The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 23, 1901, Page 4

FRANCISCO CALL, SATURDAY, BODIES OF THE DEAD ARE TAKEN TO THE MORGUE FEBKUAKY ¥3, 1901. TOWED ASHORE BY FISHERMEN Police Keep Crowds on Wharf Back While Remains of Vic-| tims Are T aken From Water| - % 1 the next in | | ed by the ¢ boat on the port side. . when seen at the Mail arge of my boat. It foggy, and, to make lights on the ship but little confusion, | » women and chil- Iy hoat was lowered away. and as we off the rocks and water. The suction 1lmost down and I was | with water. 1 round and got away from we did not see any one nd took c dark and worse, the There wa 2nd we tried to ge! dren into the boi floating around to save. After a while we saw a shin, which proved to be the Rus- | fan ship Harbinger, and she took us on and brought us inside. I am only 0 S 1 m alive, and it all to me to get so near meet with this awful | PETALUMA MAN ‘t TELLS OF WRECK AND HIS RESCUE | | R. H. Long Has a Miraculous Escape | t From Death end Praises Offi-. | cers and Crew of Ill- Fated Vessel. - MRS. WAKEFIELD WELL OAKLAND KNOWN IN NVAKEFIELD o.! JVEBsTER ouere MANY VISIT HOUSE OF DEAD Anxious Relatives of Missing Per- sons Appeal to the Coroner and His Retainers for News HE bodies of Mrs. 8. B. Wake field and three unidentified Chi- namen were the first to be brought to the Morgue, the two wagons in charge of Dep- | uty Coroner Meehan. Janitor Thomas Smith and Messenger *. Donahue arriving at noon. At th time the idexntity of Mrs. Wakefield was unknown, but two hours later he-| - 2 i | i | | | 5 nephew, D. W. Hopsen, and her sister, | Mrs. R. W. Miller identified the rema The dead woman was a native of Ne York, 50 years old, and resided in Oaklz She was the widow of Samuel Bell Wake- field, Her daughter, Naomi Wakefleld, 13 years old} was with her on the Rio and is belleved to have betn lost, The next wagon brought the bodles of a Japanese méssboy and a Chinaman. Shortly after. the bodies of Charles Dowdall and Mrs. A. Hartz were brought in. The two last mentioned bodies were placed in the new Morgue In Dunbar Allev. Mrs. Hartz was identifled by Miss Ripley of 1515 Polk street, a rescued passenger. Miss Ripley | sald that Mr. and Mrs. Hartz were ac- companied on the steamer by a lady whose name she did not know. Miss< Rip- | | ley's father, George Ripley of Honolulu. | | was on the steamer and was reported o | | the Coroner as among the missing. | On the person of Charles Dowdall were | ———— found a letter of credit for $1000 and a let Harry V. Austin. wned dressed and mediy [| MOTHER AND DAUGHTER, WELL KNOWN IN OAKLAND, WHO LEFT HERE LAST NOVEMBER FOR THE HA s gfl;g;rfi’,fl(}r;‘l’:flr:’zllp;n his wité tn Saic s R ne of Potatinanh biiesiier 11 WAITAN ISLANDS IN QUEST OF A BALMY CLIME IN WHICH TO RESTORE THE WANING HEALTH OF D e s ilar ot A0 thacwriter . retu 3 from Honolulu, gives a | THE YOUNG WOMAN. Spoke of the happiness that would be . thrillin t of his experiences when | | 4 | cers when she should see him again fc e sk k. He was in the steward’s | = = i o 3 | 5 & i M3 i 2 RS. 8. . WAKEFIELD and | pole, but decided, for the benefit of the | street, in this elty. As»saon as the story | . - < | her daughter, Miss Naomi | health of Miss Wakefield, to go to the '%l the wreek of the steamship reached 7 vl v - 5§ Jov: 2 v akland Mrs. Miller went to San Fran E | Wakefield, who were lost in | Hawaiian Islands. On November 20 they | (e aRd JRrE STeTEl Volle of her sister, & | the wreck of the Rio de | left Oakland, and they have been in the ortly after her arrival Mrs. Wake- and shortly after her has T " Y f Janeiro, were well known in | islands since. field’s body was brought ashore. | jous W s ® Oakland and were leaders'in The last steamer from Honolulu There are many in Oakland who will | |»r1v:\ nd m wa . the inner social circle. They | brought a letter frcm Mrs. Wakefield re- | Jearn with sorrow of t'he death of the h; n o . traveled a great deal, and when in Oak- | €ngAging her rooms at the Metropole and |ladies. They had mapy friends and be- | | tess a d he Hotel Metropole | saying that she would arrive on the Rio | fore their departure for Honolulu the; e land resided at the Hotel ) pole. de Janeiro about February 20. . gave a dinner at the Metropole at whicl 1 i . Mrs. Wakefleld and her daughter spent Mrs. Wakefield h. sister, Mrs. R. W. | they entertained a large party of friends 5 the early part of the winter at the Metro- | Miller, Hving at 1087 East Twenty-seventh | who wished them a happy journey. | =P T e e e e et e e B e e g ATTErPT TO FIX THE BLAME A | | FOR THE AWFUL DISASTER | | | | Oakland | i l :: -~ C L | { Miss Robina ns, S Lake Citv, — {1 i aged 22 years 1 e C. Easson, =3 ' |Captain and Pilot|Schwerin Says the|Captain Hecht Tells LIS e moued | | 2 f H E * Mrs. Robyns, mother the foregoing, { | | Balt Lake | Defended By | Captain Was of His Escape it Lake B | : Mrs. Dormann, Stewardess Wady, I ¥ Miss Katie Reidy. | ( hl | ( h F D h rs. > - Harry Austin (Drowned.) | Og an. | n arge rom eath. (Drowned.) ed by G. A. Hanks, same address. | | . . 4l 4 i i e 3 —_—— ‘.,._ | RN - E: 11 P. SCHWERIN, vice presi- | Coroner Leland. as soon as he learned | o B B e Bl = { dent and general manager | of the disaster, summoned Eis whole force in the few minutes at his disposal to | | | of the Pacific Malil.Steam- ! of attaches to attend to the reception of ¢ a MEht for his life when the ship | | | ship Company, spent the the dead. Deputy Coromer Brown was | | went down. | { best part of yesterday at | kept bt during the whole day in mak- ot : e { ept busy during { ell by the fact that my watch | | {1 @ 1o At dock superintend- | {ng a record of the missing that were be- | | il e Eeee. T wah o i1 ing the work of taking care | ine tnquired about by anxious friends ani | | went into the steward's room | | | -] of the survivors of the ill-fated steam- | | | relatives.. Owing to these precautions ani | | k with him. We lay to all night on | | | | ship Rio de Janeiro. The first intimation | the business-like system introduced by | | the fog, and on the pilot’s re- | | Mr. Schwerin had of the accident was Coroner Leland the work was expedited | | I 11 was c r raised anchor and | | when one of the employes of the line without confusion. our course Within a few | | | | telephoned the news of the disaster to his The following is a list of the dead re- | | | 3 occurred. 1 went to | | | restdence. i celved at the Morgue: |1 \ t oboe ~anil sheard 1 /1 1 | Mr. Schwerin made his headquarters in | Mrs. Sarah Wakefield, 1087 East Twenty- E Seiva. B0, Jomiae 14 | | the office of the superintendent of the venth street, Oakland | | i e ”‘1‘"1 quarter- | | | dock. and in, accordance with a marine "M“‘ A, Hart of Manila, formerly of | cool and had the crew exe- | |custom the various survivors ot the Rfo this citx, | ‘ I thought for the first time of {/lhe wace in (e SERPENE W W P"cmcl’ Charles Dowdall, attorney-at-law, Ho- | e N areaE O | | Mail Company reported-to the-vice presi- | skt | . s e [ panns | The fortupatsiplicars 0f el Edward Barwick, butcher on the | | Petaluma 10ut a_ preserver Dottt ptabiun 2 - Bl steamer, 544 Olive avenue; identified by her m (,,,J",'i. “,f“g;: z::_fi? | most important statement made to the letA[er!lln (n}ouc‘lxm Hawali; identifled by ! courage him, and | official was that of Pilot Jordan. BEeio . . H »r him up when the | Mr. Schw letters In pocket. | iy e Tl et werin in talking of the loss of | Julia Clark Dorman, stewardess on the | | Stinctively to my knees, and as the ship | the Rip de Janelro stated that he thought Rio: identified by friends. | g g M e o L | the blame was due to Captain Ward in | | | “Unkrown Chinaman, found by Gtuseppi | from a catapult down below the surface | Second Officer Coghlan. bringing his vessel in during a fog. | Captain Hecht. Branchi. | A. Gussonl, Honolulu. | Mrs. A. Hart. Shanghai. many feet. It is a miracle that I was not Cshouady “Time and time again,” sald Mr. | (Rescued.) Unknown Chinaman, found by Frank (Drowned.) | wned.) carried to my death by the suction. I | Schwerin, “we have warned our captains Silvera. | & % [ ks _ PR %+ | never to leave or enter port during a fog. i+_ e PSR g -4 % -, = - . | Not only have we: given our. caplafl 1 s T | 2 kil s 2 5 0" | Miss Katle Reldy, Hongkong: reported ew of the H The H . ECOND OFFICER GRAHAM | verbal instructions, but letters have been | TRINE s abous B olclick hen | by James Bradley, 1718 Sacramento street. from Ant nd was just making COGHLAN, who was among | Written to them td the same emd. From 1he 20N RAE Arcdio T tHE e | Miss Reldy was with the family of g il gy first to reach the shore after | What I can learn I think that it would Uica VRS ARCo Gk e T Rounsevelle Wildman and lived on Plne A, i | | the Rio de Janeiro had sunk |have been wiser for Captain Ward to S on e ey DAl ot ot street, near Powell. . - 5. and rescusd’ the oo | | beneath the sea, is the son of | have waited outside antil the fog cleared ha ke badly: Su the !!a:t‘m.he The following were reported to Deputy Captain Joseph B. Coghlan, | off. He was the onl®man who had au- wigh. 1 put.on & Ife-preses ""fl Coroner Brown as missing: t the worse for their ad- | | who commanded the Ralelgh in | thority to bring the vessel in. It 18 er- | yanding 4 swim away from mver, n- Fong Cheong, student on his way to r A { the battle of Manila Bay. Like his dis- | ronéous to think that when a pilot boards 5 e ship, 3 s were land 1 fisherman was t e He out 9 o'clock smussen. in wed with a harge mber of m Alert w i that the in with draped zerman £oon Chir wh r on the Rio de g boat that arrived was of Antonla Silva. H towed in the ¢ of Attorney Dowdell. | | It was fu ssed. A life-preserver | | . was also tened around ihe | | Willlam Brandon Jr., London. body { (Rescued.) - — must have lost conselousness for a time, as 1 have only a vague sensibility of what happened afterward. Nearly choked to death by the salt water, I finally reached the top and was forty feet clear of the spot where the ship sunk. Of course the life preserver kept me afloat, and 1 waited patieatly until relief should come, whence 1 knew not. “I saw only two boats afloat. One I knew had been launched for Consul Gen- eral Wildman and his friends from Hong- kong. Finally 1 was dragged aboard the life raft. Fortunately there were com- paratively few women on board, and too CHINESE NATIVE SON AMONG THE WRECK VICTIMS % Yung Ching, = Native of This City, Supposed to Have Been Drowned While Coming From Honolulu. Yung Ching, who is among the missing | passengers, was a finely educated Chinese | much praise cannot be given the ship's pe nd was born in Sapn | officers and crew for the magnificent dis. ealthlest merch 5 onol vhere - § en o wealthlest merchants in Honolulu, whert | gyve the lives of the passengers and fn. he went fr an Francisco some vears | spire them with courage.” Yung Ching had be Mr. Long thinks that not more than ten n shorn of his and thereupon sdopted the nglis minutes elapsed from the time the ship v i ot struck until the water rushed over hep scholar, receiving his early edu decks. 'He belleves he was in the water - atigre A oo po not more than fifteen minutes, and al. Francisco public s 4oie Was en | though he had taken the precaution 36 2 o take up | pack most of his valuables in the state higher e ;| room from which he got the life pre. B0 Ducent his personal belongings were & %9 Dupont away when the water rushed 4 % - g aboard. After the excitement attendant TRAGEDY COMES upon being, taken from the water Mr. Long ot able to glve an intelligible account of the struggle for life going on around him. He had no definite idea of ieading to the disaster until . and was oblivious to his undings after going under the water he ot safely aboard the raft. WITH SUDDENNESS THAT IS APPALLING Dr. A. A. O'Neill, Surgeon of the Lost Ship, Declares It All Seems Like a Horrible They say Bernhardt is a lit- i Dream. % -tle cross at times. Read what ~ P | % @ special reporter of the Sun- Dr. A. A. O'Neill, surgeon of the Rio de | & day Call has to say in next lanelro, was able 1o throw but little light | 4 Sunday's Magazine Section. 3 m the i e was in h room at e e o O responded 1 the ility. aptain. “The statements made to me by Pilot | Jordan indicate that there was a fog hanging around the Heads, and I think that undue haste was shown by the cap- tain in bringing his vessel fn. I cannot understand why there should have been 80 much haste shown, considering the vessel lay outside all night. Captain Ward was a careful officer and I learn that when he reached Honolulu with the Rio he walted outside the bar for eleven hours rather than take any chances in the rough weather. “Of course he {s not here to speak. I wish that he was, for he was one of our best officers. He was brought up in our service and we all feel deeply over his loss and of those of his comrades, “I cannot state exactly the value of the Rio de Janeiro, but it is between $300,- 000 and $9%0,000. We have between $400,000 and $500,000 insurance on the vessel, part of which Is carried by insurance com- panies and part of which we carry. our- selves. I cannot state now in what com- | pantes we insured the ship. The value | of her cargo was probably between $150,000 and $200,000. I do not think she had any amount of -specie on board."” In) response to further questions, Mr. Schwerin stated that he did not think there was the slightest chance of ralsing the vessel. tinguished father, he has “followed the | sea” since his youth, but this is the first great marine tragedy to which he has been a witness and in which his life nearly pald for his awful experience. “Again the Inevitable has happened and the Rio de Janeiro has been lost,” gald Mr. Coghlan. “T will feel the effects of this ‘experience,’ if I can call it such, for many days to come, for my ankle was badly wounded through striking floating wreckage when I jumped from the lost ship just as she went down. I cannot call to-day’s happenings an ‘ex- perfence,” for it happened too quick for thorough realization. “We lay off the Meads all night, wait- ing for the fog td lift, and it was at a very early hotr when the order was given to heave the anchor. We moved in slowly, and though I looked carefully I was of the opinion that we were on the right course. So far as I could see, there was no deviation from the correct course un- il we had passed Mile Rock and were midway between it and Fort Point. There we caught the swirl of the ebb tide and the Rio de Janeiro slightly deviated from her course. In an instant she struck on what rock or reef I know not. “Her great hull evidently ripped open on some jagged pinacle, but she shook herself loose for an instant, struck the second time and her prow dipped into the sea, while she listed toward the shore, It has been sald-that there was immediate confusion aboard the vessel. This is not captaln has no more re- A pilot is simply a guide for R . t. Everything worked like clock- 3 cwot:;lzc but necessarily fast. Great diffi- |Consul Wildman and family had their) staterooms. I am sure I know where culty was occasioned by the fact that the crew of the vessel was composed of Chi- nese, and they could understand but little English and we could understand no Chinese. “Orders shouted from the bridge through this babel of tongues were not obeyed, it is true, with that alacrity that Inspires one with hope, but, nevertheless, | the Chinese, when they did understand orders, obeyed them with promptness and | courage. And it must be remembered | that we had but little room iIn which to work. The prow of the Rio was under water back as far as the first cabin, and on the space behind, which stood at two angles, we worked. When the order to lower away the boats was given the men Dulled aboard the boat. responded promptly. I managed to ge(; “The Rio de Janeiro had gone down, | three women into my boat and a few and we began to pick up the swimmers | other persons. On the other side they | as we slowly Jrifted out to sea. Liferafts, were lowering away the boats, and as I|on which many passengers and members | saw no one on deck I lowered myself to | of the crew were huddled, also drifted out | the boa® Then I thought that possibly | toward the Hends: Two of them we got some of the passengers had not been | together, then drifted away. awakened, and I clambered back to the | “We must have drifted as far as Poin{ deck. The vessel was then listed far over, | Lobos when we were overtaken by a fish- but I entered the sccial hall, off which | ermen's fleet of sailboats and gasoline their rooms were, but when I reached them they were empty. All of the rooms on that side of the vessel were empty. I then crossed the hall and found all of the rooms also vacant. “As the ship began to show signs that she was ready to founder, I hurried om deck. Captain Ward was standing aft, still directing the lowering of boats and the digposition of passengers therein. My boat was standing off from the vessel a short distance, and T could see that others | had been pulled aboard her. Suddenly the | Rio gave a lurch and I sprang for my | boat. I struck a plece of wreckage and | painfully injured my ankle, but was soon | Japanese and four Chinese. but I was too late, as she went down with a rush. I kept perfectly cool and knew that I wolld come up again with the life-preserver on and struggled to keep free. 1 did not seem to be under the water any time and when I rose to the surface I was not ten feet away from a raft. This raft was fllled with seven Chinamen and the guartermaster of the ship. They helped me on board the raft and then I knew I was safe. In a few minutes I saw my comrade, Holtz, float by on a capsized boat. We floated near to this hoat that Holtz was clinging to, got him on the raft and then turped the boat upright. We got in this boat and pulled away from the wreck. We passed another boat contalning the second officer of the ship, three women and the freight clerk of the boat. We were soon after approached by a number of small craft. A launch came up, threw us a line and we were towed to the shore. “I lost four trunks in the ship, but for- tunately had sent home in January a large number of Chinese curios that I had collected, via the Suez Canal. One thing that favorably impressed me was that the discipline during the affair was splendid. The officers, men and even the Chinamen did all in their power to*help each other.” L] launches. They had passed over the scene of the wreck, but until they discovered us did not know what had occurred, so com- pletely had the Rio gone down. They took us in tow, those on the rafts were picked up and the journey for the shore began. “My boat arrived first, and t - mediately upon landing T left ‘:2“1!:1(:::- the company of the 10ss of the ship, I had time on the way back to look over the passengers on the boat. There were three ladies, whose names I do not know, Chijet Engineer Herlihy, Mr. Englehardt, J. K. Carpenter of Oakland, Frank Tramp. ship's carpenter; G. Russell, main deuk‘ watchman, another ship's carpenter, a passenger whose name I do not know, a None serfous!y injured, b in, I say, the inevitable has hap- pened. The course. so far as I can tes- tify, was correctly followed until the ebb | college, nephew of Yung Sum, 939 Dupont street. George Ripley, from Honolulu; res- idence, 1515 Polk street, this city; report- | ed by C. H. Ward, 33 Pine street | James Smith, water tender, 13 Rincon | place; his mother, Mrs. 1arsen, lives at | 646 Howard street. Assistant Engineer William A. Munroe, 35 Stanford street. A. Hart, tourist and husband of the identified dead woman of the'same name; reported by H. L. Lalr, 317 Grant avenue. Willlam A. Henshall, attorney at law, brother of Richard P. Henshall of this city; residence, 1326 California street. Louis MacFarland, Homolulu: reported by R. Seibert, 3 Buena Vista avenue. H. A. Scott, chief steward: residence, Windsor Hotel. Peter Walter Smith, Charles H. Smith, 42 John Hammersmith, cisco. H. F. Seymour, editor and proprietor of | The American at Manila: reported by J. | P. Crowley of the International Hotel. Clifford Morton, 206 Oak sireet: repo-te Morton. Supposed to hav left t on the Rio as a ws oing trip. bt OBamalas and_wife of Honol E. Barwick, Ship’s Butcher. dler: - ted (Drowned.) T . Halight street. San Fran. * Unknown Chinaman, found by Martin Napoli. Japanese engineers’ messboy, name un- known, found by John Colen. | Unknown Chinaman, found by the cap- tain of the Sea Queen. Mrs. Alfred Hart was the wife of a i Aoy ewelry drummer and was well known In | ported by Henry G. Hrulon of 257 © zmn city. After leaving San Franeisco | street. A lady who was with these peo several years ago she took up her resi- | vl; wss(gfiev::‘iw" dence in Los Angeles. One year ago she | o tod’ h;; 8. Dum ies went to Manila and was just returring | © William MecConnell, an eng! when she met her death. On the bady | Steuart street; reported by !:x]:& ‘;ry‘!hfl. was found jewelry valued at many hun- | Frank Holback of Honoluly: Teporte dred dollars. -For a time Mrs. Hart's hywl;“r";\:; -‘\lgl::“:!ml" fdentity remained unknown after the body | ;4 third assistant engineer had been brought to the Morgue, but at | W. Flynn of 320 Brannan length was identified by Miss Ripley, a| Harry Lewis. . passenger on the {ll-fated boat, who re- | s <R sides at 1515 Polk street, and Vernon a' blacksmich, of "Rfim‘ Elysee. J. J. Morse of 1000 Rail The ninth body recovered is supposed to G be that of Edward Barw;’k. the butcher : Teported by on board the steamer. No one has yet o L. R i was found a letter from Mrs. Barwick of | g ¥ 544 Olive avenue, in which she addressed the receiver as her husband. Barwick | T. was 35 years of age and had two children, | G aged 7 and 10 years. | L According to papers found on the body which bore the number “10"" at the Morgue | B it is that of Angelo Gussino, manager of | the Lowry sugar plantation, in Spreckels- ! tanford streef reported by reet | lulu; reported oad avenué. ToBr. Dodd of Butte. Mont Ray MeMillan of 457 Eddy 1 reported by street. ward, 110 reported by J. Fitz- 1 Miss Mattie reported by W. n Gate avenue. : reported ville, Hawalian Islands. Among the p: P carpenter, of 67 pers were the time slips cf the compgny | Dehon st d by Daniel Me- He was on a Phee of 2 street and vouchers for salaries. Willlam E. Sharp and wife tide drove us on the reef. Captain Wara directed Iis crew with rromptness and coolnes¢, and the last 1 saw of him he was directing his subordinates in their fight against fate to save the passengers of the lost ship.” Profes: Hono journey to Europe in’ the interest of his | reparted by brother. corporation, and was not known in this |~ pour ¢ dman. wife and two city so far as can be zscertained. He was | childr od States Consul General to apparently about 30 years of age. | Hongkong; reparted by Dr. Beede of Mrs. Julia Clark Dorman, whose bedy Stockton. : was the last recovered, was the steward-| e - ess of the sunken steamer. She was fully | Jontmued on Pagy Seven.