The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle. — 1886-03-20 (Stourbridge, West Midlands, England)

OOO. We carried about 575 mail bags, of which 75 were saved." The Oregon left Liverpool on Saturday, the 6th inst., and Queenstown the following day, taking from both places 638 paPengers. She had also a crew of 2,55 hands all told; total, 893. The Oregon has been celebrated for her remarkably quick passages, and on the ill-fated voyage she was only six days and eighteen hours from land when she went down off Fire Island. She was when first launched drafted into the fleet of the Giiion Line, and passed over to the Cunard Company in June, 1884. Strangely enough, the present was her last advertised trip to New York, as she was intended to sail on the next trip to Boston on the 7th April, as the pioneer-boat of a fleet of quick steamers to that port from Liverpool for the Cunard Line. Apart from the six months which the Oregon was chartered to the Government, she has always been running between Liverpool and New York, and although she was not the smartest vessel of the Cunard steamers—the Umbria and Etruria being her superiors—she nevertheless made a great stir when she first made her appearance and performed her famous passages. The Oregon was the only one of the Liverpool vessels selected as Government cruisers which mounted guns and left the Mersey.  The passengers' stories somewhat modify the captain's statement. Doubtless the proceedings were orderly for a shipwreck, inasmuch as some few passengers even slept an hour after the collision; but the first moments of uncertainty are described as frightful. The decks were instantly thronged by the undressed people, who feared to return for their clothes. Very few saved even their hand-bags. All huddled together for warmth, the temperature being near the freezing point. Fears lest the steamer should founder were the first emotion. The next, terror came from the immense clouds of steam, caused by the flooding of the furnaces. The passengers and sailors had been up to this time under control, and the women the coolest of all; but the stokers and firemen, when driven from the furnaces, rushed for the boats, regardless of anybody else. The officers fought them with axes and belaying pins; but some escaped into the boats, which they half filled. The number of boats was totally inadequate to meet the exigencies of such a disaster. However, the worst thing reported is that a lady broke her little finger. It is true that the Rev. C. E. Waller jumped overboard; that, however, was not on Sunday, but on the previous Tuesday; his relatives protest against the theory that it was a case of suicide. All the money order lists hare been lost; only 94 registered letters were saved, and only nine sacks of letters. The cause of the disaster still (Match 16th) remains a mystery. A passenger, whose state-room was near the spot where the steamer was struck, asserts that he saw a red light, which supports the impression that the Oregon had miscalculated her distance. Against the suggestion that Captain Cottier might have beached the Oregon should be set the difficulty of foreseeing the time she would take in sinking, which appears to have resnited from the smashing of the bulkhead amidships, between the two Largest and heaviest compartments.  (Through Reuter's A gen cy.) Nuw Yomi, March 15, 8.30 a.m. The North German Lloyd steamer Fulda passed Sandy Hook at one o'clock this morning, having on board the Oregon's passengers, consisting of 186 first cabin, 66 second cabin, and 389 steerage, besides the crew numbering 205 men. None of the passengers or crew received any injuries. The hole made in the port side of the Oregon is large enough to admit of a team being driven through. The noise caused by the collision resembled the report of cannon. The discipline on board the Oregon was admirable, and all panic was thus prevented. The captain was the last to leave the vessel. All the luggage is lost, and out of 600 mail bags only 69 have been recovered. The name of the schooner with which the Oregon collided is unknown. She sank, and it is believed that all on board have perished. At the time of the disaster the captain of the Oregon was below, the first officer being in command of the vessel. Later.  Further details received here of the loss of the Oregon state that the collision occurred about 15 miles from shore, the sea being calm and the sky clear at the time. The schooner by which the Oregon was struck was a three-masted one, heavily laden. It is uncertain whether her crew perished or were able to save themselves by the boats. The women were the first to leave the Oregon. During the lowering of the boats rockets were fired, but two large ocean steamers passed, apparently without seeing the signals.