Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-08-01
STEAMSHIP KENsHAW
HAS NARROW ESCAPE
Merchants and Miners Vessel in Col
lision With Sloop Rose T..
Merrill.
NO PASSENGERS mi
7. Peter Howle, Of Richmond, Gives
Graphic Account Of Accident in
Fog Of Nantucket-Had Left Bos-
ton for Norfolk.

| T. Peter How1e. clerk to City Treas
! urcr James b. Pace. who has been
| spending his vacation in Boston. re-
turned to the city last night with a
graphic account Of near-sea tragedy.
which narrowly missed resulting In a
serious mishap. when the Merchants
and. Miners steamship Kershaw. on
which he was a passenger, sideswiped
the six-masted sloop Rose (. Merrill
about $3.50 o'clock Friday morning or
Nantucket.
According TO Mr.. Howle the Kershaw
left Boston at o'clock Thursday even
ing. bound for Norfolk. About Q
o'clock Thursday night the steamer ran
into Il heavy fog and was forced TO re-
duce speed. In clear weather the boats
run along the coast. but the waters in
this immediate vicinity are DANGEROUS
and when fogs are encountered they
run off the coast for nifty or sixty
miles and then proceed. Everything
was going we'll when the passengers
retired. and about 2:3O o'clock they
were awakened by the crash Many
of them. including Mr.. Howle, were
thrown from their beds across the room.
WILD EXCITEMENT
AMONG PASSENGERS
Occurring at just this time. when so
many passenger boats have been sunk.
there was wild excitement among the
passengers. as many thought the boat
was sinking. and they rushed on deck
with life preservers A hurried exam
| nation OF the Kershaw. as we'll as the
sloop, was made BY the crew, and It
was soon found that they were in no
immediate danger, but the extent OF
the injury could not be ascertained in
! the fog, and it was necessary to wait
until daylight for further inspection.
There was no call made for help. and
no one other than those on the two
| boats knew of the accident The first
| officer of the kershaw was at the wheel
| at the time of the accident. CAPTAIN
| Johnson having retired for short rest
| The first officer stated that the fog was
SO dense that II was impossible to see
| more than few feet ahead Of the boat.
ana mat theE were steaming along
! under reduced speed. using the whistle
for fog horn.
The Rose Z. Merrill was in ballast.
bound for Newport News for coal The
| boat was proceeding under full sail,
| and was sounding its fog horn, but, as
|
was on the opposite side from the Ker-
shaw, with the sails between. the signal
was not heard. The lookout on the
Kershaw, however. did sight the sloop
| when they were only n few feet dis
tant. but too close to prevent the meet
| ing. When the sloop was sighted the
kershaw reversed her engines, and this
prevented the contact from doing more
damage.
| The anchor of the Kershaw had been
drawn high up on her bow, and when
the two boats came together this was
dragged for about six feet along her
side. making a deep CASH A hfeboat
that was swung on the davits of the
kershaw was crushed. A huge hole
was stove in the side of the Merrill.
AS soon as ii was daylight q further
! Investigation OF the boats was made,
and the captain OF the sloop found that
by stuffng the hole with canvas he
would be able to make Newport News
In safety. 1t was necessary for the
hershaw to put in an extra bulkhead
as the sea was running high. The
kershaw arrived at Norfolk yesterday
afternoon about $3.50 o'clock ten hours
late. The Rose Z. Merrill had not
reached port last night
The Rose Z. Merrill was one of the
two largest sailing vessels that plv
the eastern coast The Kershaw was
captained by j. Johnson. who said that
the accident was the first that he had
experienced in fifteen years.