New-York tribune., 1921-11-07
WoneninPanic
AsLiner Apache
Cuts Shipin Two
Rush to Deck, Lightly Clad,
in Terror When the Steel
Steamer Crashes Into S.
Masted Schooner Palmer
One on Sail Vessel Lost
Lifeboats of Clyde Line
Craft Search Vainly in
Night for the Engineer

While numbering along free in a
moderate breeze with the wind abaft
the beam some thirty miles southeast
Of Cape Henlopen the big ive-masted
schooner Singleton Palmer was rammed
amidships at 2:30 a. M. yesterday by
the northbound steamship Apache of
! the Clyde Line.
She carried j crew Of twelve men, in
cluding the master, and all but the en-
gineer, Nils Swanson, have been ac-
counted for. The man who ran the
donkey engine is believed to have per-
, ished
Little news of the crash could be OBJ
tanned last night from authoritative
sources, for an official of the Clyde
Line sealed the lips Of Captain w. O.
Chichester, master of the Apache, Just
as he was about to tell the story of the
collision and his efforts to save the
crew of the Palmer, which is believed
to be derelict
The skipper was not ON the bridge
when the vessels came together. but he
took charge after the crash and did
what he could to hunt for the schoon-
er's crew.
The Apache had brought north with
her, however, Sven Lanstrom, mate of
the Palmer, who was picked up in the
sea by one of the Apache's lifeboats,
and Thomas Jones, a negro, of Bar
bados, VINO mad climbed the rigging
4 D. e y
after the crash.
Nine others of the Palmer's crew,
including Captain Griffin, were picked
up by the steamship Gloucester of the
, Merchants and Miners Line, bound
from Baltimore to Boston.
Was on Way to Norfolk
The Palmer, one of a fast disappear
ing fleet of American five-masters, had
left Philadelphia for Norfolk, where
she was to load coal for Boston. She
was in ballast, and after passing out
the Delaware Capes set her course for
Norfolk. According to her mate and
the negro seaman, the night was clear,
but over the sea thin mist had set
tied, which, they said, might have
dimmed the glare of her sailing lights.
collision occurred. The man at the
wheel, they said, told them after the
crash that he had done his best to
avoid the Apache, but that she came on
despite his efforts and cut the Palmer
amidships on the port side. The two
officers on the bridge of the steamer
were restricted to silence by the Clyde
Line officials last night and declined
to tell how the vessels came together.
According to the rules Of the road
the Palmer had the right Of way. She
was moving slowly her speed at the
time of the crash being not more than
six knots. The Apache, it is assumed.
was driving along at full speed, for
her bow was thrust clean through the
stout tlnbers of the schooner, cutting
her almost in two.
The impact heeled the schooner we'll
over to starboard, according to Lam
strom, the mate, the sharp steel bow Of
the Apache piling up on the schooner
and bearing her down into the water.
Locked together, both vessels pitched
and pounded in the moderate sea that
was running at the time, and as the
Apache, responding to her reversing
screw, pulled out Of the mass of splin-
tered timbers the Palmer filled rapid
ly and went over on her beam ends.
Women Passengers in Panic
The Jolt shook up the eighty-five
! sleeping passengers on the Apache and
brought them to the deck in their night
clothes, women screaming and clamor-
! ing to know what had happened. Tho
pitching of the splintered schooner,
with her five big masts pounding on
the surface of the sea, the shouts of
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