Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 July 1895 — SINK IN GENOA GULF. [ARTICLE]

SINK IN GENOA GULF.

ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY* EIGHT ARE DROWNED. Fatal Collison of Steamers—Paezen* gers Caught Asleep Catastrophe Due to a Heavy Fog—Killed at a Crossing—Plot to Overthrow Hawaii. Go Down to Death. Death came swiftly Sunday morning to 148 passengers and crew of the steamer Maria P., from Naples to La Plata, and about to touch at Genoa. The Maria P. was sunk by collision with the steamer Ortigia, out-bouud. The scene of this, the most terrible disaster known to the waters of the Gulf of Genoa, was just off the light-house of the Mold Nuovo, at tho entrance to the harbor of Genoa. A dense fog had prevailed over the harbor all night. Both vessels were running at full speed, and the sinking of the Maria P. was but the incident of a moment. Boats from the Ortigia were immediately put out, but only succeeded in rescuing fortytwo of the people of the unfortunate boat. When there was no longer use for search the Ortigia steamed slowly back to-the city for repairs and to deliver the survivors to the authorities. It was full noon when Genoa learned of the catastrophe, which crowded the quays with people and filled the churches with kneeling people offering prayers for the dead. The list of the drowned has not been secured. The Maria P. was a coasting vessel used in the South American trade. La Plata, on the Magdalena River in the United States of Colombia, was the customary end of-her journey. She was owned in Naples and her captain’s name was Ferrara. The steamer always ’ touched at Genoa, for that port is the chief outlet via the Mediterranean for tne manufacturers of Northern Italy and Switzerland. The harbor of-Genoa is considered one of the finest on the continent and ia under full government supervision. _ ; - It was 1:30 when the Moio Nuovo was rounded under high speed. The pilot, straining his eyes to pierce the darkness ahead, caught a faint glimpse of dim lights. This was the first warning of the proximity of the Ortigia to the Maria P. There was a wild scream from the pilot, which those passengers awake and the lookout heard. The engineers were signaled to reverse, but it was too late. The bow of the Ortigia crashed into the starboard side of the Maria P., penetrating for nearly forty feet and tearing up the decks as if they were paper. Almost instantly afler the collision the Ortigia withdrew, and the water rushed in, sinking the Maria P. in three minutes. No one can tell, not even the survivors, what happened on the decks and in the cabins of the Maria T. after the frightful shock. fshe sank so quickly that those asleep never knew how death came to them, while those awake, crew and passengers, found themselves struggling for life in the waters of the gulf. Although the how of the Ortigia was smashed for a distance of twelve feet along the water line, her officers held her at the scene of the disaster for six hours, while her boats searched the wafers, rescuing fourteen of the crow and twentyeight of the passengers.*