Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1914-04-03

saying that he had picked up 30 sur
vivors and a. number of dead bodies.
He estimated that 40 men had per-
ished and said that 80 were unaccount-
ed for.
A message from the Stephano to-
night said that 35 survivors had been
found and three bodies, but there is
doubt as to whether she referred only
to those picked up by her.
Messages Indistinet
The wireless of the Bella Venture
was working poorly tonight and the
messages received from her were
somewhat confused. The number of
fatalities will be in doubt at least I'M
til she reaches here, probably tomor-
row noon. She has a trip of some $50
miles ahead of her. At dusk another
blizzard had sprung up and there was
little hope for any of the hunters who
had not already been saved.
Added to the disaster was a grow
ing suspense regarding the Southern
Cross, which ought to have arrived
here last Tuesday.
The first reports of the loss of the crew
of the Newfoundland were confused
and were generally accepted as referring
to the Southern Cross and it was not un-
til late in the day that the identity of
the unhappy was determined. Both the
rescue steamers have been ordered to
make all speed for port, but tonight's
blizzard may delay them. Meantime
preparations to care Tor the dead and
suffering are being made. The Grenfell
Seamens Institute has been converted
into an emergency hospital. The whole
contingent of naval reservists on the
British drill ship Calypso has been order
ed out for ambulance duty, and collins
are being hurriedly constructed. All the
fishermen are from the coast, most of
them from Bonavista Bay, the home of
Capt. Kean. His crew included so men
from fishing settlements in this vicinity.
Southern Cross Search
Search for the Southern Cross was re-
ing made tonight with little encourage
ment. In addition to an unusually large
crew she was loaded heavily with 1900
seals Up to dark tonight she had not
taken shelter in Trepassey or St Marys
bays on the southern coast, but it was
thought possible that she had turned tail
to the gale and was heading for the east
along shore.
The anxiety for the steamer is increas-
ed by the news from Cape Race that two
masts at the Marconi wireless station
there which had outlasted the storms Of
10 years were leveled and smashed in
splinters by Tuesdays wind.
New FoundIand Afloat
Early reports that the Newfoundland
had been sunk by the ice proved untrue
Wireless messages describing the loss of
her hunters We're read as referring to the
ship itself. There is still some doubt as
to how the vessel survived the storm, but
as the latest messages from the Bella
Xenturne and the Stephano made no men,
ton to the contrary, it is assumed that
the ship still floats.
Other Disasters
Seal hunting has always been a
perilous calling and many a stout
ship has been lost in the icy seas in
which she pursued her quest Fortu-
nately few of the many disasters to
the sealing feet have resulted in loss
of life as great as the known number
of dead in the case of the Newfound-
land.
The most recent of previous disas-
ters in connection with the seal fisher
les was that which befell the steamer
Greenland in 1898. OF a crew of $50
men, who had been sent out over the
ice foes to catch the seals, As were
frozen to death and 63 were seriously
frost bitten. At least one vessel is
lost by the sealing fleet annually, and
the average loss of vessels is nearly
two d year. Seldom, however. is there
great loss of life as the vessels usu-
ally are close together and able TO
rerder early aid to each other.
The years 1905 and 1909 were the
worst for the sealing fleet in long
time. Five ships were lost in these
two seasons. The Leopard was driven
ashore by the ice fields, and 120 men
barely escaped with their lives. The
Grand Lake was crushed and went
down, her crew being saved only aft
err 46 hours exposure on the berg
which cost them their ship. Three 9TH
er vessels were sunk, after wallowing
helplessly with ice damage broken
shafts, their crews being taken off by
steamers of the fleet.
THE sealer's peril has been a by
word in maratime insurance circles
as an undesirable risk and the records
of the industry have maintained the
unfavorab BILE reputation.
1t is possible that other lives may have
been lost through the overturning of ice
foes.
The sealing steamers late tonight pass
ed out of range of Fogo station, at the
entrance to Notre Dame bay, through
which they had sent their wireless re-
ports of the disaster. and were driving
southwark in the gale. AS the Cape Race
wireless station is dismantled, the only
means of communicating with the sealers
before their arrival here is through the
Furness liner Eagle Point, which arrived
today from Liverpool. The wireless OPP
orator of the Eagle Point way trying at a
late hour to get into touch with them.
kQnllITRl LAO