Hundreds Drown
London, Jan. 81. - The Riníing of the ifceamer Klbe, of the North Qerraan Lloyd, "the most terrible ooean disaster foryeara excoptthat of the Victoria bauleshipin the Moditerraneau in 1893, took place off Lowestoft about 6:30 a. m. yestcrday. She wns steaming along at nn ordinary Bpeed when through the mist sho sighted off her port bow the Crathie, bouud frora Kotterdam tu Ahcrdcrii. Beforo tho uollision could be avertud the Crathie had run into the Klbe. ïhe North Gorman Uoyd steamer was struik above the engiuti room and began to ÜU so rapldly that there was only time to lower tlircö f her boats and one of these was swamped ghortly aftur getting away troon the gteamer. ole Surrivom of tha Klsastcr. ïhe iir.st bont uuntsined tliird ulfic.'r. thief engir.t-or, the purgar and nhout twenty paasengers. 'the oncupantia of tlie beat wer(! picked up by a couple of fishIng smftcks and were taken to LówAStoiCt. where ihoy have been lauded. H hns been found difflcnlÉ to ge't the officera of the steainship to make any statement aatll tliey have oommuntcated with the agenta of the Klbe, and tho passengere who have boen reaoued nn; au yot too exnlted to teil anything hut rambling storios. But trom what can bu athpred hot a very short time must have elapsed hetween tin; c.ollisioii and th inking ot Ihe Elbo. Llka lrowDing; (u a liox. Nothing is known_ as to the fate of the oeenpants of tiiu third boat which wis loatled froui the K.he, but it is hoped tlial, they vfüI either be picked up by some passing veasel or t.-lse sui!ceed in inakiüg n landing on thu coust. From what une of the roscued men says the disaster must haTi; boen one of the most terribles in the historyof aaoh catAstrophea. All paasengers ure understood to have been below and usleep at tho timo thi: collisiou oeeured, ftBd nearly all of them must have been either drowned hulow or have met death while seeking to rush upön the deck. The man who furnishes this information was i guch an excited state that little more eoukl be gathered froni hiiu thaa xelainations of horror. No Time to III ter n l'mycr. Ui' repeated time and agatn: "It was terrible. It was terrible. Tho poor women and children went down without hardly brnng able to utter a prayer. It was terrible. The steamship must be full of dead bodies. They were eaught like rats in a trap. I oan't teil you any more about it. All I kuow is that I heard a terrible crash, and ïl was foüowed hy an awful sound of mailing water and escapiug steaui. It ws very dark down below where I was. Bat somehow Í inanaged to push my way on deck. Th.o ship rosounded with hoartrending crios trom all quarters, although the officera seemed to be doing all thoy reu ld to calm the people. I saw a lot of hailors making a rush for a boat, and I joined in with them. Fightiiig fora Cli&noe for I,ife. "Somehow the boat was lowered and I managed to scnunblp into it, althougli it seoaied to me as i f about 1(X) peoplo woro trying to do tho saine. We pulied somo of t.hem away, for it waa uttarly imposaiblc to load tho boat any more and we could soe that tho Klbe was doomed. She was rolling torribly and settling down on one sido in :i uianaur whioh scemed to threaten turning hor over eutirely. Somehow or other we got away and a number t)f peoplo wero drowned as tht;y jumped into the sea aud swani after us. Of course we could not put back for anybody or wo Bhould have been puiled under. Gucft Uowii, the Tointt uf Hinifjr(ln. "Some time later- 1 can't say how long, for I was too horrifled to think- the Elbe gave a iiíarful luroh sideways and sank with a bursting sound It semed to me s if gooietaUlng blew up on board of her sghewent down I don't know what became of the vus.si'l that ran into US. I liad a bruther on board who wns trom Gerinany, like myselt Wt) were on our way to the United Statos whem we havo rwlatlves."
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Ann Arbor Argus
Old News