Democratic Sentinel, Volume 21, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 June 1897 — FIVE HUNDRED MEN DROWNED. [ARTICLE]

FIVE HUNDRED MEN DROWNED.

Great Storm Disaster Overwhelms Chinese Fishermen. Meager particulars were brought by the Empress of Japan of a disaster which befell the fishermen of Chusan archipelago, off the coast of China. On May 6, when all the fishing boats were out on the fishing banks, a terrible gale sprung up. Of the several hundred boats out at the time very few returned, and it is estimated that some 500 men lost their lives. The storm was one of those sudden ones for Which the coast of China is noted, and the fishermen had no chance to seek shelter. The storm swept over the entire archipelago, which extends across the mouth of Hanchow bay on the eastern coast of China. Several large junks were lost, in Which scores perished.