The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 24, 1901, Page 13

Oorara A 0REE SEEXE KO SXOXOXO2OX0Q o 02) PEOX S X SAOXORON SR IR S R DFXPrOXONINSE .UME LXXXIX—NO. i ,MNQ&NQM o Pages | | H | | 02 DEOXPE DXDHD KO OROHONDHON Srnonorensns SAN FRANCISCO, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1901—THIRTY-TWO PAGES. ’ - ) 5 > §3 BN EDERICK JORDAN, THE PILOT, IS CONSIDERED PRICE FIVE CENTS, RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DISASTER IN WHICH SCORES OF LIVES WERE LOST ON THE RIO DE JANEIRO State and Federal Authorities Will Institute a Searching Inquiry Into the Causes of the Wreck. Seekers of the Dead Build Bonfires on the Ocean Beach to Watch for the Bodies of the Vic- tims Which May Float From the Dread Coffin-Ship—Police Patrol the Scene of the Horror WEIRD scene was enacted last the ocean beach e bonfires it up the shore at intervals the curtain fog over the waters. Here and there men moved and gazed at the breakers as they roared and broke upon the beach. A night watch been established to look for the e dead who had gons down in City of Rio de Jeansro. The of will not re- nd when RESPONSIBLE. ut exception de- ns to be otherwise des whether harbor, and ded that of a s 5 quired of them. If it becomes necessary to man the lifeboats one Chinese, who acts as overseer for the others, must re- ceive instructions and then transmit them to e O This means delay and con- fusion, and would be altogether avoided | 1f white crews were employed. WACTHING FOR PIRATES. If white men instead of Chinese were employed they €ould be relled upon also | to remain at their posts in emergencles where life is at stake. It is significant at of the thirty white officers of the Rio de Janelro nineteen met death at thelr | posts, while a majority of the Chinese es- | caped from the ship. This simply means that the Chinese looked after themselves alone, and the white men remained to render what aid they could. Thousands made their way to the ocean beach, to the heights above the CIff ! Houss and to the northern wharves terday to wailt and w of the wreck. But noth Now and agaln the heavy fog would rise held Wednesday morning at 10 o'clock. , After being viewed by the jury the bodles | of the white persons were taken in charge ! by relatives and removed to undertaking | establishments. | POLICE PATROL | BAY WATERS, Detectives Bent Out in a Tug With | Orders to Arrest All Persons Suspectad of Robbing ' Baggage. ! Complaints having been received by the | police that men in boats were seizing and | rifling baggage belonging to passengers or. the fli-fated steamer E:o de Janeiro, Ac ing Chief Sevmour yesterday hired tl tug Amy and detafled Detectives Ed Gi son and Ross to.patrol the bay In her. They were instructed to seize any bag- gage found floating In the bay and to ar- - ing disposition his presence was not! noted. After the Rio struck upon the reef Hol- land assisted the captain In gétting the passengers Into the lifeboats. He and the | captain walked aft together on the star- | board side, and just as they reached the saloon the boat gave a lurch and disap- peared beneath the water. Holland was carried down by the suctlop, but managed | to secure hold of a life pfeserver, which assisted him to rise to the surface, but not until he had been almost strangled by the salt water. Being an expert swim- | mer he succeeded in keeping afloat until | picked up by an Itallan fisherman. | Holland has relatives residing in New | York, and to-day he notified them of his | } .escape. | BOAT DRILLS B CRITICIZED NEW YORK, Feb. 2.—Public attention again has been directed by the sinking of the City of Rio de Janeiro to measures for saving life In case of accident tn steamships. Representatives of some of the principal transatlantic liners running out of this port to-day were asked to give thelr opinfons cf the efficacy of lifeboat — | | | engineer | after the boat struck | an opportunity ALL BUREAU, 1406 G STREET, N. W., WASHINGTON, Feb. 2.—An official investigation into the City of Rio de Janeiro dis- aster will be made in San Fran- cisco. The investigation will be made by O. F. Bowles, Inspeo- tor of Hulls, and John C. Bulger, Ine spector of Machinery, under the super- visfon of John Bermingham, General In< spector, In San Francisco. Supervising General Dumont of the Steamboat Inspection Service sald to-day that these men were thoroughly efficient and capable of making a satisfactory in- vestigation. Mr. Bermingham served as general superintendent of the Pacifie Mail Cqupany, to which the City of Rio de Jalet®> belonged, and prior to his occu- pancy of this position he acted as chief apd subsequentlyl commanded the Pacific Mail liner. General Dumont is {inclined to look with disapproval upon the efforts of the pilot, who was rescued, to place the blame on the captain, who sank with his ship. “Captain Ward,” he d, “was an ex- perienced sailor, and not likely that he would fall to stop ship when the pilot suggested that this be done. Cap- tain Ward cannot defend himself. The | pilot will have an opportunity to be heard by the board which will make the inves- tigation.” General Dumont said that there was little time for lifeboats to be lowered Had Captain Ward lower his boats and rafts all the passenger: d crew would probably have been saved. General Du- mont's reports show that the vessel was to provided with twelve lifeboats, capable of carryink 209 persons, and twelve rafts, which could have easil accommodated 202 persons, making & total of 411 persons that could Rave been provided for. There were 201 persons on the City of Rio de Janeiro when she sank. There is no disposition here to blame officers or crew for failure to lower boats promptly. Nor is it ved that tha crew did mot act effic y. Under tha law, the master of every vessel carrying passengers is required to have weekly drills on his ship. The law reads: “It shall be the duty of the master of every inspected steamer of Lhirty net tons and over, carrying passengers on the ocean, lakes, gulfs or bays., when such steamer is under way, to cause to be prepared a station bill for his own department, and beli rest all boatmen discovered with baggage In their possession that had been tampered picking | | one also for the engineer’'s department, | in which shall be assigned a post or sta- and reveal ecores of tiny craft plowing e of the disaster, scen shattered lumber and any arti- “m‘l itlun for every person employed on board cle which might float to the surface, The | '.° 2ve fOF years” sald Captaln Sey- | | | such steamer, in case of firs or other dis- Police Dep t out two detec. | mOUT Yesterday, ‘been urging upon the | | | aster, which station bill shall be placed = ;‘( xt S n;*:l Fpge il AT Board of Supervisors the urgent necess | | In the most conspicuous place on board E : . L o Gemand | of providing the department with a polic | for the observation of the crew. A D his business and an ac- | pa4ro) joat the same as In New York and ~R531E Ball Do the Gty of seib e e property. The Federal| oo coagt cities fn the East have, but | | | i G R i i e e i 2 e SO P e peach | without effect. In a seavort like this | | beadly Jitions rande pnp Doryphmn gy make an in- ® no question as to he State authori- in- that this they , the surviving nelro, Graham yesterday n, bef . A DOUBLE INVESTIGATION. . will decide when the It is expected imony bearing ibility will be Pllot Jordan. ered by the public &t e most vitally tmpor- n the city. r is of human entrance to t which has ex- n F rancisco but wil {llustrata ster has occa- 2, 1901 Franeised: obstrue- ressional Feb. remove. Rio de il indiscretion of through the her on arisen and 2 subject of discussion reference to ips of the Pa- Company. These become frenzied and cannot, duties re- | the Morgue at 4 p. m. The inquest will be f of the liféboat in which Mrs. Wildman and ot met their death was ved up on the Marin County shore. During the afternoon a sad memento of the disaster was carried by the waves t§ the beach at Harbor View. It was a photograph of Consul General Wildman and one of his children, the baby clasping ther's neck. Some of Captain Ward's paper: were also found, and among them as a master. But the give back the dead, who re- d in the sunken ship. prns ey was h! waves d OCEAN KEEPS 1 ITS VICTIMS No More Bodies Are Recovered, but | Several Who Were Reported Lost Were Not on the Rio. No more bodles of the Rio’s victims cast up by reported at the Morgue yesterday, although throughout | the day there were many callers, relatives and friends of the ill-fated passengers, making inquiries for the bodies of their loved ones. There were also many in- quiries for persons who Were not on the | steamer, but who were thought by their | friends as likely to have been aboard. These applicants were very much relieved when iInformed that the complete list of passengers published in The Call yester- day morning @id mot contain the names of the missing persons. Among those previously reported miss- ing, but who haé not salled on the steam- er, were the following: Miss Kate Hickey of China, sister of Mrs. e Sterman of Sacramento. Main of Honolulu, reported by his r, Mrs. Main, 511A Greenwich etreet. the waves were reet. e, reported by Emile Faure, 706 ry street. Walter Ducoing, reported by his mother, 1707 Mission street Billings, , 348 M reported by Mrs. Victor, his a street. Third Officer C. J. dead terd: caped in crew and Holland, reported turned up alive at the Morgue yes- | He said that he es- boat with seven Chinese of the t Captain. Ward was carry- ernoon. ing Mrs. Wildman to one of the boats | when the steamer went down.. A Coroner’s jury viewed the remains at | the necessity of }in her and many | have been saved. The newspapers shoull where we are constantly being notified of | eriminals arriving or departing on vessels to and fro from the Orient and Australia a police patrol boat is only too apparent. “Take the case of the Rlo de Janeiro as ustration of the bemefit to be derlved from such a boat. The news of the wreck was telephoned to Bhe Central police sta- tion at half-past7 ofelock yesterday morn- ing. If we had been in possession of a police patrol boat we could have scnt a | number of men to the scene of the wreck | valuable lves might take this matter up ana insist upon a pa- trol boat belng provided for the use of the | Police Department.” { BMOURNS FOR SAILOR LOVER Miss L-na Jackson, Captain Ward’s | BetrotMed, Weeps Over Fate of | the Wrecked Rio’s Master. The kind attentions and soothing caresses of loving friends and sympa- thetic relatives have proven unavailing to soften the grief of Miss Lena Jackson, who was betrothed to Gaptain Ward of the Rio de Janeiro. Prostrated by griet and almost on the verge of hysteria, she lles in a darkened room at her home at 2119 Howard street, constantly bewalling the sad fate of her lover, by whom she hoped to be soon led-to the altar. No one had awaited the home-coming of the Rio with more impatience than she. Each day during the latter part of the voyage when it was thought that the ship was nearing this port she scanned the papers, hoping to catch some intelligence of the veseel that carried her loved one. Captain Ward and Miss Jackson been engaged for almost nine years. She first met the captain on board his own ship, in which she returned from a visit to China in 1592, When the tidings of the dreadful trag- edy reached her she persistently refused to belleve them, and yesterday, accompa- nied by her sister, she wandered about the beach, hoping against hope for tidings from the lost one. Even last night, when almost every one believed the captain to be among the missing, the faithful one still clung to the hope that he had escaped and was still preserved for her. had o CONFIRMING THE DREAD NEWS OF DEATH. i Captain Ward had long postponed his marriage to Miss Jackson, as he wished to secure a position on land before wed- ding her. In his last letter to her, writ- ten during his last trip, he expressed the hope that he would soon be able to ob- tain a permanent position at Honolulu, and promised that the wedding wouid then takeé place. 'TO BE BURIED IN OAKLAND Mrs. Wakefield’s Body Will Bs Hell Until the Arrival of Her Sons; Who Are Hurrying West., OAKLAND, Feb. 23.—Th> bodv of Mrs. S. B. Wakefield, who was drowned in the wreck of the Rio de Janeiro, will be brought to this city for burial. Mra. Wakefleld has two soas in the East who have ordered that their mother's body be kept until their arrival, and that every ef- fort be made to recover the body of thcir sister. From the fact that the body of Mrs. Wakefleld was recovered so soon af- ter the wreck some nope was entertained by their many friends that the young lady might have escaved the awful fate that overtook her mother. All hops of this has now been abandoned and it is feared that her body may have been car- .rled ovt to sea. The only relatives of Mrs. Wakefleld are her two sons in New York, Samuel Bell Wakefield and Frank Wakefleld, and Her two sisters, Mrs. Ruth Miller and Mrs. Catherine Hobson of Bast Oakland. Her sons are now on the way here from New York and are expected to arrive on ‘Wednesday, when the detalls of the tuner- al will:be arranged. A reward of $250 has been offered by relatives for the recovery of the body of Miss Wakefield. . Mrs. Wakefield was the widow of Sam- uel Bell Wakefield, and lived {n San Fran- cisco for many vears. They still own a residence across the bay. . Later they lived, In'this city on Harrison street, and entertained lavishly. After the death of Mr. Wakefield the boys went to New York, where their business interests wers, and Mrs. Wakefleld and her daughter trayeled extenslvely through Europe. The Wakeflelds were great friends of C. C. Clay of Fruitvale and when Miss Clay was married last fall Mrs. Wakefield and | her daughter crossed the ~ontinent to at- ten dthe wedding, Miss Wakafield being one of the bridesmaids. After this thev remained at the Metropole until they took the Hawallan journey. Mrs. Wakeflell did not want to make this trip, but Miss Wakefleld urged it strongly and the mother finally consented because of her daughter's health, which was not good. They expected to return on the China, buz for some reason delayed thelr horecom- ing untll the Rio de Janeiro salled, and that delay cost them their lives. Mrs. Wakefleld was' greatly, Interested in charltable work In Oakland and was admired wherever she was known. dJ. C. HOLLAND NOT DROWNED Third Officer of the Wrecked Vessel, Who Was Reported to Be Among the Missing, Turns Up Unharmed. J. C. Holland, third officer of the Rio, who on the day of the wreck was mourned among the missing, turned up yesterday, to the surprise and delight of his friends. unharmed. It is not knoewn how he be- came numbered with the dead further than that after the boat sank he did not report his escape to any of the officers of the steamship company. He was on the ‘wharf and around the beach where the disaster ‘occurred, but as he is of a retir- drills for an emergency such as confront- ed the officers of the lost Pacific Mail liner. Boat drills in one form or another are | part of routine duties aboard steamships of every transatlantic liner. But it was | the general opinion that while drills are necessary and a_ useful part of the life- boat system, the whola system often falls at a critical moment because conditions | surrounding a foundering vessel are sel- | dom favorable to lowering boats and get- ting them away. John Lee, general agent of the White Star Jine, said: “I do not think much of lUifeboat drills, although this line main- tains drills regularly in port. But youa | cannot say anything about the case of the City of Rlo de Janeiro until it is known exactly what happeeed. Apparent- | Iy it was all very suiden and from what | I have read it appears the captain thought the steamship had struck aft and ordered | all forward. Then the vessel suddenly | plunged down bow first. - “Much depends on the crew at such times, and we do not know yet what kind of men she carried. You will probabiy find that many of the men were Chinese.” | Gustav H. Schwaba of the North Ger- | man Lloyd line sald:. “We maintain life- boat drills regularly on our steamships | every trip, but it is seldom a wreck oc- | curs when conditions are favorable for lawhching lifeboats. It is seldom that sinking steamships 3o ctraight down. Usually they have a heavy list and boats on the upper side striké the side of the ship and it is impossib.e to get them Into the water. The othéy side is quickly sub- merged, and the, boats on that side are | elther, stove In or submerged before they | can be used. “What impresses me mest about thiz | wreck of the Pacific Mail steamship is | how the pilot could have seen lizhts and | not have known the dangerous position of | the ship. If sueh a dangerous ledge of | rocks was there it seems to me it shouid | have been marked by a lighthouse.” call all hands to quarters and exercise them in discipline and in unlashing and swinging out of lifsboats, weather permit- ting, and In the use of fire pumps and ail other apparatus for the safety of life on board of such vessel, and to see that all equipments required by law are In com- plete working order for immediats use, And the fact of the exercise of the craw, as herein contemplated, shall bs entered upon the steamer log book, stating the day of the month and the hour when sa exercised, and any neglect or omission ony the part of the officer in command of such steamer to strictly enforce sald rules shall be deemed cause for revocation of license of such officer. STEAMSHIP MAY HAVE GONE DOWN Transport Port Albert Brings News of the Mysterious Disappear~ ance . of a Big Vessel. PORT TOWNSEND, Feb. 22.—An ae- count of what may turn out to be another marine disaster and mysterious disap- pearance of a big steamship while cross- ing the Pacific is given by Captain Mor- ris of the transport Port Albert, which arrived from quarantine to-day. Captain Morris says that while in midocean h mate sighted a two-masted steamship abeam of the Port Albert, about two miles distant. The weather was hazy, but it could be seen that the steamer was in a trough of the sea and laboring fearfully. The sea was running high at the time, and it was all that could be done to keep the Port Albert head on. The mate went below to get ‘his glasses so that he sould see the vessel, but when he returned the atmosphere had become more hazy. In less than a half-hour the weather cleared but no vessel could be seen. Both steam- ers were traveling in the same direction, and Captain Morris expresses the opinion that the wunfortunate vessel may have | foundered. Identifyins Four of Dead. The bodies of three Chinamen and a Japanese In the Moreue were identified vesterday afternoon as Jeong On, bath boy; Chun Jun, second pantryman; Jow Dock, porter; Joe Adachi, Japanese mess- boy. The bedy . of the Chinese passenger was not identified.