The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 5, 1900, Page 12

Desperate Struggle of the Cransport TRosecrans. CAUGHT FAST ON A REEF A STORIT AND WITH HUGE BLOCKS O en opportunity to live and enjoy it. 1t portamce to everybedy; but it was inter- do was done nothing r b t t > was a terrible scene. esting to note in this particular wreck ~ King ‘“Whenever a raft was completed it was that the majority of the soldiers were do- relin very hope for = . laden with provisions, which were lashed ing the same thing. Dozens and dozens of several of the I irs 1 x i on with heavy ropes. The gale blew with the men stole quietly below, where they perienced ar s ) such force that we knew well enough life 100ked anxiously about for a bottle. It horizon £ t s 1w s would be a matter of but a few minutes P¢came apparent that they all wanted struggle e g 1 — e ————— in the small boats. We, therefore, worked POttles in which they could slip a letter nearer and f : pess i a s toy —every man of ua_throwing cargo over- 9f 500d-by to some one, taking the one g tug w p most board to lighten the vessel This seemed chance in a million that it would ever be “It was Me- & 1 ® gat a our only hope, for-she was liable to be found and delivered. It is needless to 83Y teor came alor s wer =8 as warshig ; crushed at any moment by the ice which the number of bottles available was In- given ¢ r 1 b the gale had sét in motlon, and which was Sufficlent. Only forty-seven were .foun - . Mo o tah k=t & P rEAl and the boys scrambled to see who would N get them. The letters of farewell were then written and the sealim gan. Chief Officer Fleming all around the apparently doomed ve In less than fif| n minutes most of t boats and rafts had caps and gone to A . < he bettomn of the sea~ravisions and, all; | PIich, whicl he - a - - But the worst was not yet. The gale » o " e - P pe Y d sncreaged with . velocity, d¥iving large’ "c2cd the bottles with, the good- nediate ger. H - ; =, boulders of ice the Rosecrans . 3¢ had been throw erboard . with terrific force. urs and hours .. Ihere was nothing to dc At s we worked; then for hours and hours we Pare for death. I am sure 1 were g i r t & WEn awalted the e ring every crash board will ever forget <o g wWbuld e she could hold rut Waiting for the end e against. Tr e was terrible. Dur- how it would come. The str 2 mied 7 & T ing high tide at 4 a. m., July 16, another Pad with the effort to save Island 5 and useless attempt was m tranafex g0 was hard 1 le to pull her off. Every man was at his post, working to save himself and his fellows, but the most vigorous efforts seemed to budge the t Two icebe succession, ice. She flect 1 able to pr it at Now that what work was st isport. She ed under the str de the icebergs nd boat as they passed along her tore loose every remain The large davit hold torn away. Hawsers and wire ropes ng raf the anchor was broke like so many pieces of yarn. Iad she lain broadside sh® would ha crushed at once, but « ment seemed her iast “Every man wonders what he the last few minutes he hac e and imagines his action would be something quite unheard of and of the utmost im- en now ev uld do :cessful sailors, to The force of the impossible to make s in constructing the rafts, to be begun on the main heavier timbers together pe; then the rafts had to be lowered and lighter boards lashed on. The timbers had to be brought out of the hold one at a time, for the wind would rry them away like so many pleces of er. 1 t, a man could not stand on it being blown off bodily. ad but one hand free to with, he was certainly laboring at dvantages. The sea was choppy strongz r the deck with As each n we great - o s m half feet of Wa- 4n4 when we came to lower the rafts to 3 No ty-two feet, and . mplete them we found ourselves in a ” E s we high tlde thére greater dilemma than ever. The rafts e spect of a riSiNE were tossed about, but the men clung to - oy . tide signals of dis- them and worked bravely. Several of the \\“ s n responded and acldiers had the misfortune to be knocked 2 - v h " ca six hours later. As the overboard w a block of ice crashed x . 2 ™ ( elson drew thirteen feet of Wa- against the raft they were working on. v w e raft was lost, but the work: they were began on another seon aft rescued from the cold water.' It was a matter of life and death, and' they had no time to think of comfert until they were sure of A arrived ggled brave to 1S un . voyage Je rec d, making it necessary B n x ve us in order to avold s! Nelson the re- while we watch- N . was ¢ to our signal of te in the afternoon. The answered us, but having & feet could not approach us arer than a mile distant, and even rse. to the north, narrowly esgaped a similar fate to ng we. sighted the which rendered her crew fearful and w v which seemed reassur- caused them to back out of reach of dan- nce learned she ger, and as they could be of no assistance w we met her. they were compelled to leave us. “The Rosecrans was in the meantime N been settling deeper and deeper in the heavy west was plack clay, while large walls of ice struck block d to pick our way against her side with such force that ev- ings, which ery one threatened to break her to pleces. e east in shallow water. It seemed hopeless to try to save her Now then we saw an jeeberg, but now. How long she could hold out no attention to it. A little later, one dared to guess. In fact, we did not atities of ice became take time to speculate. “Orders were given to lower lifeboats following morning, June 11, and construct rafts. Fortunately there rans cast anchor off the mouth was a cargo of lumber aboard, from Yukon in forty-two feet of water which some of us proceeded to build rafts + ceeded to deliberate. Aheavy fog with all possible haste. = d so dense that nothing could “The construction of rafts under cir- * e e but to await its clearing. ‘The cumstances like these was no easy mat- e very brisk, the thermometer reg- ter. The soldiers realized the peril of the g g pt degrees Fahrenheit. Af. t ion and worked hard to assist in