The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 23, 1901, Page 1

—\'HI,I'ME Lj\iXXIX—N 0. 85. SAN FRANCISCO, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1901. wioa} uae} aq 03 + 444 Aaeaqr] 2y3 DEATH ACHIEVES A DREAD TRIUMPH AT THE GOLDEN GATE One Hundred and Twenty - two Lives Go Down to Doom on the [lI-Fated Steamship Rio de Janeiro Returning From .the Orient the Big Vessel Strikes on the Fort Point Rocks and Sinks at Dawn of Day PRICE F1VE CENTS. SCENE OF WILD ALARM AS CAPTAIN WARD ORDERED THE LIFEBOATS MANNED AND THE WOMEN SAVED FIRST HE Pacific Mail steamship City of Rio de Janeiro went down yesterday morning at the Golden Gate and one hundred and wo human lives and a ransom in treasure were Within the harbor which meanf” security after yage of storm and distress, man beings struggled and ht for their lives, not against the elements, for the sea was an " calm as a sea ‘of glass and the winds were stilled, but against the death damage that the rocks had done. Wrapped in a shroud of fog, within hearing and it seemed al- most within a stone’s throw of the city, these human creatures met death in its most awe inspiring, dread form /The accident in every phase was without parallel in ma- rine disasters on this coast. Other ships had sunk at sea in the midst of frightful storms. Others had foundered because of their owa incapacity to strl;ggle against the elements, but the City of Rio de Janeiro, after a journey of thou- sands of miles, through storm and violent weather, struck upon the rocks and went down in its home port. Nearing the Harbor. Nothing so horrifying has ever appeared on the Pacific Coast. Early in the morning the news of the disaster was received in this city and excitement of thc. most intense kind pervaded every cir- cle and phase of life. Savers were warned, ships were sent out, thousands upon thousands . of people traveled toward the beach to see something of the wrecked ship from the heights on the western shore of the town. = But nothing could be seen. The bay was as still as a lake and not even wreckage indicated the locality of the vessel which had been doom- ed by a most remarkable fate. Here and there on the Presidio beach a dead body floated out from the water. Fishermen ‘in small craft hovered about “the scene and lifeboats patrolled the waters, but nothing of the sunken ship appeared. While thousands hastened - toward the western heights, throngs. hurried to the Morgue and to the offices of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. to learn something.of those who Had been lost or'saved, but no in- formation could be. given, not even a roster of the passengers. ust at.dark on Thursday night the-vessel which .was so soon to meet’its'doom ‘was nearing. the Heads. The lights in the.Clift House could be seen and the decks of the ship were crowded with passengers, officers and crew, glad for a vision of the home land after the long and dan- gerous journey across the seas. Last Night at Sea. The night was clear and pleas- ant, but Captain Ward, the com- mander of the vessel, accepted a pilot, Captain Frederick Jordan, who is reputed to be one of the most expert and careful pilots on the coast. And now between that reputation and the conduct of the dead captain of the City of Rio de Janeiro must rest the responsi- bility for the doom of one hun-~ dred and twenty-two human lives and the loss of more than $1,800,- 000 in property. This responsi- bility belongs to one of them or to the other, or perhaps to both. Captain Jordan boarded the ship and at 7 o'clock, the fog having settled down like a great black pall, it was decided to anchor out- side for the night. The lights of the shore Hsap- peared and for another night pas-