GALES AT SEA AND SNOWSTORMS.

Evening Star, Issue 11454, 23 January 1901, Page 4

GALES AT SEA AN D SNOWSTORMS.

4 « [ 1 \ | [Per Alameda at Auckland,] £ :ij The closing days of list year were markedl Xby storms which will be "long remembere.il •;by the seafaring folk of many and lands. Reports from Port Towns-! ; ; ,end aro to the effect that the full return[ regard to disasters will show the stormi ;of last December to have inflcted the greatest in the history of the Pacific Coast ahip-J "ping. Many vessels, as in the case of the| ship Carl Wheatland, from Tacoma .for Europe, were able to return to port thought ; in waterlogged and disabled conditions, amit ;.owing to iha succession of severe gales'; "encountered cargoes were jettisoned evtry-f '/.where, and those who escaped the fury off -tho elements and brought their ships tol ijhazbor considered themselves luckv. Among! the losses wa3 that of the 3 steamer Alpha j .driven ashore in Bainea Sound, in the vicinity? ;or Vancouver. A plucky seaman volun-! to awim ashore with liae3, and by| ,/thia means twenty - five members of thefe : j.crew were saved. The captain, en-l igineers, and others decided to stayj ;);with the vessel and try to save her| Hrom being a total wreck. By tbif-. • means nine lives were lo3t, as fearful| :f seas swept over the ship and destroyed her.l .The British ship Rathdown, a fine three-? ilmasted vessel, ninety-oue days out i:Yokohama in ballast for Portland, is bc| :.lieved to have gone down. The j City of Topeka, of San Francisco, is a totalf' ; wreck in Lynn Canal, forty miles fromß •;.JuDeau. The Alaska's passengers and crewj rnumbering 100, were saved by a fortunate! ; ( chance. She leftSkagway on December 9 forf Captain Olsen, one of the oldest*; on the run, was in command. The*; jjwind was blowing a gale from the northi ii'As the hours passed the storm became mort| s-'intense, and blinding snow began to fall. \\ SjThe captain and two pilots were on thep fridge, but it was decided to put back to] Mission. At half-past five, in they and with the wind envelopiog thej ; gvesaol in clouds of snow and spray, thel ;:)Topeka struck the rooka on the porti; f.btoadside, tearing two jagged holes—l ?;one ten and one twenty - five V^long—below the water line. The ship? (;tisied badly, but the shock was noil •/isevere, and the passengers retained theitf j.calm. All hands we're piped to the lo\vei| \_boats. The ropes were covered with icei a delay of thirty minutes ensued before! Tho passengers and crew be-f with the greatest fortitude and? Jjcheered when the ship's searchlight dis-| tho shore not more than 100 yardiv |dist»nt.. Blankets were stripped from the! provisions hastily collected, and firesf The terriblo storm raged steadily, I «and it was not until December 13 were the : Hlaat of the passengers rescued and taken tof ij Juneau on the steamer Rustler. The |Bhip Cromartyshire narrowly escaped do I Sstruction in the gale on the Pacific. She [ to creep into harbor badly dis \ gabled. Her bulwarks were lashed up withl |iwire, the crew working up to their neckss the water. The ship Challenger, fromf <!Ladysmith (8.C.) for Kahulm - , is another' which managed to get into San Fran- \ dismasted and disabled by battle with i J;the storm. ' \ f } Oa January 2 the worst anowstorm in! gjdeven years swept over Southern Oregon; f|and -Northern California, burving the rail-f |jway tracks under seven feet of onow on the! |level at some points, and piling up from: to twenty feet cuts and drifts. ||Modern snow ploughs were at work everyliwhere, and the railways generally managed gto keep traffic open, though with the greatest $\ The Spanish steamer Enecuri was driven at Portland breakwater. The Wey|jmouth lifeboat attempted to rescue her kcrew, but feu-ful seas running prevented jithem. It is believed they can be saved. || The British steamer Penopol, from Sulma. Sjthe sands between Allravon and Briton, ;|n*ar Taunton. ,| Hie breakwater at Watchet Harbor to tie force of the gale, and became "m wreck, permitting the tremendous sea Lo ijhave full play against the shipping in the (piarbor. Several vessels broke, adrift, two and five others were driven into hopeless tangle in a. corner between the Jjpier and the wharf, where they lay grinding 'Jagainst each other. Their masts and buK speedily went, and the hnlls were i'jgreatly battered. Tlie damage will reach thousands of pounds. D.] The Austrian barque Capricorn was driven near Budc, Cornwall. Nine of the j.'crew were drowned and one saved. Four v-are still on board, with little likelihood of ?^ being rescued. ?S The barque Pagna was wrecked near Car! Three of the crew were drowned and' '; r :nine rescued by rocket lines. $ Fifty barges and sailing craft broke from vjtheir moorings in the Thames alone, fjj The steamer Yesro collided with another : r steamer near Cliveden, in the British ChanA lifeboat rescued nine of her crew. ;;jThe Pegasus grounded off Lavernock Point, fijbut was subsequently floated and towed to a Splace of shelter. When <he grounded her liboata were made ready for lowering, and Ijthe falls of one of them carried away, pre-j f cipitating five men into the water. They dwere all drowned with the exception of a fflsailor, who was picked up by the tug. j 1