up S 0 s at about gao this
morning. when We were In a very
heavy fos and running quite slowly.
We we're only 80 miles away. but, oil
account Of the fog. were forced to
proceed verify slowly, 80 tina, 1t was
4 o'clock when we caine within sig
mailing distance Of the Nantucket.
"At that time the Nantucket show
ed q badly broken nose and the crew
we're engaged In putting her In as
sood shape as possible. We stood
alongside to render whatever aid was
necessary. with lifeboats and ladders
In readiness and in the meantime on
tho lookout for anything that could
lie picked UP.
I'VE found only one lifeboat and
that was empty. The Monroe had
gone down like a rock within ten
minutes after she was struck and
nothing was to be found"
II was as II they had come from
tho dead when eight Of the Monroe's
passengers whom wireless reports
had put In the list Of the lost walked