The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 1, 1901, Page 38

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUfiDAY, ‘DECEMBER 1, 1901. 87 SAUSALITO'S PASSENGERS STRIVE HERDICALLY TO SAVE THEIR FELLOW-MEN ~ IND SCORES OF IMPERIL TURMOIL FOLLOWS CRASH Sausalito Ties to the Stricken Ferry \ Steamer. PR S Whitehall Boat Tells of Tugs Going to the Rescue. Vessels Drift a TIlile| After Shock of | Collision. strik- teamer. We were whistle r deck, some from the deck ve and others from th 1 we 2 the roof. Rafael sank out of sight fif es after the crash wn at once, and signals a Whitehall the white- az. The fog not see the £ ] gnng e perhaps sank was told ort Point. There was t were in no tugs were rom drift- L LR slar siip in passen PASSENGERS RELATE STORIES OF ACCIDENT AND THEIR ESCAPE Herman Hahn of San Anselmo Says He Saw Some People Go Down With the Boat. n of San ¥ t some time in | f her sub- Rafael's lif boats and who wers bliged to jump ¥ a high trib the offi- | cers rew of the § He says they acted with cos 1 considera tion, th did everything in their power t e the safety of the passen- | gers and their efforts is due the fact that th wa ne terrible loss of e Captain W. Lioyd of the British ship Balasore, Liverpoo *] was on my w t | where my ship is | a tull cargo. The fog was vers a damp that it was best to sit in on the inside I the bell to stop and soon a signal to go astern. In anc the collision came. The San Rafael was struck square- amidships on the starboard side. I got on the deck and easil umbled from davits of the San Rafael to the Sau- s soon &s I got on the Bausalito I helped to drag the women from the San Rafael up the side to the Bausalito, I think that two boats were lowered from | the San Rafael and one from the Sausa- | it The San Rafael floated about twenty | minutes after she was struck and went | down bow first. She sank with her lights | burning and I did not see anybody on board.". Mre. . Goerl of S8an Rafael was aboard ihe boat that was sunk with her brother Bhe lost track him arkl did not see | bim aboard the Sausalito. She went to | al Hotel upon her arrival in | this city and axiousiy awaited news of | ber missing relative, Mr. Jansen of Ross Station, another passenger aboard the sunken vessel, sus- ained an injury of the leg. Herman Hahn of San Anselmo sald he was sure some women and children were @rowned, as he saw them in the bow of the Ban Rafael when she went down. He declared that the ferry boat went down bow first and before the passengers could all Le rescued ,‘ liliam Gorman, engineer on the steam- ©¥ Tamalpals, was a passenger on the Ban Rafael. He was going to his home i Bausalito. He sald: ““When the steam- ers first collided there was a great panic, but the cool-headed demeanor - ot Captain i | | i \ | a There sther back was | McKenzie and his men had & good effect | nd they became reasonably quiet under | he circumstances. We all did what we | ould to keep our own courage and help | he women and children aboard the Sau- | alit The men al:behated like heroes. | was no attempting to pull each | and while there were many | who were beside themseives with fright | mer T w nd excitement, there was no display of | wardice on the part of any of the| The thing all happeged suddenly fog was so thick that one couldn't front of him and when I | Sausalito she was head on | Che m top of us. I don't think that any | lives were lost, except that some of the women or excitable men may have | Jumped overboard when the crash oc- urred Norman Arter of Goldbers, Bowen & [ was thrown into the water from one | f the lifeboats. He had a life preserver | n and was quickly hauled out. He said it was the most terrifying experience { ver expect to have. After the panic re- | sulting from the first shogk we all did | we could to pacify the women and | irls. They kept cool when they saw h. He deserves great credit for the wa We d | not for the efforts of Captain McKenzie | lives lost. He and his men are deserving sengers 1 feel that Captain McKenzic did | ing the thick weather, i #elf a great and courageous seaman, The fc = anybody else to sce thefr struggles or sce them go down by cabin when the #a | #ubsided and then grabbed one of the life | preservers and got Into it. After that [ | knew I was safe, for I saw the Sausalito —_—-r M- - _———___ ow level headed Captain McKenzie was he onducted himself during the excitement. all ‘heard the Sausalito whistle and | ptain McKenzle was backing the San el when the .other boat ran him own, J. A. Zerman, general solicitor for Gold- | Bowen & Co., : San acl’'s passengers was among . it th He said W nd his crew there would have been many f the greatest praise. As one of the pas. 11 M his power 10 avert the collision nd make a safe trip across the bay dur- After the Sausa- to struck us he certalnly proved him- g was 80 thick that even if many peo- le were drowned It would be hard for I belleve that there were yme who met their death in the collision, ut of my own knowledge I know of one James Gleason of S8an Rafael was in the collision occurred. He aid: “I waited until all the exeitement T | & . 1 Iying alongside us, so I busled myself helping the women and children. Several of us lowered about a half dozen women into the boats, and then when everybody who needed any help got off the sinking steamer 1 left it too and got aboard the ausalito. 1 saw several people in the water, and 1 doubt if they were saved.” Ed Thomas, a young man who lives in Sausalito, was coming over to the city on the Sausalito. He was talking to a friend near the engine room and heard all the slgnals that passed between the boats. He said: “I first heard Captaln McKenzle's whistle and his danger signal, which was. answered immediately by the Sausalito, Captain Tribble tried hard to slow down our boat, but it was too late. The fog was so thick that you could scarcely see the lookout on our own boat, let alone the San Rafael in front of us.’ F. C. Allen of Allen & Lowry, of this city, had just left the S8an Rafael's din- ing-room when the crash came. He said: “I was one of the fortunate ones. I had just left the dining-room where the bow of the Sausalito stove through. I was standing outside the restaurant door when the crash came. I Immediately’ ran up stairs and busied myself pacifying those whom I found to be more excited than I ASSENGERS who were aboard the ill- fated San Rafael and the Sausalito tell their thrill- ir;g experiences in the half- hour after the larger boat into the smaller steamer dnd before the latter crashed went to the bottom. e e PASSENGERS WHO TOLD OF THEIR NARROW ESCAPES FROM DROWNING. was. a dozen among the missing.” T. J. Lennon, the attorney, who resides in S8an Rafael, sald: “I usually go home on an earlier boat, but was persuaded to | remain later this time to accompany my sister-in-law, Miss Josephine Leonhardt. On the boat I decided to take my dinner. I ordered a steak and became very ner- vous in the restaurant bscause Jim Mc- Cue of Corte Madera and several young men near him sald this was just the night for a collision. “I had just finished my steak when the crash came; the Sausalito actually forced her bow right Into the restaurant where we were seated. I was pinioned down for a few moments, but eventually was able to release myself. Jim McCue, however, was in bad shape; he had one of his ears nearly cut off and one of his arms broken. I ran out of the restau- rant and secured a life preserver. I tried to fasten it around me, but it was too tight. 1 ran upstairs and. found my sister-in-law and gave her a_life pre- server. Mr. Hynes of San Rafael as- sisted me to save her. I sald I would lower the young lady into the boat. He I belleve that when the round-up | sald-that there was not time and she must of passengers comes you will find at least | jump, so I threw her down into the boat, | which was shoved away from the side of the San Rafael. | “‘Soon afterward the Sausalito seemed. to bump into us, or else the San Rafael was sinking and she was swaying against the Sausalito. The next thing that I knew was ‘that - the bow of the Sausalito was Jamming againset us. I heard a scream and I saw that a young man was wedged in against the bow of the Sausalito. At the same time a young lady screamed and said that her arm was broken. 1 thought that it was getting too warm and know- ing that the Ban Rafael was sinking I Jumped overboard. I was always curlous to find out if a man could swim with his clothes on, and I found that they were no hindrance to me at all. I swam arou: from boat to boat, but was afraid to at- tempt to get into them, as I feared that I would turn them over. I eventually was hauled into a boat by Mike Hynes of San Rafael, as I was In an exhausted condl- tion.” Charles Eccles, the well known horse- man, was a . passenger on the ill-fated boat. - When the collision occurred he quickly donned a Lfe preserver and jump- —_— Ied into the water. By hard swimming he Irrmnflxed to keep afloat and was later hauled on board the Sausallto by means of a rope. Mr. Eccles weighs nearly 250 pounds and the life savers had a hard time puilling him on deck. He took the next boat for home. D. D. Bitz, one of the crew of the rev- enue cutter Bear, lowered a boat from that vessel, and, rowing to the steamer, succeeded in rescuing a number of pas- sengers. CRY OF LITTLE BABY RESCUES HER FATHER, MOTHER AND HERSELF L. K. Wisehart Tells How Infant's ‘Wail Directed Attention to a Fam- ily of Three in the Water. L. K. Wisehart, a passenger on the Sau- salito, gave a thrilling account of his ex- perlence when the San Rafael was run down. Wisehart comes from Newcastle, Ind., and is at present a student at Stan- ford University. ‘““When the two vessels strugk,” sald Wisehart, ‘‘there was considerable of a — CAPTAIN TRIBBLE DECLARES SAUSALITO BACKED WHEN SAN RAFAEL WHISTLED C APTAIN W. T. TRIBBLE of the Sausalito gave his statement of the accident frecly, but would not talk at length or answer any questions as to who was to blame. He neither defended himself nor attempted to place the responsibility upon the master of the San Rafacl. His bricf statement was as follows: “We left Sausalito in a dense fog at 6:15. We made the bells at Alcatraz all right and when abreast of the island heard the San Rafael's fog whistle. We shaped our course toward Lombard street wharf. “The San Rafael was a little on our port bow as we drew near together. She gave two whistles and we answered with two and stopped the Sausalito. Then the San Rafael gave three whistles and we answered with three and backed full speed. “We struck the San Rafacl just forward of the wheel on the starboard side. “As soon as the collision occurred we threw a line aboard the San Rafael and hove her up taut aboard our vessel. I don’t know how many were lost or whether any were. two boats. It was twenty minutes after the collision before the San Rafael sank.” Captain Tribble was asked several questions when he had finished his statement, account of the accident without hesitating as to facts. \ against the Sausalito, holding her there while the passengers got We tried to save them ail and I hope we did. We took a great many over the bow and lowered , but refused to answer any of them. He seemed perfectly collected and gave his D — | straight at us and not glancingly. | securea a knowing what would happen next. D MEN AND WOMEN OWE LIFE TO THEIR CODLNESS _— DINERS THROWN TO FLOOR Prow of Vessel Scat- ters People in the Restaurant. —— J. L. Torbert Says the Sausalito Ran at - Full Speed. : Says She Should Have Kept Straight on Her Course. NE of those aboard the San Rafael who was saved and who himseilf helped save the lives of others was J. L. Tor~ bert of Honolulu, who is vis- iting in San Rafael with his wife and child. Mr. Torbert belongs to the Myrtle Boat Club at the Hawallan capital and Is con~ sequently pretty much at home aboard vessels. He gave a very clear account of the accident and the rescue of the pas- sengers. He says he is convinced that a number of persons were drowned, and declares that some jumped overboard without life preservers. Mr. Torbert We left the slip in San Francisco about §:20 and n gone about twenty minutes when we heard a bell. We were off Alcatraz, I think. Our boat biew ocne whistle and then stopped. The Sausalito blew one whistle. We couldn’t see her light till she was almost om top of us. The Sausalito seemed to be coming almost at full speed and swung to starboard. I heard ebody aboard the Sausalito “Hard tarboard!’ She came the col- The Sausalito struck us full at right angles. Yes, I am sure of that. She came Had she kept straight ahead on the course she was first on she would mot have struck us. The San Rafael was hit just where her din- ing-room s located. Men who were cating at the coffee counter at the time were knocked off the stools and some of them were injured. The wheel was wrecked, t00, and portions of the paddles were thrown all over the dining- room floor, The San Rafael seemed to hang on to the nose of the Sausalito. A line was wn to us immediately and made fast. The ladies on the upper deck began pouring over on to the s-:-umo. No gang plank or ladder was put out. 1 saw some people in their excitement jump overboard without lifs preservers. I . e several were drowned. The ladies were cooler than the men. Ome woman broke open a case containing life pre- servers and began passing them out to the other ladies and advising them to put them on. The crew of the San Rafael tried to lower her boats immediately. but they did not seem to get them down quickly. I got in ome of them and helped rescus the passengers. Wo made two trips from the San Rafael to the Sausalito with boat loads. Then we rowed to the bow of the sinking ferryboat and asked if there Were any more ladles there. Some man 0, and we got aboard the Sausa- o San 1 sank sidewise and toward the Ssusalito. The water was pouring In on the side next the boat that had rammed her and the passengers were nearly all on that side, The vessel went down gently and there was lttle swirl above her. Bow and stern wers about on a level when she sank. All the time the vessels were together they were drifting and I heard some one say we were off the Presidio. No one could tell just where the San Rafael sank, but it must have been s long way from where she was struck. @ inininiiiniin i @ panic on board the Sausalito, for we did not know just what had hapoened. Some of the more. excitable passengers were about to jump overboard. when they wers restrained by the cooler-headed omes. I life-preserver at once, not “All of a sudden the passengers on board the San Rafael began clambering on board the Sausalito and we assisted as many of them as we could reach to reach a place of safety. It may have been fifteen minutes before the San Rafael sank, but it did not seem to me that long. Many of the San Rafael passengers had Jumped in the water, for they were swime ming all around us. I believe that most of these were picked up. but it was very difficult to see for certain on account of the density of the fog and the almost total darkness which prevailed. “I heard the faint cry 6f a little infant in the water and this was the means of rescuing the little one and her father ana mother whe were struggling in the water with thelr life-preservers. Had the baby not cried out it is quite likely that the three would have been swept away before assistance could reach them. I was un=~ able to ascertain their names. ‘“When the Sausalito started for this side, after picking up all the passengers in sight, another steamer hove in sight and was within an ace of running us down. We, on the Sausalito, who were nearly frantic with our experience, danced about the deck like crazy people. Wa yelled to the oncoming steamer to back away, which she did and we just grazed de. It is an experience-I shall not easily forget and I would not care to du- plicate it. I brought the life-preserver ta my hotel to preserve as a memento of the unfortunate affair.” = i JAMES FAY CUTS HIS WAY OUT CAPTAIN'S - Electrician of Corte Madera Finds Hig Progress Impeded, but Uses Weap- on With Telling Effect. James Fay, an electriclan residing ag Corte Madeta, was obliged to break his way with an ax through the captain’s cabin on the Sausalito before he was en- abled to reach a place of safety. Fay was the center of attraction at the ferry depot after the Sausalito had landed her own passengers and those rescued from the San Rafael. He carried the ax with which he had cut his way to escape from the rapidly sinking San Rafael. ‘““When the collision came,” sald Fay, “I knew trom the terrible impact that we were the sufferers, and I immediately set about to get off the steamer. I gave no thought to the life preservers which were about me, for I knew I could climb aboard the Sausalito if she stood by. I realized at.once that the Sausalito was close alongside and In running to get aboard of her my eyes fell on one of the axes sus- ‘pended on the upper deck. I tore it from its fastenings and reaching the rail I was about to climb on the Sausalito when I saw that my progress was impeded by the captain’s cabin. Seeing that there was no foothold unless the obstruction was re- moved 1 smashed at the cabin with the ax and cut out a hole rarge enough to admit my body. I scrambled through with the help of some of the crew who were rushing about, and I was soon out of danger. As 1 was using my ax a woman oy Contiznued on Page Thirty-Eight,