Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1914-11-25
Eighteen Dead

Eighteen dead had been either wash
ed ashore at Bolinas, or brought to
port by the United States revenue cut
ter McCulloch and the navy tug Iro-
quois. How many are missing never
will be known, for the best available
passenger Hist In the company's posi-
session gives % passengers and 20
crew, a total Of 81 souls, while the
This does not include two life savers
washed ashore alive and three MISS
ing. Their boat was swamped.
Among the dead was the infant SON
of Mrs. Valentine Franz. OF San Fran
cisco. who saved herself, She held her
baby by its dresses in her clenched
teeth, clutching a timber with her
hands, until exhaustion loosened her
jaw.
A majority of the dead brought in
by the McCulloch had swallowed crude
petroleum, smeared on the waves from
the ships fuel tanks when she broke
up. and although many Of them show
ed signs of life when first picked up,
it was impossible to revive them
The Hanalei broke up early today
after pounding on the reef nearly "a
hours. Some Of the fragments washed
far enough in shore to enable those
clinging to them to make fight for
their lives. The ordinary apparatus
of life saving was powerless against
distance, fog and q breaking sea.
Oil from the fuel tanks of the
smashed ship coated the sea and
made Shiny the rocks of the beach.
adding to the difficulties Of the res-
cuers.
Attempts at Rescue
A few more hours would have saw
ed every person aboard. An hour
would have saved many. After all
hope had been given up ashore ami
on board the wreck the sixth, line
fired by the Golden Gate Park life
saving crew under Captain Norman
Nelson went over the vessel. A
breeches buoy was rugged and then
the line parted Almost Immediately
thereafter the Hanalei broke apart
amid cries which rose above thu
thunder of the surf.
Mortar Bursts
The Fort Point life saving crew
from the beach fred lines which fell,
short, until in desperation they double
charged their mortar and it burst. An
effort to launch a boat from the
Hanalei failed and a passenger was
drowned. A sailor tried to SWIM
ashore with line and men on the
beach could see his arm swing above,
the waves: but at the line of break
ers he sank and his body drifted out
to sea. A passenger, Elwood Scherin
of Berkeley, Cal, took a line and got
ashore but the line became unfasten-
ed as he swan.
One other man, II was reported also
reached shore. A life saving crew
which went out toward the wreck was
upset. The captain reached shore and
the remaining five men got aboard the
Hanalei. Two later were washed off
and drowned, and there seemed no
hope for any rescue.
Calls for Help
At o'clock in the morning the Col
den Gate life saving crew with larg-
err mortar appeared. Through the en-
terprise of local newspaper it had
been ferried across San Francisco bay
loaded on a mortar truck and sent 10
miles over mountain roads. 1t began
to shoot lines toward the wreck as
the tide rose. After the third shot the
water was waist deep on the schoon-'
er and the wireless operator who was
sending with an improvised outfit held
in one hand. reported that the passen-
gers were desperate.
I'VE will get ashore as best we can
he reported. I'VE cannot stay here
But they dared not trust the waves
"Try once more. Hurry! Hurry.
called the operator little later.
The Hanalei was wooden vessel
of 666 tons. built for the Hawaiian
sugar trade In 1901 and later diverted
to coastwise traffic, running between
San Francisco and Eureka. She left
Eureka Sunday. She Nlas owned by
the Independent Steamship Co.