Rensselaer Republican, Volume 16, Number 36, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 May 1884 — AN OCEAN CRAVE. [ARTICLE]

AN OCEAN CRAVE.

The State of Florida Lost Off the with a Bark. Immediate Sinking of Both Vessels—--135 Persons Drowned and 44 Rescued. Starving in Ocean Boats Thrilling Stories of the Survivors of the Wreck. All doubts as to the fate of the steamship State of Florida are ended, says a Quebec dispatch. The vessel was sunk April 18 in a collision in mid-ocean with the bark Ponema of Chatham, N. B. Out of 167 persons qn hoard the State of Florida, only forty-four were saved, while of the bark’s crew of fifteen only the captain and two men were rescued. Ono hundred and twen-ty-three souls went down with the steamer and twelve with the bark, making a total loss of 135. Those saved were picked up by the bark Theresa of Norway. Later twenty-four of them were put on the bark Louisa and brought as far as the mouth of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where the Titania, bound from Glasgow to Montreal, was met. The Titania took off twenty-four of the passengers and crew rescued from the State of Florida, leaving twenty on the bark, which «js nhw on its way to this port. ’'Wm following is the official report of the thnpfofficer of the State of Florida: “Left New York April 12, with about 167 passengers and crew, and a full general cargo. All went well until the night of .the 18th. At 11:30 o’clock we came in collision with the bark Ponema, of Chatham, N; 8., Capt. Hetbum. Both ships went down almost instantly, and out of the steamer’s passengers and crew only forty-four, including the stewardess, managed to escape in the boat, and out of the bark’s crew of fifteen only the captain and two seamen were saved. The next morning the bark was observed bottom up. The survivors, after being thirty-five hours in the boats without food or water, were rescued by the Norwegian hark Theresa, of Christiania, bound from that port for Quebec. On the 23d, twenty-four of them were transferred on board the ship Louisa, of and from Cardiff for Quebec, where they remained until May 5, when they were taken on board the Titania for Quebec. It is believed that 135 lives were lost." ——- - -

The third officer (James Allen) says that the night on which the disaster occurred was clear, though moonless, and the sea as smooth as glass. He retired to his bunk at 8 o’clock, leaving the chief officer (Thompson) in charge of the deck. About 11:10 he heard a signal suddenly given to stop the steamer’s engines, followed by a fearful crash. He rushed immediately on deck, and the first thing he noticed was a red light pretty close to their starboard bow. At the same moment he heard the chief officer’s voice and the ery “Collision.” He then saw the bark which had run into them go down. This bark, he afterward learned from its captain and two of its crew who were saved, was the Ponema, of Chatham, N. 8., hound from Liverpool to Mirimichi. Bunning to the side of has own vessel, he endeavored to ascertain the damage done, and perceiving an immense gaping hole into which the sea was fast pouring, and feeling the steamer was lost, he at once hurried to the captain, who immediately gave orders to get out the boats, four of which were down in fifteen minutes, when the State of Florida just keeled ov%r to port and went down stem foremost. Far as he could calculate, the disaster occurred about 120 miles off the Irish coast. As the vessel went down, all on deck, including the captain, were washed off hy the sea. The captain was exceedingly cool—too cool, in fact, as he did not seem to look upon the danger as serious or pressing; and this, together with the fact that he appeared in no hurry to save himself, was probably the cause why more of the passengers were not saved. They would not take to the boats, as they supposed,when they saw him so cool, that the danger was not so great. Of the eight boats carried, four were safely launched, and two were smashed by the collision. Of the other two Allen knew nothing, but believed they were washed away when the steamer went down. He did not believe any one had escaped in them. However, if they had he did not want to raise any false hopes, his opinion being they would never be heard from again. When No. 2 boat was being lowered the tackle was cut too quickly and its occupants, all passengers, were upset into the sea. A number, including Bennett, of London, ,Canada, clung to the boat’s bottom during the remainder of the night, and were picked up in the morning by the other boats. James Bennett, of London, Ontario, the only first-class passenger saved, says that when the order Was given a rush was made for the boats, and a number of persons, including himself, got into boat No. 2. The panic on board the doomed ship was frightful. The lady passengers, of whom there were only three or four, refused to go in the boat. Jane McFarlane, the stewardess, was only saved from herself and the terrible fate impending by the self-sacrifice and gallantry of James Bain, the chief engineer, who lost his life in saying hers. He had to use all his strength to tear her from the deck of the vessel and force her into the boat. At that moment the ship careened to starboard and went down, carrying with her the brave engineer and all the others refliaining on board. Bennett was standing so near the side when the collision took place that had not a friend palled him away he would have been killed on the spot. The ship’s doctor, alongside of him, was injured hy a broken spar. The crew all rushed for the boats. The passengers 6eemed paralyzed, as did also the captain, who was washed from the deck just before the vessel went down, within twelve minutes of the time she was struck. Allan, the third officer, was the first to give the alarm that the vessel was Sinking. Bennett says he pushed a number of friends into one of the boats and jumped in himsel. fie complains that the boat bad no water-casks containing water, fie added that the City of Borne ignored all the Theresa’s signals, although they were seen quite well, but went on her way unconcernedly, offering no assistance.