THE DRUMMOND CASTLE.

Mt Benger Mail, Volume 17, Issue 850, 22 August 1896, Page 3

THE DRUMMOND CASTLE.

[From the Evening Stars Coeresponhknt Lonkox, June 26. Mr Marquardt, the sole survivor of the Druinmoad Castle passengers, has been confused by many with the eminent violinist of the same name who toured some months ago through Australia and New Zealand. The two are not, however, in any way connected. Mr Charles Marquardt is the son of trades folk at Deal, and a mine manager at Johannesburg. He is home on a holiday for six months. Mr Marqaaidt alone of the survivors seems able to give a clear account of the catastrophe, and has furnished the 1 Daily Chronicle' with a full narrative of the wreck. It runs as follows : On Tuesday, as we approached the coast (he said), it grew thick, and towards evening it became very hazy, with a constant drizzle of rain—a Scotch mist, in fact. "Could yousee one end of the ship from the other ?" Oh, jes, it was never anything like so thick as that. The captain was on the bridge, and I had not seen him for some time, as during the thick weather he had been having his meals in the chart room forward. At halfpast six on the Tuesday evening, just as we were going down to dinner, the foghorn was blown for the first time during the voyage, and it continued to sound at intervals of about a minute. The captain was not at dinner, and we came up again at half-past seven for' a turn on deck before the entertainment. Between returning from dinner and the entertainment-sdundings were taken with Sir William Thomson's patent machine. Twice the lead was r?.n out unsuccessfully, as it was swept astern of the ship, and bottom was not found. Then the engines were stopped, and the lead was dropped again at seventy-five fathom?. This was the depth the officers expected, so they regarded everything as all right, and the engines were started again." "At full speed':"—"l think so, but lam not positive. At any rate, I know they were not going slow, or I should have noticed it." "What was your average daily runV—- " About 300 miles, as we were not going at our best speed, in order that the ship might keep her place as an intermediate one." "Was there no anxiety whatever on the part of the officer*—no suspicion that the ship was out of her course—no nervousness among the passengers?"'—"Not in the very least. If the officers knew anything of tho kind, they concealed it extremely well, for they were perfectly cheerful and exactly as usual in their manner. After the concert was over the captain came down for five minutes just at the end, because a sort of vote of thanks had been pas3ed to him for our pleasant voyage and his courtesy to everj body, and for bringing us safe home. He made a little speech in reply, and said he was very glad we had had a pleasant voyage. The company then broke up with the singing of ' God Save the Queen.'" " Then he returned to the bridge and you came on deck':" round the ship a dozen times or so with a lady. She stopped at the companion way and said it was time for her to retire, and so I bade her good-night and went into the smoking room. I was Bitting next to a boatswain in the navy, who was bringing homea lot of time-expired men from one of Her Majesty's ships on the Cape station."

" Now, tell me precisely how you got the first indication that anything was wrong. I '—" Well, a very funny thing happened. As I say, T was talking to this boatswain, whose name was Motyer, when he said: ' Whenever there's a fog on I never go to bed ; I stay on deck all night.' The words were no sooner out of his mouth than the ship struck, and Motyer cried '1 hat's a collision.' It was a kind of sliding shock, exactly, in fact, like the feeling on a Thames steamer when it bumps against the pior." "Of course there was a stampede?"—"l do not remember. Motyer and I were sitting next the door, so we were out first. We ran along the deck, under the bridge, and looked forward. It was pitch dark, and there was nothing to be seen. The engines had stopped, and I could hear the bells ringing between the bridge and the engine room. Everything seemed all right for a little while. There was no rush of any kind."

" What did the boatswain say of the situation at that moment '! " —" He .said : ' Isn't she dowp by the head'; and I notice 1 that the ship's bows were getting very low and near the water, so I ran back to my cabin. The sailors were removing the canvas cover from one of the boats ; cutting it, I think. I thought nothing worse then than that I should probably have to spend all night in a boat, ho Iran to my cabin and put on a light covert coat; and then it occurred to me that I had better put on the lifebelt which was above my bunk. So I tied that round me by one of the strings. T.y this time the deck was at such an angle, Blanting forwards, that I could scarcely stand on it. As tho deck got too steep to walk on I made a dash across, got hold of the stanchion that supports the awning, and seated myself on the bulwark. I felt sure by this time that the ship was going down, and I wanted to be clear of the awning. The electric lights suddenly went out—l suppose when the water got to the engine room." " What surprises me is that the collision did not bring more people up on deck."—"lt was hardly severe enough to frighten people much. I can understand a very sound sleeper not even being awakened by it. I saw one boat swung out, and as the ship sank it came into the water, but it was never unhooked, and was upset. The next thing that happened was that I was in the water. The ship seemed to disappear from underneath me, and I pushed myself off, first of all from the rail and then from the chains at the top of the awning as they passed." "Was there no suction?"—" Not in the least. The ship simply sank and the water closed over her, and I was left floating about." "How many people besides yourself were in the water \ "—"I could not tell, because of the darkness, but there was a deal of shouting, an J, strangely enough, it was quite cheerful 8b outing. You could hear people calling out from all directions 'Are you there?' 'ls that you ?'' Who have you got with you ?' and so on, but not for long. Out of the upset boat had come the oars and the spar that held the canvas cover across the tdp of it, and to these we clung. A strange woman, whom I did not know, caught me by the neck, but I disengaged myself from her grasp, and placed her hands on the spar, to which she clung for a little time and then slipped off. There would be eight or nine on the spar at that time. When the light came, however, there were only three in the midst of the wreckage and banana crates. The three on the spar now were Ellis and another man—l think either a third class passenger or one of the crew* That would lie about halfpast three or four. This unknown man seemed to slip through his lifebuoy. I saw him Uoat away, go round once or twice, and then go down. I gripped hold of his lifebuoy and got into it. Ellis was using a lifebuoy. He undid my coat, took my knife out of this pocket, and cut off the ropes from the lifebuoy, and got his spar aud my spar tied together with a piece of grating, and made a rough triangle on which we sat at opposite ends. This relieved our arms from the fatigue of hanging on. I was very weak. Ellis wan very cheerful, and we were looking out for land. I saw land first—Ushant, I suppose." "Did Ellis say anything to throw any light upon the slap's course, or the navigation which had led to the disaster V"—" No; for he had been on the bridge for eight hours, and it was his watch to go on at midnight. All he said was: ' I wonder what the devil they were doing with her.' His head was thrown back upon the water with his face upwards, and every wave broke over it, so for my part I am convinced he was dead long before they picked him up, although they relived that he lived for a short time afterwards."

"To what do you attribute your escape ?'— " Chiefly to the fact that I never lost heart. I was confident all the time that I should be saved. One of the causes of my escape, too, I think, was the fact of my having extra clothes on, and therefore being guarded from becoming numb from cold."

"Have you any theory of the accident';"— " None whatever. I can only suppose that the Drummond Castle was swept out of her course by the strong current. It took us out between the two islands until the tide turned, and then it took us all the way back again. All this time I saw auy amount of corpses. I saw no boats until about eleven o'clock. Ellis was insensible, but he was still in his lifebuoy. He had drifted away from the triaugle. On jessing oue body he had said: 'We shall both soon be UlMtWi" 1

"You thiak it probable that the the passengers went down in the ship'.' " Yes ; bnt they made n:> sound except just as the ship disappeared. There was one prolonged scream—a woman's scream, not an ordinary short cry, but a long yell like the blast of a steam whistle. That was all I heard. In fact, the ship went down so quickly that even to the people on deck it would be touch-and-go whether they could get over the side or not."

ABOUT THE VICTIMS. The officers of the Castle line in Fenchurch street were on Saturday and Monday the scene of many incidents of anguish and misery. On Monday the firm again opened their doors earlier than the usual hour in order that the streams of anxious inquirers might ascertain the latest news at the earliest possible moment. The first visitor was an unfortunate young lady who had hovered round the offices during three days, and could not be convinced that her lo*-er, who was on board the ill - fated vessel, is numbered amengst the dead. The kindly manager of the passenger department again and again endeavored to comfort the lady, and, though no hopes could be offered to her, she sat silently in the office waiting to hear the cablegrams to the company from their special agents read aloud in the corridors. Many heartrending spectacles have been witnessed since tho reception of the news of the calamity, but none quite so distressing and hopeless as hers. Many anxious inquiries were also made respecting the crew by aged mothers and wives, some with children in their arms and at their side. All were grief-stricken, but nevertheless still hopeful that aews might be received stating that their loved ones had managed to escape.

A paper published at East Ham narrates a remarkable coincidence relating to K. J. Boetie, the third engineer, who perished on the Drummond Castle, and who resided in the locality. Mr Beetie, the writer stated, was not permanently attached to the Drummond CasJe. He belonged to a sister vessel of the same line, but in consequence of a certain domestic event he asked an engineer named Chassen on the Drummond Castle to change berths with him for one voyage, so that he (Beetie) could remain a week longer at home. Chassen agreed and went out in Beetie's vessel. Beetie followed a week later in the Drummond Castle to his death. This iaonly part of the story. The coincidence follows. This is the second time Chassen has similarly escaped being on an ill-fated ship. A few years ago he made a corresponding temporary exchange to oblige another brother officer, who, like Beetie, was drowned on the voyage, which in the ordinary course would nave been made by Chassen.