Particulars of the Loss of the Schiller.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2015, 19 June 1875, Page 2

Particulars of the Loss of the Schiller.

Tlio following are fuller particulars of, the loss of the Sclpl'er. The'Sch'Hler carried full cargo and an unusually heavy j mail. -She was manned'by a crew of 125 officers and men, had 140 cabin and 180 steerage passengers, making a total of i 385 souls. The course of the steamer was up the ; English Channel, through the Straits of Dover, and into the German Ocean. It is evident that the Captain, owing probably to a heavy fog, was considerably out of his course. That part of the coast whore the Schiller struck is notoriously dangerous and difficult of navigation, notwithstanding being abundantly supplied with lights. 885 souls were aboard, and only 47 are known to .be saved. The Schiller [ took out a general cargo of merchandise valued at 150.C00 dollars, insured in New York and London offices, and in addition carried 300,000 ' dollars in specie The vessel valued at I 600,000 dollars was fully insured in Ham- , burg and London Companies. T he New York Herald's special gives full incidents relative to the disaster as follows . —The survivors and the dead arrived at Penzance yesterday as follows : —At eight .o'clock there came'a boat with seven persons, then came two bo its with women and children. The ship's boats subsequently picked up the bodies of a little boy and four • men; one man was found floating on a piece of wreck. At a late hour in t!ie day three bodies were recovered afc S3 . When the boats finally reached the neighborhood of Rekrriere ledge the last mast of the Schiller went overboard, scores of people who were clinging to it were drowned after having endured the most agonising suspense during "the night. The passengers had gone to sleep at the time of the accident. llelarrierc "ledge on which the vessel struck is one of the many dangerous shoals lying inside of the Bishop's rock lighthouse, island of Rosewer. The South Bishop's rock fog bell ought to have been •heard by the steamer. No such d saster as the present has happened on the Cornish coast since the John May in 1855 when 'two hundred lives were lost.. :.. , , „ „.

The Herald says the responsibility of this awful shipwreck.seems,to rest on the officers'; there was no storm but simply a fog and darkne.s- of the night, and considering that none of the lights could have been seen, Bisho-i's rock fog bell could have been hearu, and there was , sti'l a chance for the unlucky Schiller. The pabseugers are victims of a terrible blunder. It cannot be that an event SO

terrible and apparently so unnecessary shall be overlooked. The Schiller was lost on a well-known coast to experienced, sailors, not on a new rock but on a reef of immemorial danger. The following additional account of the disaster has been received : —A heavy fog prevailed, no observations wero made aboard since Tuesday. In consequence of the fog the engines were at half speed; sail was reduced at 9 p.m. on Friday night. At 10 o'clock; the same night, struck on the ledge. Great panic prevailed. Captain Thomas is highly praised for his conduct during the terrible scene which followed. Two boats were filled with men who refused to deliver tbeni to the captain, he/: fired : his revolver over their heads to drive them out, and then fired at them, but without effect. .Afterwards all who were on beard these small boats perished. The tackle at the stern "was released too soon, leaving the,boats suspended by the bows. Three boats then got away—one of them, a line boat, was so badly injured that she sank, eleven of those aboard were rescued by other boats. Fog-lights, were, plainly visible. ; Two boats were crashed by falling off the funnel. Guns wero fired from the steamer until the powder became wet. The deck-house, which was crowded with' passengers, was swept away. At two o'clock in the morning, the captain gathered some of the survivors on the and all wore gradually swept away by r the rfJLow tide. .: The:riggiag f which remained above water was crowded with passengers and crew: The main-mast fell 7.30 a.m. with all who had taken refuge at on it. Boats, and wrecked stuff saved the lives of-some-who had drifted 1 away; one man:was rescued after being in the water ten hours. The passengers, say Captain Thomas left the bridge at '3 a.m., when the deck was swerit away ; by a heavy sea. He was not in bea for five" nighlis previous to the disaster. The sea began to break over the vessel half an hour after she struck, and the tide rose twenty-five feet before daybreak. One woman saved of the survivors who were landed at Trescoat'escaped in the Schiller's own boat. All accounts, agree that-the panic which followed on; jtheitrik]ng;'orth«f ship, wias terrible beyond description. Fishermen report' the Schiller firmly settled on the rocks, and will not fall off in deep water; it vpjll not be many days ere summer, when salvage can be effected. There was a lifey.belti.in, evevy, berth. When the disaster occurred Uapt. Thomas issued orders, that one, be r ias.tened t to every" woman", but." the women ' were drowned in hea\yseas. . 3oats craising in the -vicinity 'of the wreck continue to pick up bodies (drowned). Seven ma?! bags were picked up, and recovered two days after the disaster, and contained mostly ;the San Francisco and newspapers. At .the inquest on twenty bodies of the? steamer Schiller, H. Hall, first officer, testified'that at the time the vessel struck, Capt. Thomas and another officer were on the bridge; men were lopHng forward, .two others with the Captain. Some London journals attribute: the disaster to recklessness. 'The captain, second, and third officers were drowned. Divers examined thje hull and found her broken up and a confused mass, of iron and timber; her lower deck rested on rocks, her bottom having been toia .off by rocks. None of the specie was recovered and no cargo visible. One of the crew of the Schiller has informed the correspondent of the Standard that : the ; officers were drunk when she struck." Several; of the passengers lay helpless ,funtil- they were swept away by waves. 130 bodies have,-: been_ recovered from the wreck, many much" mutilated. In passenger list published; there: does not appear the names of imy New Zerland passengers. c';.'\.V:l?: &.i-'..i'-':'