Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1916-05-03
IA SHIP WRECK SENSATION
MISS EMMA OLSON WRITES HER
STRANDED EXPERIENCE
On the Voyage 10 China Wireless
Tslegraphy Brought Rescue Ship
Thrilling Description
HoNGKoNG. CuINA. ApriI ( leIs

HoNGKoNG CHINA, April 5. 1915
DEAR EDITOR AND FRIENDS; Long before this
letter IS even written you viii have heard Of the
ship wreck of The Chiyo Marn." a vessel SIS feet
hong. 81 feet inches wide. % Get inches deep
and which cost to build it three million dollars in
gold. When she LETT San Francisco. March 2. she
carried nineteen million dollars worth Of gold bull
lion. lgS bsrs of silver specie worth $3.50 600 gold
and something like $40 600 tons of CARGO The
liner also had on board 294 passengers comprised
Of lss first class. 81 second class and 81 Storage
In spite of the above named amount of cargo and
number Of lives at stake. at about four O'Clock in
the morning. March 81. she ran ashore Lima
Islands. 10 miles from the shore. The terrible
crash and bump which followed made it unmis-
takaby evident that something very serious had
\ happened without any thoughts of dressing
folks were almost instantly seen running down
the corridors ard out on deck to find out what the
| aud on both sides Of the steamer told their own
story. When 1t was discovered that we had gone
onto the rocks tirae lost in putting on life
preservers and hastily snatchng such personal
belongings IS seemed most essential each one
scrambled to the deck eager to locate his own life
boat A queer looking crowd we werel Few. il
any, had complete ward robel Array ed In night
attire, plus dressing gowns and in many cases no
overeoats or shoes. we stood in line waiting for
the captain orders But in spite of the sudden
ness of the occurrence. practically no panic en-
sued The life boats were soon swung into place
the passengers seated in their places and the
boats lowered. Thanks to wireless messages. dis
tress signals. and rockets. British torpedo de-
stroyer soon came to our rescue Never before
did British sailors look so welcome to any one as
they did TO us as they took command Of our
boats and rowed Us over TO their Man of War. II
very evident too from the expression on their
faces that the Joy not all ours. They were
as happy little boy with his first pair of pants
on. Homeiy as this simile may be. It Is neverthe-
less true that If they could have sat down to
feast after long fast they could not have enjoy
ed II more. In spite OF being packed in like
dimes. they served us all with tea which was not
turned down, for BY that time, were famished
The captain even offered me wine assuring me it
was sure cure for splitting headache When
we got started. how she did gol BY noon we were
safely landed on the pier. With one voice, we
crew. At the time Of this writing Chiyo still lies
firmly wedged between the rocks Grave fears
are entertained that storm may come up and
wash her out 70 sea. In fact the steamer has had
to be abandoned and the captain and crew are
living on a ledge Of rock unsheltered. and it is
feared, unfed For the last three days. there has
been such a heavy gale and high sea on that no
tugs could get close enough 70 unload any lug
gage so the majority Of the passengers have had
buy the clothing for their present use. Fortu-
natoly my belongings were few enough to be stor-
cd in my cabin and. because cabin luggage was
delivered FIRST. have lost nothing. Even my tot
let articles scattered promscously about the cab
in had been gathered up and tucked into my suit
case. Unless the remainder of the luggage can
be saved. heavy loHsea will doubtless have 10 be
sustained by many of the passengef. In fact 1
know Of various parties whose trunks are worth
800 and even 81 900 The necessity for thi< ac-
cident is. as usual questioned. but BE- that as Il
may. II Is sufficient 70 sRy that most Of us are
tent 30 coent our blessings. Up 70 the crises. the
voyage was unusually deltghtfuL The service
was In every way al that could be aakcd for. As
70 the wreck. the conditions for even Il could not
have been more favorable III the electric lights
bad gore out leaving Va to grope about in the
darkness. IL the sea had been As rough as II
proved 70 be the next day and we had been dash
ed against the rocks there might have been cause
for complaint. As Il was. we suffered nothing
| more than Just plain iuconvenicpee. Why should
We not be grateful? Very sineerely.
EMMA OLSON.