Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-08-30
NBEL|EVED LOST
IN SINKING SHIP
AFTER COLLISION
Conflicting Reports Are Given
as to Number of Persons
Rescued From Pacific.
CRAFT FROM BALTIMORE
FIGURES IN ACCIDENT
San Juan Goes Down Within Five
Minutes Following Crash
With Tanker.
BY the Associated Press.

SAN FRANCISCO,l August 30.-Re-
Vised figures on the number of passen-
gers aboard the coastwise steamer San
Juan, when she sank off Pigeon Point,
south of here today, showed that "a
persons remained unaccounted fer and
may have perished.
Officers of the Los Angeles and San
Francisco Navigation Co., owners of the
San Juan, announced today that their
latest information showed there were IS
passengers aboard the vessel when she
collided with the Standard Oil tanker
S. c. T. Dodd in thick fog at mid
night. The crew of the San Juan num-
bered As.
There were conflicting reports as to
the number rescued. Aboard the Dodd
we're 81 of the San Juan's passengers
and crew. Nine others had been picked
UP by the steamer Munami, which was
still at the scene of the collision at 8
am. One report said there were four
other survivors aboard the motorshlp
Frank Lynch, but this could not be
confirmed.
Radio stations here reported that the
Munami had renewed its search OF the
wreckage-strewn collision area at day
break, but that up to 8 am. 1t had not
reported picking up any additional per-
sons.
These advices, coming eight hours
after the San Juan sank, led to the
belief that few if any of the "a missing
would be found alive, although the
Munami refused to give up the searcn.
Ambulances Await Survivors.
Every available ambulance in San
Francisco was sent to the water front
to receive the 27 persons picked up by
the Dodd. Emergency hospitals were
made ready to receive the Survivors,
some of whom were injured ana re-
ported badly IN need Of medical atten-
tion.
The San Juan, a double-decker Ct
iron construction, had sailed the seas
for At years. She was one OF the Oldest
ships on the Pacific, having first taken
to the water shortly after the dlSap-
pearance of the swift packets that car
ried the frontiers of trade to the Pacific
Coast.
The Dodd, a 7,0OO-ton ship, was dam
aged little in the collision.
The San Juan, carrying SIS passengers
and a crew of As, went down IN nve
minutes after colliding with the Dooo,
en- route from Baltimore to Los Angeles,
off Pigeon Point, on the southern
California coast.
Although one side of the Dodd was
stove in, she lowered her boats and
went to the rescue of the passengers
and crew, who we're pitched into me
sea as the San Juan sank.
The Munami turned from her course
nearby and aided in the rescue work.
Others Given Slim Chance.
Radio accounts of the rescue indi-
Gated that the chances for many OF the
persons unaccounted for were slim, due
to the speed with which the San Juan
sank and the fact that darkness and
confusion handicapped the rescue
workers.
Survivors aboard the Dodd reported
that they saw Capt. Adolph F. Asplund
of the San Juan go down with his ship.
Lifeboats from the Dodd picked up
two children.
Ralph Hlllsman, second radio oper-
ator of the San Juan, who reported that
the collision occurred while he was
asleep, sprang from his berth and ran
to the main deck. The deck was sink
ing beneath the surface and he was
hurled into the sea.
Hillsman said no lifeboats had been
launched from the San Juan.
Two Coast Guard cutters, the Shaw
nee and the Tahoe, went to the scene
of the wreck from San Francisco, while
preparations got under way here to re-
Ceive the injured from the oil tanker.
AmbulanceS were sent to the pier at
which the Dodd was expected to dock.
list of passengers made public by
G. D. Nichols, an officer OF the Los An
geleS & San Francisco Navigation Co.,
contained only 38 names. Nichols eX-
planned, however, that tie list was in
complete, because those who bought
tickets at the last minute were not
represented.
Most of those aboard the San Juan
were thought to have been from Los
Angeles.
Ship's Position in Doubt.
The San Juan left San Francisco last
night for Los Angeles. An old vessel of
about 1,700 tons, featured low rates for
travel between the two California cities.
Wireless accounts of the wreck indi-
Gated the ships had been in doubt as to
their exact positions and had inquired
the location of any nearby vessels.
The messages did not indicate how
far the vessels were off the coast.
Lighthouse stations at Pigeon Point
and at Montana, nearby, reported two
hours after the collision that there were
no signs of lifeboats off the coast in
that vicinity.
The region of Pigeon Point was en-
shrouded with fog. One lighthouse
keeper said he had been using his fog
signals since yesterday afternoon.