Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 November 1892 — THE SINKING OF A BHIP. [ARTICLE]

THE SINKING OF A BHIP.

How the Tortoiseshell Went Dpwn When the Saale Struck Her. A young woman who was on the Ndrth German-Lloyd steamer Saale when she cut down the Norwegian bark-Tortoiseshell on the evening of Aug. 4, oft the banks of Newfoundland, in writing to relatives in New York, has this to say of the accident: “We were all at dinner when there came a thud and the ship stopped. We had been moving very slowly, and the shock stopped us, but not with enough bf a jerk to spill the water in the glasses or tip anything over. A number of people screamed and began running around. Somebody looked out of a port hole, and then told me to come on deck and see the other vessel sink. “It was a magnificent sight. The vessel had all sails set. When we reached the upper deck all the men had been rescued, so we could appreciate the sight. The beautiful thing acted as if living. It leaned first to one side and then to the other, rocking like a creature in pain, and then slowly righted itself, and, trembling like an aspen, began to slip out of sight. “There was not a sound on the Saale except the *hush-hush-hush’ of a little escaping steam. Slowly, and yet, oh, so swiftly, the vessel sank into the water, which was blue as sapphires and dimpled as if smiling. The shipwrecked sailors removed their caps and saluted,.then remained uncovered until the last bit of masts and rigging had disappeared, and not a ripple on the surface of the water betrayed their loss. “It was only four and a half minutes from the time of the collision until the last thread of sail had disappeared, yet it seemed very long. It brought tears to the eyes of men as well as women to see that beautiful ship slip out of sight as it did. “But after it was all over, and the Saale began to move again, the greater number of us went back to the saloon and demolished the Gefrorenes. All lives were saved—except that of a dog—so why mourn. Of course if the Tortoiseshell had hit us amidships the great probability is that everybody on both vessels would have died. But then, the Tortoiseshell didn’t hit us amidships, and nobody died.”—New York Sun.