Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1918-10-27

lhe Unlted States lighthouse tel
der,> Cedar, made an unsuccessful
attempt to get to the side of the
! Sophia after she started to sink, ac-
cording to a wireless message from
| t Cedar received here tonight. The
body of one woman and four up
turned boats were the only signs
of the Sophia left at daylight today.
Passengers Mainly Alaskans.
\ Seattle, Wash, Oct. 26.NA Skag-
way, Alaska, dispatch to the Asso-
ciated Press tonight CAV the list of
passenger aboard the Sophia, but
did not give their addresses. Alas
kans now in Seattle identified many
of the names. Most of the pas
sengers were Alaska residents who
were en- route to Canada and the
Uuited States for the winter. The
list includes the following:
H. M. Swartz, Seattle, United
States transport service. 2 -
H. B. Harkin, Seattle, general
manager Pacific Coast Cold Storage
company.
]. F. Hugh. U. S, customs collec-
tor of Juneau.
Mr.. and Mrs. M. S. Eads, Dawson,
proprietors Hotel Alexander, /Daw-
sons leading hotel.
Face Death Calmly:
Passengers aboard the Sophia
were calm a short time before the
steamer carried them to their deaths,
according to wireless message
sent last night from the doomed
vessel.
The message was sent by Captain
Locke to the Canadian Pacific rail-
road offices here. 1t was received
this morning. Captain Locke said:
Steamer Cedar and three Juneau
gas boats standing by. Unable to
take off passengers on account of
strong northerly gale and big sea
running. The ship is hard and fast
on the reef with her bottonf badly
damaged. She is not taking water.
Unable back off reef. Passengers
are normal"
Nearly ISL members of the So
phia's crew were Canadians. Cap
tain Locke. master. was one of the
oldest navigators on the northern
coast. Capt. Jerry Shaw was first
officer, ]. F. Gosse second officer
and A. Murphy third officer. All
four resided in Victoria.
Blizzard Cause of Disaster.
\ Juneau, Alaska, Oct. 26.-lndica-
tive of the terrific storm which
caused the steamer Princess Sophia
to plunge from her rocky ledge on
Vanderbilt reef into, the waters of
Lynn Canal was the statements
made by officers of the Canadian
Pacific steamer Amy, which returned
from the scene Of the wreck yester-
day. The officers said two feet of
snow fell in 40 hours and a strong
northeast wind then blowing later
developed into a blizzard which was
responsible for the Sophia's heavy
loss of life.
When the AM left the Sophia,
that vessel was resting for about
two-thirds of her length on the
rocks of the reef, which is four
miles west of Sentinel island and
half way between Juneau and Skag-
way. The Sophia was then taking
on water. She was surrounded by
deep water on both sides, but with
only her stern over deep water it was
thought there was no danger of the
steamer sliding off Il, rocks. The
re-f~was covered, however, at half
tide and the, heavy SEE. had pre-
vented attempts to take off the pas
sengers. 4
The Sophia's only freight cargo,
is said to have consisted of 40 horses.
At s O'Clock last night the last
message from Captain Locke of the
So. hia was received. Today the gov
ernment tender Cedar, which had
been standing by reported that only
the Sophia's masts were visible.
The Cedar remained in the canal
to search for bodies.