AN OCEAN HORROR.

Auckland Star, Volume XIX, Issue 218, 15 September 1888, Page 5

AN OCEAN HORROR.

OVER ONE HUNDRED. LIVES

LOST.

THE STEAMER GEISER SUNK IN

THE ATLANTIC.

The steamship Geiser, of the Thingvalla line, which left New York early in the month of August with a largo passenger list, was run down by the steamship Thingvalla, of the same line, on Tuesday, August 14th, off Cape Race, and1 one hundred and thirty lives are reported lost. The Geiser had her, side completely stove in...... The Thingvalla put out her. boats as rapidly as possible, and made every effort to rescue the passengers, but, in spite of the superhuman efforts the ;list of the lost is fright- \ fal. The Thingvalla wa3 badly in j ured. j Her bow had been knocked off, and alt her j provisions which were carried in the bow | compartment swept away. There was nothing to feed the rescued passengers, arid i when the steamer Wieland hove in sight, i she divided the people with her; and; bore avvay for Halifax, Nova Scotia,-to repair. The vessel was so seriously damaged .that for a short time ifc seemed as if she would follow the Geiser^ which sank in five minutes after «he was struck to the bottom. Captain Mpller, of the Geiser, was picked up nearly "exhausted byone of the Thing valla's.boats,., and also Mrs Hilda! Lind, the only woman who escaped from 1 the wreck. The scene beggars description, J The boats pulled after daylight over the! place where the Geiser went down picking, up all who could be seen, guided often by \ the voices gro\viog fainter and fainter each ; moment of those appealing for help out in the water arid the storm. The collision occurred at 3.30 in the morning. James H. I Dunlop, business manager of the "New j York Engineering and Mining Journal," who with his family was a passenger on board the Thingvalla, gives it as his opinion that the disaster was caused by a laok of discipline (in board the steamer. The Geiser was owned in Copenhagen and insured in' Home companies. f . , , : THE CAPTAIN'S ACCOUNT OF THE ':• COLLISION. ' "'

Captain Moller, of the ill-fated steamship Geiser, is a short, thick-set man, sturdy and weather beateri; but* apparently'much broken by thb-foarful experiences through which he has passed within the past few days. His story of the accident, while giving no explanation of the cause of the collision, was a most stirring recital. He said :— • , • ■.-■., . ■■~ ;■: '. .-,■■ ' . ■.. .

' 'It was about 3.30 o'clock when the first ofQcor called.me loudly. ,He was excited, and shouted: 'Wo are going to be run down.? I jumped from the sofa arid ran put on the bridge in my nightshirt. I saw immediately lights of a.big steamer .on the starboard side. I could also distinguish her hull. The engines of our ship were going at full speed, and the helm had been thrown astarboard, I thitik.' ' '. ; *

? I, had not more than tirao to notice this much when, with a" tremijtidous crash, jthe bow of the approaching iteamer striicl^ ua hard amidship, nearly at right angles to our keeL: The blow took .us just abaft;the main rigging, cut a quarter way through us andimade such a'tremendous hole that 1 caw at once that we could not stay afloat. •'I gave the orders at once to have the boats launoned, to ', send up signal rookets and fire a gun. The contusion which followed, however, is beyond me. I cannot describe it.;; ; Tho ; boats; on the bridge were launched, the starboard side one first. The man at, tho stern dropped tho lino, however, and the boat filled with water arid was swamped;Boat 2 on the port side was also launched, and she drifted awny too far from the ship to be of any assistance. Tlio bhly 1 other boat launched was: No. 8. The powdorroom was flooded^ so= that no signals could be-u'Eed.-'^ :;i '' ■'. ; :l-' ■-;--■''■::.";_: ■!■[":'.''':', . 1 ',•

"The passengers now began to swarm up from below,1 and. were completely panicstricken. The confusion was awful.: Men werestrugglfog to get into the boats, and women and. children were shrieking and, screaming.. Isang but to the lifeboatmeri, 'Look out* for the wdmen and children first;' then I sung put .below for every one to bring, up life-preservers.' There were between 600 and TOO of these on board. Tho panic was so great,'however, that they did not pay much attention to them, but rushed on deck'without thenr. There were five sound life buoys on the bridge where I was^ and I took these, and threw them down to the 'passengers as I felt the ship •settling. '' # ■:'■ •' ;| > "The.chief-engineer, who was drowned, rushed down to the cabin for life preservers for. the passengers, and I never saw him again. I jumped on the rail and saw that the vessel was going down. I stayed ■ there. | iuntilil was swept away by the water. I] iwont down with the vessel, being sucked in ;by the ruslungwaters. V Itseenaed to me that J I wasmore than a minute under the 'water^ j whirled head over heels, striking objects, j living arid dead; At length I felt 1 was j rising. I did not lose consciousness at all and suddenly shot up to the surface. I at 'once struck; put5 and got hold of ah q&v, which I clang.to ewimniing^tp support my-; self for about'twenty-fiyemihuteß. ' I could see the lights of the Thingvalla, and was surrounded in the , water by'struggling human beings and floating barrels and boxes. -.:>■' ..• • ..: •■...'■■:. :.,:,;■:■" ■:.:. , • 'At last I was hauled up on the keel of a boat just as Iwasabputtoigiveupfroin'exhaustion." The, boats ;of fche Thingvalla ■wore busyiaroong the flqatingistuff picking 'up tho drowning. I was soon taken off Jh^ boat keel and taken tothe ship, wfrevQ everything that was done for my comfort arid that of .the survivors. We had; barely c chance to l-ecover ourselves when we were obli^edtp eat to work; a t once tp savoißhe iThihgvalia. Sho was .almost in ft'sinking j condition; Her forefoot was crushed in and I she was making water rapidly through her, forward bulkhead; the only f thing between her and the Atlantic To get at , that bulkhead .was'..;,the - onjjr 4chance of saying bur lives. In order to strengthen it and keep it ironi giving =wayj. the ps?gQ had to be takicsn ftp and shifted I fis,rapidly as

possible- At this work everybody wa3 engaged who could be made use of/ passengers and crew* We got dowri to it finally, and succeeded in strengthening it so thai the leakage could be taken care of by the ■.pumt)B;-., : ■ .•■''',.- ';-. ■■ ;:, : ;.•■■. ' :■' '■ ■ ':-:. : , ," The Thingvalla cannot at presentmake more than two knots an hour with'the big hole in her side, and if any bad weather should spring up she.will have to turn stern to avoid it. When- we left she had drifted about five miles from the scene of the accident, which was about . thirty-five miles south of Sable Island, or about 150 miles from. Halifax, which port she will try to make. Captain Laub said he would use every means to get the vessel into port, although the boats will be kept already for use at any moment."