The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1921-08-08
SURVIVORS TELL TRAGIC STORY OF SINKING OF THE
ALASKA WHICH WAS SPLIT BY BOILER EXPLOSIONS
LIST OF MISSING MAY BE-
CHANGED But AT PRESENT
time STANDS AT TWENTY-FOUR
Narrowing Tales Are Related of the Loss of Loved
Ones When the Ship Went Down In the Icy
Waters of the Northern Pacific Coast

Eureka, Cal, August S.-The steam.
er Alaska, which sank on the rocks at
Blunt's Reed yesterday with probable
death list of As. was split in two by
an explosion of the boilers when the
boat started to sink, survivors said
here today, and passengers and mem
bers of the crew were thrown into
the sea by the explosion. The steam
or Anyox today brought 166 survivors
here.
The list of missing may be changed
for lists of passengers and crew
aboard have not been verified. The
whole story of the sinking of the
Alaska did not become known until
the survivors had been landed here
1t was brought out the Alaska was
proceeding toward San Francisco in a
dense fog when she struck a submerg
ed ledge of a reef This shock was
almost instantly followed by another
as the vessel struck an outcropping of
the reef above water.
The Alaska struck the reef shortly
after 8 o'clock. Immediately wireless
distress signals were llashed Five
miles away the steamer AnyoX, of
Vancouver. B. c., picked them up, and
disregarding fog and danger of strik
ing the same rocks as the Alaska, put
on full speed to the rescue.
At $3.50 the AnyoX received the
Alaska's final message: I'VE are sink
ing by the head" Before the AnyoX
could reach the stricken Alaska the
latter. had sunk. IN the fog the An
yox came upon a lifeboat filled with
survivors from the Alaska. The boat
was partly filled with water and oily
scum. The oil, survivors said. had
been thrown over them and in their
boats by the explosion of the boilers
which wrecked the Alaska amidship.
Anyox cruised about in the fog un~
til many other survivors had been
picked up from the water, including
several women and children. Among
these were 1S-year-old Erna Erker. of
Cornelius, Ore, who is in a hospital
with her chest crushed She was
caught between a lifeboat and the
side of the sinking ship while the boat
was being lowered and was in the
water from $50 last night until l:30
o'clock this morning before being
AnyoX.
The ropes of the lifeboat in which
she was being lowered gave away. she
said, and its entire cargo was thrown
into the sea- Eileen Dwyer. of La
Grange, Ore, aged 5, was rescued by
the Anyox after she had drifted
around on wreckage i'll the icy waters
for nearly eight hours. Little Eileen
was unconscious when found and
brought back to consciousness only
through the untiring efforts of Mrs
Grace Campbell, of San Francisco.
Eileen. with her parents, Mr.. and
Mrs. II Dwyer, and her twin sister
and brother, was on her way for q
visit to San Francisco. Mrs. Dwyer,
who was % years old, and both OF
the twins, aged 6, were reported miss
ing.
Some of the survivors planned to
leave today for San Francisco aboard
a special train arranged for by Off
cials of the line which owned the
Alaska. Others left Eureka last
night. The authorities made plans
to hold an inquest today over the II
bodies in the morgue here. Some of
the deaths were ueCldTeu ny TIC Sui
vivors today to have been caused by
the explosion o. the Alaska's boilers
as the ship started sinking. Many OF
the passengers and members OF the
crew who were blown into the sea by
the explosion, succeeded in again
boarding the ship or were rescued by
life boats after clinging to wreckage
until help arrived, it was said.
So sudden did the tragedy happen
that the steamers crew hardly had
time to prepare the hfeboats and
many of these were reported wrecked
while being put over the vessefs S
sides, spilling their human cargo into
the icy waters. Many of the sur
vivors were rescued by the Anyox af-
ter they fioated about in the water
for several hours.