A FERRY-BOAT COLLISION.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 12248, 11 January 1902, Page 2

A FERRY-BOAT COLLISION.

EXCITING SCENES. The San Francisco Call'? issues of December 1 ami 2 contain accounts of the sinking of the.Sau Rafael by Uio ferry boat Sausalito, off Alratra?. Wand, on the evening nf Saturday, November 30. The Call pays:-" Somowhere between the la?l jutting pier of the wnter front and Alcatraa Island the Sausahto rode clown the San Kafmsl. and crashed into her starboard side. On the San Rafael was a crowd even larger than (.he ordinary Saturday night traffic affords. She was slowly steaming towards San Rafael when out of the thick fog the Snuaaiilo crushed into her ftarlioard side. Men, women, nnd children, terror stricken, niched for life preservers, and in diro confusion sought every means of oscapi. from drowning. The Sau Kafsel sank gradually. Kome 15 minutes heinj consumed from the time of the collision to the moment when the waters dosed over the ill-fnled beat. How many were lost has Oiliy been roughly estimated, for the work of rescue went on rapidly ami confusedly. J he accident was due to the impenetrability of the fog that settled on the bay during the afternoon, and clung to the surface of the water all night. Doth hosts played their hoarse fog whistles incessantly. As the great gap filled up with water panic sciz-d the passengers. So close the two boats remained that many jumped from ono to tho other, homo were picked up in tho water, trusting to the life pros?rvcrs. Others found salvation on tho small lifeboat or a plank. All those who came back on the Sausaiilo did not hour whole skins. Some were wounded others having logs broken in tho for fclf.prcservatiou. In several of tho hospitals are men who wore saved, but who are moro or less seriously injured.

THE PANIC. Tho San Rafael was steaming northward with about 250 passengers on board. The hoarse fog whistles wero blowing almost continuously. Out of the darkness and the impenetrable fog came the big, dirk Sausalito on hor return (rip to this city. Both boats wero under reduced steam, but so sudden was the meeting that no order given by the captains or other officers could save the collision. Right above the jiaddlo-box the bow of (he Sausalito ground into the San Rafael. Immediately panic laid hold of all. The captain's orders rang out .on the night air, but they were soon drowned by tho wild cries of Hio passengers. Terrified, their hearts jumping into their throats from sheer fear, men, womon, end children mado a mad rush towan! the lifo preservers. They did not wail to sec that the lifo preserver? wont around, eome enveloped themselves with them. As many as two or three wero tied around the Iwdies of a single person. For a moment, even ami'! the clang of b?l!s, the puffing of steam, the harsh, four-engendered" gasps of the fog whistles, there wan order on board the Sauralilo. One mnn quieted the quaking crowd on the upper deck, and in plain view threw bis life preserver aboard the San Hafael. Like Bheop, the Sausolito passengers, crowding tho rail, imitated his action. Then (lie thick fog cut in between the two boats, and the panic boc.ime greater and greater as the darkness grow blacker and blacker. Down in tho water could be heard the cry of children. Women shouted fantically, and men cursed. It was a fight for life, each one for himself. Incidents of bravery thei'e were but they are locked up in the breasts of thoso who participated in them. The darkand tho dense murky fog mne'e each man s fight his own. In the cabin the crowd congrogated, or down in tho warm fhlooii mon played cards or drank their cocktails. hven before the San Rafael pnllod out of the slip there were .■> few of the 250 passengers Who were not timorous about the trip across the bay. Waiting; minute by minutn many of the women had their nerves at the highest pitch before the Occident occurred. Men less fearful ot prospective evil walked the upper deck straining their eyes for ships that pass in tho night. When the crash came the vision or nobble sudden death held nil in n vice-lilro grip. Action came after the recoil. When tho San Rafael keeled over to tho port side from tho effect of the shock the cabin paFFi-ngers lost control of themoolvcs. Windows wore smashed, and, instead of reaching the deck by means of the ordinary door exits, they tore their hands and faces climbing through the openings of shattered glass. Then came the confusion m the search for life preservers. The San Rafael wns a queorly built boat, and few Knew where those canvas-covered floaters were located. But they soon found out.

A FEARFUL SCENE. Only an eye-witness can picture in his mind the wild, chaotic fear manifested by that soothing, purging crowd, pushing, tramping, fighting in the fullness of their torror. Orders to mnn boats woro given by Captain M Kenzie, of the San Rafael, as eoon as ho realised the full meaning of the collision. One crowd of 12 jumped into a lifeboat and were lowered, but soon after swamped. They clung to the gunwale's of the email boat and ware rescued. There were men and women in this lot, and all were' saved. One mother, in her excitement, fastened a life-preserver around hor child, a little boy, and then threw him into the water. He was saved. But these meane of escape were taken only by those who differed a great confusion of,mind. To the more collected, after the first panic, the easiest road to safety was to jump from one boat to another. By far tho greater number escaped this way. Then the Sausalito lowered her boats and began picking nun, woman, and child from improvised rafts, boats, and ropes that were let down from the uninjured ferryboat. Men clung to theso rones until nothing but their jrrit was left of "them. Bodies well nigh frozen from the iciness of the water, and hands stiffened and cramped, thoy held on until grim despair gave way to the rush of joy at being saved. Many there were ebullient with joy at being rescued from a watery jjrave that told of tho horror of the scene. The piteous cry of tho women and children still rang in their ears, and they feared that many more were lost than was at first supposed. Drenched to the skin, those who were refeued or saved themselves scattered about tho water front. Meu, coatlees, colourless, and hatlcss, with Beared looks in their eyes, stood chattering on tho street comers. Some still wore the lifepreservers, and would not give them up. Others enmit up-town and hurried to counteract the possibilities of catching cold with warm internal draughts. The man who had no friend aboard and who came off unscathed was a happy man indeed. The news of the disaster travelled quickly. When the Sausniito entered her slip co her return trip the employees at tho dock scented the calamity. Hardly had tho boat made fait when tho crowd surged forward. Dripping men, terror-stricken women and children, excited almost to delirium, rushed over the gang plank in great confusion. Telephones were in demand by the thoughtful onca. Through the town the news was disseminated, and within an hour tho crowds around the bulletin-boards read the awful story. What San Francisco had been fearing for years hail at. laft como to pass.

The flail of Decembor 2 says:—"The loss of life is not as great as was at first feared. So far the reports show but few lives lost. Tho awe and tnrror of it a!l have largely passed away, an;l people arc now wondering [licit tlie death list is so small.

"Undorneath tho waters lies the ill-fated boat, the exact location of which is not yet known. Little of the buried San Rafael will be of any future value except ae wreckage. Her boilers were- practically condemned, but lier engines wove good. As to the hull, tho general'opinion in that it waawalcr-loged. According to law, both Captain M'Kenzic (of the San Rafael) and Captain TriMe (of the Saiuolito) will 1» obliged to file reports with tho United States Inspectors of Steam Vessels."