New-York tribune., 1921-08-08

over the spot where the Alaska had
settled and picked up floating sur
v'vors. Many of these were injured
when the hfeboats in which they had
tried to get to safety had been bat
tered against the side of the ship. Mrs
johnson, of Brooklyn, was one of these.
Glenn, one of the passengers who had
stood with Captain Hobey on the
bridge, swan and clambercd into an
: empty lifeboat.
This work of rescue was not ended
for hours One girl was found, chilled
but still struggling and supported by
her life-oelt, after eight hours in the
water.
The rescued were picked up by the
steamer Anyax and brought into Eu-
reka, and tonight the town was doing
its utmost for them They were
weary. nerve-wracked. coated with oil
land dressed in ma&eshift clothing.
More than score were injured to
some extent and were cared for in hos
pitfalls. Others were cared for in hotels.
Woman Tells of Struggles
Mrs. Clahin Wright, of Upper Mont
clair, n. j.. was one of those who
brought vivid story Of the wreck.
the reason | have no waist on" eX-
planned the plucky Mrs. Wright, ais
that in our lfeboat the rowers found
that the oar handles were slippery
with oil that they could make no
headway. SO | tore off my silk waist
and used it TO rub off the oil from oar
handles"
In describing the suddenness OF the
s'Alaska's crash and the subsequent ex-
element, Mrs. Wright said:
--.- The members of our party were dane
ing on the hurricane deck in a small
saloon when without warning we were
= thrown against a wall by the first crash.
e~ This was soon followed by the second
81 crash. While we were naturally scared,
a don't think any of us were panic
10 stricken. We went out on deck and de-
cided to wait for orders, but orders
were slow in coming.
"'When some women became hysteri-
cal an Irishman sang out cheerily:
Don't get scared, folks, we're all
going to have ham and eggs in about
an hour"
This was typical of the coolness of
those on board.
when the boat struck the second
time, she began to list badly. Ger
tainly not more than five minutes later
she had a heavy list to starboard
Naturally my first thoughts were
for the libeboats. made for the
boats only to find that no one was in
charge. Finally four of the crew pulled
No. boat out loaded to capacity But
the delay in launching increased the
fears of the passengers many of whom
were clinging to the rail of the badly
listing ship. That two of the life
boats overturned probably was due to
the lack of proper management"
Blunt's Reef is four miles from
shore. When the Alaska struck a
strong northwest wind was blowing
causing an onrush of heavy seas The
reef, dreaded by all coastwise mari
ners, is 1913 miles north of San Fran
cisco and GIT smiles from Seattle. 1t is
thirteen miles from Cape Mendocinc
land is guarded by a lightship which
has two fixed white lights visible fol
-121s miles in clear weather. AS the
sea was enshrouded in heavy fog, il
SIS believed the Alaska's officers were
unable to see the rays of the light
-ship.
May Have Misjudged Drift
The Alaska sailed from Portland
Friday morning and was making a fas
tered the fog. Captain Hobey, it il
believed, held the vessel inshore, a.
OTHERWISE he would have had to bucl
>the seas. The tides run with terrific
strength and speed on that section O.
the California coast and it is though
the master was carried furthe< inshor'
than he realized. The waters ar,
treacherous, as there are pockets
showing great depths when sounding.
are taken.
- Captain Harry Hobey was maste
mariner we'll known on the Seattle
. Alaska routes. He became master o
the Alaska July 5, succeeding Captain
u. G. Nord, who returned to Seattle
to take command of the steamship
Northwestern of the Alaska Steamship
Company, which is operated betweei
Seattle and ports in southeastern an'
s..--s outhwestern Alaska.
49, The Alaska was valued at $500 900
.....-.Sne was steel carrier of 3,742 gros
and 1857 net tons register, built il
..-Chcster, Pa. in 1889. She was 32
feet long, 45 feet beam and 1873 fee
s.,~,dcpth of hold.
=" Blunt's Reef is one of the most dan
~.~gerous points on the Pacific Coast
-" -. Within a radius of fifty miles probabl
.... score of ships have been wrecked il
49, as many years. Notable among tn
49,. ....- vessels lost there have been the steam
e,-ship Bear, owned by the same compan
as operated the Alaska, which wen
...~ ashore north of Cape Mendocino~in 191
1..~with the loss of FIVE lives. The steam
s,s-~s ship st. Paul, the Norwegian freighte
a Tricolor, the steamship Riverside an
.,.-- many others have gone down in tn
- same region. To the northwest lie
49, 49, Humboldt Bay, near the entrance t
which the wreck of the United State
49, cruiser Milwaukee still may be seen.
49, ~ Doubt if More Were Saved
* ABOARD RESCUE STEAMER AN
..,~v~-YAX, off Eureka, Calf, Aug. 7 (B
a.. ."- Wireless to The Associated Press).-
We have picked up the ninety-six pa.
....::~-sengers -: and seventy of the crew of tn
-. sunken steamer Alaska Captain
...,-SnoddY of the AnvaY said in renlu to