The Lancaster news. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1905-current, 1914-04-07
BRINGS IN DEAD
AND A|L|NG TARS
Be,IaVenture Bears Dread Bur-
den to Port.
TOKEN OF THE STORM.
SiNty-Nine Corpses and Fifty Maim-
ed Survivors Tell Tale of
Horror.


90 of the dead and so of the Grip
pied survivors of the disaster that
overlook hunters from the steamer
Newfoundland on the ice foes near
Belle Isle straits in last Tuesdays
blizzard.
Thirteen Of the living were remov-
ed TO n hospital In a critical condI-
tion. Several others were seriously
! i'll, and all but one of the remainder
bore scars OF their 3S hours expos
ure in the Arctic gale in which II Of
their companions met death. This
uninjured survivor was stricken
blind after being picked up, but 1t
is believed he will recover his sight
Five thousand persons, many OF
them relatives OF the victims, had
lined every vantage point along the
harbor front all day, waiting for the
Bellaventures arrival and for some
news Of the missing sealer Southern
Cross carrying ITO men. Not n word
has been heard from the latter ves-
sci since she was seen drifting before
the storm Tuesday. Hope aroused
by reports that she had been i'm the
harbor were dashed whom investiga-
tiOn proved an error in Identification
had been made. There is faith in
many quarters that the Southern
l
wreckage has been reported.
HELP AT HAND.
In the absence or GOV. Davidson
and Premier Morris, the acting pre-
mier. Mr.. Bennett. directed the work
of caring for the dead and wounded
Every physician and nurse i'm the
city volunteered for service. They
were aided by squads from the naval
reserve ship Calypso, and various mil
itary organizations. The now Gren-
fell institute was turned into
morgue
The disaster which overlook the
Newfoundland's hunters was unavold
able. according to Capt. Randell OF
the Bellaventur2
Tuesday dawnod somewhat over
cast, but with no hint OF blizzard con
ditions. he said. so tEat it was quite
permissible to put men on the ice
after seals.
The storm broke with typical Arc
tic suddenncss. The hunters from the
Beliaventure and the Florizel we're
fortunate enough to reach their ships
safely The Stephano's men. being
near the FloTiZel hurried on board
her. The Stephano meanwhile steam
ed towards the spot whore her crew
had been seen before the snow set
in. This took her away from the
Newfoundland's group, who were far
from their own ship. AS soon as
the Stephana was notified by the
Florizels wireless of the safety Of
her men, she headed back into the
storm to pick up the Newfoundland's s
hunters.
COULD NOT SEE.
1t was impossible to see a ships
length ahead into the snow curtain.
and when the Stephano's captain
thought he was within mile of the
stranded hunters he lay to and kept
his whistle going i'm the hope that
they might be guided towards him
As hours passed and not a man
reported, he concluded all had reach
ed their own ship. But the New
toundland had no wireless. and all
that day and Wednesday, while the
blizzard ragged with unabated fury,
the fleet remained in ignorance Of
the fate of the $50 men marooned
on the foes.
On Thursday the weather cleared
and the Bellaventure was making
ready to start her men after seals
again when lookout reported men
on the ice. Capt Randell Immediate
lv ordered every available man on
the ship to the rescue. The main
party OF castaways were four miles
away over broken field OF ice. The
Bellaventure was driven toward
them with all possible speed, but so
bad were ice conditions that it re-
quired nine hours to cover the four
miles. In the meantime Capt Ran
dell's men had reached the casta-
ways. Only a few Of the hardest
were conscious and able to help them
solves. Many were in a stupor. Some
were raving, others had been strick-
en- with ice blindness Many bodies
were found frozen so fast in the ice
that pfckaxes we're necessary to
chop them out. Two OF the survivors
were nearly mad from their own suf-
ferings and from grief Zach had
watched a brother die.
/ BY good fortune 80 of the New
foundland's hunters who had not
strayed far from the vessel had been
able to reach their ship. else the
death list undoubtedly would have
been greater.
In the meantime the Stephano had
worked within striking distance and
had picked up few of the survivors
and recovered a few bodies. After
the snow-filled hollows had been
searched for more bodies, the Bella
venture turned her prov homeward
battling severe ice conditions and a
second gale nearly all the way to
port.