STEAMSHIP DISASTER.

Gisborne Times, Volume VI, Issue 210, 11 September 1901, Page 2

STEAMSHIP DISASTER.

WRECK OF THE ISLANDER,

(By Telegraph.)

(Per R.M.S. Sonoiua at Auckland.)

S ”i Francisco, Aug. 25,

The latest a* most serious wreck of dozens which have occurred in Alaskan waters since he i eginning of the gold excitement ■ the loss of the steamer Islander. The vessel was the flagship of the Can: iian Pacific Navigation Fleet, and the largest and fastest steamer on the Yietoria-Skagway route. The vessel left Skagwav, southward bound, on the evening of August 14th, and was proceeding out of Lynn Canal when she collided with an iceberg, or struck on a reef running out from Tantallon Point, it is not known which. The vessel sank within 15 minutes, her boilers exploding when the water reached them. It is believed that sixtyeight persons were lost. There were 181 persons on board, and there are 116 survivors.

The excitement at Victoria was intense when the steamer Queen brought in the news of the disaster. Many persons were expecting friends from the north, and the agony of the anxious ones was prolonged by the difficulty of obtaining accurate news.

Mrs Ross, wife of the recently appointed Governor of Yukon territory, was lost with her infant daughter. She left five children with their father at Dawson, and was coming to the home of her parents, Mr and Mrs John Mackey, of Victoria, to purchase fittings for the home she planned to establish in the north. Dr John Duncan, of Victoria, returning from a trip to Dawson, was lost. Many passengers returning from Klondyke carried satehols filed with gold. One mail is said to have jumped from the deck of the sinking ship for one of the boats, with a bag containing forty thousand dollars in gold in his hand. He missed his footing, and sank to rise no more.

Another set down a package containing fourteen thousand dollars, and escaped in a boat, thankful to save his life. A particularly sad ease was that of Dr W. S. Phillips, of Seattle, who lost his wife and child. The doctor was making an effort to reach the boats when his wife and little girl were drawn down by the suction of the ventilator pipe. The doctor was carried down with the ship, but was finally rescued in an unconscious condition. His despair was most touching. Mr L. 15. lvobe, a survivor, gives a somewhat intelligible account of tho disaster. Ho does not wish to reflect upon the conduct of the officers, but it is impossible not to draw conclusions from his story. Mr Robe said : Tho vessel struck at 2.15 a.m., 10 miles north of Juneau, off Douglas Island, and opposite the entrance to the Taku inlet. She was then making 104 revolutions per minute, a little less than fifteen knots an hour. When she struck I sought the responsible officer, but none was in sight. I passed to the forward part of the vessel, where I found crowds of passengers, but no officers. On the hurricane deck 1 found Captain Footo in a stato room at tho back of the pilot house. Ho made no answer to my inquiry what was tho matter. One boat was already in tho sea with but seven occupants, many crying from the vessel for it to come back. Then the ship exploded, which I think was from tho compressed air. Tho whole upper part of tho vessel seemed to rise. Wo were an hour on_ a raft, which was leaking and unsafe, overturning several times. We wore finally picked up by a boat, which made for the shore, and then made back to the rescue of others.

Messrs W. G. Preston and Fife, of Seattle, wore the last to leave the vessel. Mr Preston said : Tho officers of tho ship handled the situation in an extremely incompetent manner. No warning was given tho passengers in the staterooms, and when they canje on deck they were assured there was no danger. The first boat to got away was a steel lifeboat, the best on tho ship. It contained seven men, all members of tho crew. Tho passengers retained their presence of mind, and did most of the work of lowering tho boats and getting them away. A notable exception to tho behaviour of tho majority of tho officers was first officer Veroutson, who was first on deck, and gave able assistance to passengers. It is alleged that Captain Foote had been drinking a good deal, but the vessel was in charge of Pilot La Blanc, who was picked up after being two hours in the water.

Captain Foote was lost, and a survivor states that he deliberately committed suicide, jumping from the raft on which he had escaped from the sinking ship. The passengers have said the night was misty, but Pilot La Blanc made the following statement; “The night was fine, and, as we always expect to make ice, a sharp look-out was kept. About 2.48 a crash came. The boat was under full speed. There was no ice in sight, and no fog. A wind was blowing. It was dark and cloudy. The fatal berg was no doubt even with the water. After she struck I stopped the engines, when Captain Foote appeared with the nightwatchman, who reported that the ship was leaking forward. I told Captain Foote that he had better head for the beach, but ho demurred, and when he decided to do so the ship was leaking so badly that she would not answer the helm. Then I called the mate, and ordered the boats out. This was done, and they were loaded with passengers. Many jumped overboard with life preservers. The pilot also stated that many men acted badly, and he thinks that but for the crowding and rushing all might have been saved, with the exception of those who could not get out of the staterooms. Among these were Andrew Keating and two sons, of Los Angelos.