The Seattle Star Newspaper, January 25, 1906, Page 1

} EXTRA Capt. Johnson Proves Himself a Hero--Chief Engineer Downing Makes a Tragic Statement as Last Raft! Leaves the Vessel--Boat for Lack of Food-Bodies Washing Ashore on Van-: couver Island Coast--Qne Hundred and Forty Believed to Have Been Load of Survivors Suffers LATEST WRECK INFORMATION Of the 154 persons aboard the Valencia only 33 have been accounted for, leaving a death list numbering 141 One boat load of survivors, landing at the Telegraph Huts, are in a starving and weakened condition and difficulty is being experienced in getting relief to them. Eighteen survivors, picked up from a life raft“by the Topeka yesterday afternoon, are aboard that vessel and being cared for by the Pacific Coast Co. City of Victoria sends steamer and a volunteer crew of men from British navy with surf boats and other means of reaching the scene of the wreck. Stories of survivors, now beginning to come in, tell of heroic conduct of officers of the wrecked vessel and deeds of bravery by passengers and members of the crew Survivors, last to leave the doomed vessel, tell of Captain 's declaration to stay aboard his ship until death came | and the announced intention of Chief Engineer Downing to ‘shoot himself as soon as the last hope of rescue had disap- VICTORIA, B. C., Jan. 25.—The situation on the coast morning may be briefly described as much more favor- ‘gble for life saving work, as during the night the sea abated, ‘the sea his gone down and the steamer Salvor which has evi- been lying at Bamfield will set out for the wreck and any further aid can be furnished. Meanwhile another and if possible more terrible chapter in the whole affair is be ing written on the coast at the telegraph huts where there are nine of the survivors who drifted ashore on the day of the wreck. Only intermittent communication has been es- tablished with them and several attempts to get to them have been fruitless. This morning reports from Bamfield state that the nine surviving men there are in a terrible condition. They cannot walk, and some of the mare even unable to stand, thus making it impossible for them to even get to a proper place of shelter and are sitting, destitute, cold and @arving for the aid which has so far been denied them. They have no provisions excepting a meagre amount which was carried by a party of three which left Bamfield yesterday and who managed to get some sustenance to them. One of the survivors has a sprained ankle and the others have no boots. AB are exhausted. It is impossible for them to get to Cape Peale or indeed anywhere. Last evening the entire party attempted to cross a swollen stream to go to the wreck and one nearly lost his life. Logan and Daykin, the two young men who started two days ago to help these people with ropes and gear and could Mot get across the stream, report that wreckage is coming ashore all along the beach and that the body of a woman and child have also come ashore. Lighthousekeeper Paterson at Cape Beale, who all along has rendered great assistance, has Started down the coast with ropes and food. The bodies which have come ashore are not identified. WOULD MAKE END QUICK AND SURE Chief Engineer Downing Declared He Would Shoot Himself When He Found All Hope Had Gone. If he carried out his declaration made before the life- boat with F. F. Campbell and others left the wrecked Val- encia, later reaching shore near Sea Bird rocks, Chief En- gineer W. Downing killed himself with his own revolver before the final dissolution of the steamer When the desperate nature of the accident first became known and it appeared problematical whether any would be saved, Mr. Downing, who had put his revolver in his pocket in case of attempted mutiny, told those near him that when he saw there was absolutely no more hope he ke his end quick and certain with a bullet er Campbell was standing near when the chief engi- Meer made this declaration. His words as repeated by the Survivors in that boat were “Well when it comes to the last I will never meet hose wave One shot from my revolver and along the ig departments of various steamship companies for years. His conduct aboard the stricken steamer, the survivors assert, was such as could have been expected only from a true man, strong in his friendship, ever ready to help the weak and with an honety and readiness in cases of emergency that was strik- ingly exemplified in his every action after the steamer first went on the rocks. LIFE RAFT PICKED UP BY TOPEKA (Drawn from Telegr je Description.) — CARRIES TWENTY TO THEIR DEATH Foretop Mast of Valencia Goes Into the Sea With a Score off People Clinging to It. At 1 o'clock Wednesday afternoon the foretop mast on the wrecked steamship Valencia, on which were 20 people secking safety from the waves, broke from the vessel's shat- jtered hulk and with a crash fell into the sea, carrying every- one to death. | Many of these people were tied securely with ropes to the rigging of the mast and had absolutely no chance for their lives. Even those who were imprisoned to the spar with cords |had no chance to battle in the surging sea, for all were | chilled to the bones, weak and incapable of battling with the waves This accident was witnessed from shore by a rescue party | which went out from Bamfield. In the party were H, F. Bul- len, Captain Troup, of the Canadian Pacific Steamship com- |pany; Captain Cox, Lloyd's agent, and Drs. Redmond and | Hart, all residents of Victoria. The party went overland along one of the hardest |stretches of country to traverse that can be imagined. Por- tions of their way they had to fight inch by inch to make progress over the cliffs and canyons. | Had the party arrived several hours earlier it is possible that all these people might have been saved, providing they | were not already dead from exposure | As viewed from the shore the vessel rapidly broke up ater the mast fell. In the opinion of those who were there i ne |to witness the end of the tast survivors from the wreck the lconstant charging of the sea had so weakened the steamer's | frames that the spar jolted loose and then, of its own weight, plunged into the sea, carrying all with it. Re & On lifeboat * Tuesday *® =P. Bunker, assistant sehoc superiptendent at whose wife are drowned D. F. Richley Carl Samu enger, bound Mike Hone. one KR Brown One Japanese Pasnenger Oakiand t 7 Thomas 8 F. Campbe Passongor, whe @nd 16-year-old daw B. BE. Ledhos Albert Wells TT years old Bates avy John Mark, W. Goslan, Thos Pa Lampson, C Brown, seamen Rot San Francinec SHR SS PASSENGER ON LIFE RAFT TALKS , oe cf Terri |» Battle Wits Wird and Waves-as Recounted By G. Willets. \ reaching shor and two daug i” lt le firemar teee eee eens eee eee eee eens \* is * Joseph McCaffrey, passenger J, Walsh, waiter eee eee eee ee eee seeeeteee A. Hawkins, passenger J. Ho q * . * * * * . * . * o * a ee PORT ANGELES, Jan. 25.—G, Willetts, one of the Val- a passengers rescued from the life raft by the steamer opeka, tella the following story of the wreck: “The ship struck at 12:07 on the morning on Tuesday, January 23. 1 was on deck at the time, smoking a cigar, and Was looking at my watch when the first crash came, In an instant all was excitement. There were the shrieks of fright- ened men and women, the wail of little children and the hoarse orders of the officers of the ship. The vessel reeled like a drunken man, slid over the reef, and struck again. The command to back her was given and she went astern at.full speed. But it was too late. The water was pouring | iy like g-mill race and with a sound which drowned all else. wind swung the vessel's stern to the beach and her head | to the waves. This saved many lives, as she was then swept back to the shore arid struck once again, in such a position that she remained partly above water and on an even keel “Every wave now washed clear over her, and many peo- ple who hastily rushed on deck went to their death without time to murmur a prayer BOATS ARE SMASHED. “The order was given to get out the boats. Two of them om the weather side were launched and were smashed like kindling wood as soon as they struck the water. Then came the attempt to get out the lee boats “Purser O'Farrell took charge. Four women and a num- ber of men went into the boat. I don’t know how many, but she was practically full. Just as they were lowering it the other davits broke and the stern of the boat fell to the water, while the bow hung in the air “Every one was precipitated into the sea and swept away i@Gn instant. For a second or two I caught the glimpse of an agonized face, then another and yet another as they were washed by me. It was awful. The waves dashing over the started breaking her up. They wrenched the deck loose every swell lifted it “We all clung to the rigging and deck houses until morn- ing. Then an attempt was made to get a line ashore. A fire- iman named Seajala agreed to swim ashore. He was in the water fully half an hour, but was unable to make the beach. STRUCK NEAR CLIFP. “The ship struck in a bad spot. She is directly at the foot a precipitous bluff that comes sheer to the water's edge. Oe man was swept ashore and succeeded in landing on a ll rock. We shot a line to him and he tried to climb the jo, but he fell and was killed before our eyes “One of the most pitiable incidents was of a little boy ut 5 years old. His father, mother and two little sisters put ‘off in one of the boats. The boat was capsized and all were drowned. The little fellow waddled around the deck, crying for his parents. The last I saw of him he was clinging in the igging. There were many other similar cases. “A lame officer from the Concord, accompanied by his two sisters, was also in the rigging. “By Wednesday morning the ship was rapidly going to pieces. Every swell carried away a portion of the ship. The decks rose and fell with every breaker, and it was impossible to. stay on deck without clinging to a support. The ship was sunk to about the level of the hurricane deck. MAST FALLS WITH TWENTY, “In the morning another sad calamity occurred. or 20 persons. had taken refuge in the foretop mast. They appeared to be in the safest place, as it was removed from the wash of the waves, although the flying spray dashed far over their heads. Suddenly and without warning the mast tottered and there came a shriek from those in it, And next moment it fell with a crash, carry- About 15 among them one or two women. LIST OF KNOWN SAVED Wie SEE STORY OF SURVIVOR, F. F. CAMPBELL, ON PAGE 3 “The Seattle Star SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, THURSDAY, JANUARY, | TWO SURVIVORS TELL OF THE HEROIC CONDUCT OF OFFICERS OF VALENCIA ji ed 285 1 I don’t think ad of human freight to a terrible death a single one s The bodies he ship and we could see them dashed t It a8 terrible. “To add to our misery, the last of our food was washed away. We had no rtod ave the bitter cold sleet. The wind and rain bined with the sea, soon numbed us. Every little while some one in the rig ould loose his hold and be swept @ to the sharp rc we thanked God the tug sheered hen we sa ng the Queen in the when she in « for si us, b off and sailed away she was followed by nothing but curses. I suppose it was too dangerous for them to attempt to save us, SIGHT TOPEKA “When the Topeka finally hove in sight we determined to make an effort to reach her in the life raft. Few of the men cared to make the attempt, as it appeared to be certain death to even try the breakers. But 18 of us were willing, and we started. With only a pair of oars the struggle against the wind and sea was almost too much for us. Part of the time we were under water and were almost drowned. But we were compelled by the courage of despera- tion and fought against the elements like demons. We held one man up right in the center of the raft and had him wave a shirt on a pole. When we saw the steamer turn we thought she had overlooked us and was going away. If she had, we would have died right there “The waving of the shirt from the raft reminds me that when the Queen was first sighted the women in the rigging |even removed portions of their underclothing to wave as @ | signal for help from their position in the rigging. “When we left the ship on the raft we tried to get some of the remaining women to go, but they refused. WAS BREAKING UP FAST. “No help can now reach them before morning, and the {ship then will have gone to pieces. She was breaking fast when we left her. I doubt if she held together more a few hours afterwards. She lies directly in such a position that there is no hope of anyone reaching shore. “If the two boats which we saw get away and pull to sea are picked up they and ourselves only ones saved. “Captain Johnson lost his and ran the ship ashore. It was a dark and stormy night and nothing could be |seen. The ship struck while running full speed. We all thought we were to the southward of Flattery, and after strik- |ing Captain Johnson proved himself a hero. He made the staternent that he would never leave the wreck alive, and I be- lieve it “The chief engineer is also carrying a revolver with which to blow out his brains when the critical moment comes. There were many deeds of heroism, and many acts of cowardice, but on the whole the people behaved well and met their fate like men,” EIGHTEEN PICKED UP BY TOPEKA | Wreck Survivors on Board. to cross \° PORT ANGELES, Jan. 25.—Clinging to the slender | ropes of a frail life raft, half dead with exposure and too weak | to even take a rope thrown to them, 18 survivors of the ill- | fated Valencia were finally rescued by a boat’s crew from the stearner City of Topeka in the straits late yesterday afternoon FLAG IS AT | SHE LOSES | | hoped to | COTTAGE CITY ARRIVES AFTER | 1 | STORMY TRIP th fall heir to his estate, is Judge Fra- n a decision rendered 10on, holding that no nun- e will, as held by Miss Car- eS : ; Pe | rau, Was ever made by Sullivan. The he Steamsh'P | case will be appealed SHIP LOST to probate ny's Skagway City arrived this m with her flag ¢ Valencia bants’ Exchange this eived a dispatch from stating that the Gertrude reports tug J. F. Boyden. The having seen a large up, outside Cape ntity of lumber e the ves- bark Admiral San Francisco ight days ago, and overdue. Exchange reported that a two-masted passed Port Crescent mn with a deck- e presumption be- he has been driven back “One Cent-- MONTH