New-York tribune., 1918-02-25
Steamship From St.
Johns for New York
Goes Ashore Near
Cape Race
II Passengers and
Crew of So Aboard
Blizzard Prevents Res.
cue Work; Life Line
Is Shot Across
Bow

81 1ohN D. n. f., Feb. 24.-The
crack Red Cross liner Florizel. from
St. Johns for New York by way Of
Halifax with 14O persons aboard -
Guiding seventy-eight passengers. billed
up on the ledges near Cape Race dur.
ing blizzard to-day, and it is believed
that all on board were lost.
Naval gunners sent on a special train
from this city shot a line across the
BOW OF the partly submerged shin TO-
night, but waited in vain for it to bo
hauied aboard Just before darkness
dotted the wreck from view five men
orlVen IRON the forecastle by the giant
seas were seen to climb the forward
rigging, signalling feebly for help. But
when they failed to make fast tho linz
1t was feared that they had succumhed
to the cold and exposure. Those 6vo
were the only ones visible on board
several hours after the ship struck
Somewhere beyond the white mael-
strom of breakers two stanch rescno
steamers, the Terra Nova and tho
Home, manned by Newfoundland sail
oTs, lay in waiting for a favorable
moment to send boat through tho
sufl' but though the storm appeared to
he subsiding, it was feared that il
wculd be daybreak before the sea mod
Grated enough to make if noss;h]o N
approach the wreck.
John S. Mum Aboard
Included among the passengers were
John Shannon Mum. a MANAGING d.
rector Of the firm of Bowrins- Brothers
Ltd' owners of the liner, and his three
year-old daughter Betty. They were
going to New York to meet Mrs. Mum
and Sir Edgar Bowring, one of the
owners of the line, for a stay of two
months in Florida.
Six cadets of the Royal Flyinp Corns
on their way from Newfoundland to
join their commands were aboard
The body of one member Of the de-
tachment, Fred Snow, was included
among the seven washed ashore to-
night. Another Newfoundland officer
who It IS feared was lost was Major
Michael Sullivan, commanding the
Newfoundland Forestry Battalion. rc.
turning to his battalloa. which is now
cutting timer IN Scotland.
Captain Joseph Kean, one of the best
known commanders OF the Newfound-
land sealing feet. also sailed on the
+ lorlzel for Halifax. where he was TO
take over his ship, the Sable, in readi-
ness Tor the seal fisheries next month.
ihomas Mcneil, head of the Nc
Murdo Drug Company, one of the lead
ing Pharmacal concerns in the colony,
ana rfed Smythe, manager of the New
foundland Woollen Mills, were others
on the passenger list.
All but three of the passengers were
natives of Newfoundland. Three com
merclal travcllers-a Mr.. Stevens, of
New YORK: w. w. Dauphinee, of Mont
real, and,'O. p. Belleveau, of Toronto
were on-their way home
Ran Into Terrific Blizzard
The ship was in command Of CAPTAIN
w. j. Martin, one OF the foremost skip
pers IN the Newfoundland trade. He
took the Florizel out of St. Johns Ia
night, and almost immediately ran into
terrl1lc blizzard, with all the accom-
panlments of binding snow and heavy
gale, reaching at times to hurricane
force. N'''''
1t is supposed that the captain mis-
Judged his position after driving the
snip through the night against the
storm, and that wind and tides had set
him back more than he had calculated.
"a rIn,, l,f
ward, thinking he had cleared Cane
Race, he brought up hard on the rocks,
HIS reckoning had been off by approx
mately twenty miles, an occurrence by
no means infrequent during blzzards
In these waters.
The Florizel piled up on ledge two
miles from Broad Cove, north Of Cape
Race, at point sparsely populated and
with no hfesaving apparatus available.
even if it had been possible to use it
Inc tlorizel was one of the best
known ships plying the North Atlantic
ss,eaooard. She was sister ship to the
stephano. of the same line, one of the
vlctlms in the famous raid of the
German U-53 off Nantucket in October
1916. The Florizel was built for rough
work IN the northern ice fields as a
sseaier, as well as for passenger and
freight service on the New York route.
-, with her huh sheathed like battle
mp and with her slopng bow rein
aorced with concrete. she attracted the
auentoA of the Russian government
at the outset of the war, and a large
price price was offered for her as an ice
nieaker to keep open the northern port
OF Archangel r0''
queen of Newfoundland Fleet
IN ne oiier was refused, however
s ne florlzcl as queen of the New
a09unuiand fleet, was given the honor
VI bearing the first Newfoundland Req
1914 l"''''' III octoper,
=, when the darkness shut in to-n;pht
ahe florizel was q battered hulk. She
was submerged from her funnel aft
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