Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-05-02
66 LIVES, TOLL
OF FRENCH CRUISER
AND LINER CRASH
Steamer Sank Quickly After Col
lision in Heavy Fog Off the
Delaware Coast.
ONLY 90 PERSONS RESCUED
BY Associated Press TO Every Evening

hy Associated frcSs to FNerH Evening
An Atlantic Port. Nav =, survivors
OF the cosStwisc steamer City of Athens
which was sunk IN collision with u
French cruiser in fog ofi the Delaware
coast Yesterday morning with loss of tn
persons, related here today many tales
of heroiSm ON the part of the crews of
the two vessels All praised tn" efforts
of the French sailors especially VIII"
launched small boats within few min
utcs after the accident and aided hy the
cruisers searchhghts picked mp many al
the survivors from pcacs uf wrerkagr.
The SURVIVORS agreed that the speedy
sinking ot the steamer with,n hNc MN
utes after being ranmed hV the war
ship was responsible for the City ol
Athens life saving APPARATUS failing 10
work properly There were l35 persons,
including - United States marines, on
hoard the steamer which was bound Irom
New York to Savannah with S2,0OunoO
cargo of cement. rope foodstufIs and
general merchandise on board
HEROIC MOTHER SAWS u.Bl
Mrs Florence Pickhari Harrison. wife
of New York real estate agent whose
father, Wipchcll |. Pickhard. Is president
"f Mercer University Macon Ca.
told today hoW. her life. tina of her two
vcmr-old baby and Two others was saved
through the bravery oi q Nvgr" fireman
OF the City "t \thcu~
Awakened from her Sccp Mrs lIar-
risun barely had tImr ~ put "a cnat over
her night dress aud hurry to tho deck
with her child y saw hichoat shc
said but tln ono w;~ u. Wing amy @ttou-
tinn to H. cvccpt rltrd ~taf"~ mariuc.
who lifted The h hy into Tho boat
~ J. al
the steamer trrpird rI my rra>p nn the
glinw:le slipped r;us'u Iu 'hr baby
~ the shin ,:.nh pudcr tire ~wirlug waters
When camc ~ choking and rlnn-t
unconscious from It'll" wstcr with the litlr
one IN nv ;tnts. ve were directly undcr
the bow ct li',lm;t
>r,,Fp v",.lHl ~ u1pAI
- man whom sftcrW ard lcarncd was
James Nallscc o{ Savannah, lifted the
baby from my arms When ! rrgaiurd
consciousness found m,eclf IN the llic
boat covered with mr,r of cgnva-
which wrapped Ground the b;,by Ni1
coat and night gown were torn irom jhc
struggle "a drag me in tftcr that N:.l-
lace rescued one marinr ani = c,Ylhau
That brave Negro deserve a hero. mcIal
We wcrr IN the lifci o,t tur .hout fVn
hours before We NrTc picked up tn thr
crew ol the French cruiser cannot
speak too hight, ~ tIr u II: utrv md
kindness ~ tho lrcuch oficcr, aud 'lcn
during our rescue and the tialc spent "n
tho cruiser
CRASH Is UE,Ny rn,-.
There was ! dense. binding ~ 1t
the time Of the crash TIE -tec! how nf
the warship cut through the side uf the
steamer like paper making hugo hole
which began to illl up al unce he CITY
of Athens Was sinking rapidly before the
warship could man boats for rescue. and
within few minutes after the shock the
steamer shot down under the water bow
foremost
Three large lifchoat~ were pat nff from
the sinking ship. one 81 which cap~lzcd
rs II hit tie water aud most uf those on
board were lost Several Lie RATS fol
lowed bu, the >lnkiug took place 50
rapidly that several Of the licSavrng craft
could not be launched Nlanv of those
on the deck when tho steamer went down
were drowned almost immediately while
Others remained ahoat on wrcCkagc and
were either picked M hy small boats
from the cruiser ur eventually io~f
G4 OFT or l3j ~A,Ep.
Because of the speed 81 the ship sink
ing and the fog which unncdcd rescue.
only ~ ot The passengers and crew were
saved out Of a total Of l.}1
III of the pa ~SengcrS and many ut the
crew were a>Icep vi hen he crash occurred
The shock which appeared - lift the
steamer out .. the water, romhlaed with
the grinding OF steel plates ripped out
II thc side ot h, boat and the ~pllutcrlng
and >nappine Of woodwork. va- sufficient
TO Indicate to all who were roughly aw,k-
ened from sleep hat the -hlp would
not last more than "a few minute