THE GOLDEN GATE.

NZ Truth, Issue 104, 15 June 1907, Page 8

THE GOLDEN GATE.

Nearly five years later, 20<£ persons were lost m the , burning of the Golden Gate, another :. American steamer, on. . her voyage between San Francisco and 'Panama. It happened on July ii 7. Six days previously she -had left port with "95 cabin, and 147 second-class passengers, a crew of 96, and. a -cargo of immense treasure m dollars. , Before the Pacific railway across the ilvack- v bone of America was. .built, the Panama route l was the most convenient for persons journeying from the Eastern' States to .the diggings m California, and vice versa. Thus it happened that the loss of the Golden- Gate was one of the most tragic occurrences of the century. Hundreds of successful miners , : some accompanied by their wives and families, had taken their > passage for New York, , and almost every passenger was worth' a small fortune. The Golden Gate caught fire m the engine room, and was at on.cc headed for shore, which < fortunately was less -than four males distant. The fore part of the ship being! as yet FREE FROM FLAMES, the passengers weire all • ordered forward. Before ths order could be obeyed, however', the flumes spread with fearful rapidity, and cut oft all communication with the 'stern, and numbers wiere 'burnt to death, before the steamer touched ground. Then the dangers of a dreadful surf had' to >le . encountered. 'The steamer went aground m the midst of iti and, compelled by, the heat and proximity of the flames to leap, many of the passengers, wildly shrieking, were drowned/ Others' remained on board, afraid "to leap, until scorched and seared with the fire ; then they threw themselves into the breakers, and were washed ashore. . Within so brief a time every part of the large and .powerful vessel .was m a blaze,. and she was totally destroyed by the fire and wave;? The shore was literally , LINED WITH CORPSES, many of them horribly charred and mangled. The iron boxes full of treasure were buried m the sand, until afterwards ■brought to li^h't by dredging and diving. Sixty-two of the crew and seventy-two passengers were saved out of a total of '335. The burning of the Golden Gate has proved a fruitful theme for American journalists. Month m and month out columns of florid ro-, mance have keen written about the hulk that lies on the beach of Manzillo, on the -Mexican coast, close to the shore. Captain Hudson, who ran m there, is now an inmate of the Sailors' Snug Harbor, New York, a re-fugs for old mariners. In 1864 a party secured PART OF THE GOLD from the wreck, but a lawsuit . was brought against the salvors by the agents by whom, the gold had been consigned, and they were compelled to return it. A party is being, organised m San Francisco to explore among the sand-filled hull of the steamer and her skeletons, some 200 of which ,are still supposed t 0 be m" the suibi'merffed wreck, 1 keeping mute guard over the strong box gghtajging field 'dust aid miggets>