THE LOSS OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA-NARRATIVE OF A SURVIVOR.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 6, Issue 1746, 26 July 1884, Page 2

THE LOSS OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA-NARRATIVE OF A SURVIVOR.

The clearest account of the Florida wreok is 1 given by the ship's surgeon, Dr Andrew Steele. He says;—" ASout ten o'clock in the evening on April 18 I was reading in my cabin. I had been on deck, and noticed that it was a clear, starlight night. Suddenly I heard a clang going in the engine room signalling the engineer to back tha engines at full speed. At the same time there was confused tramping on deck, I hastened on deck, when I saw plainly the spars and canvass of a big sailing ship heading directly for us. Her port light was distinctly visible. The men about the deck shouted, The collision took placo the nextmomant. Our ship rolled to starbord on a big wave, and the other vessel orashed into us, striking nearly amidships on the starboard side, Tho shock completely demaralised everyone. The men cried, "Take to the boats," but many were too frightened to help themselves, even after the boats were in the water, The ship was sinking too rapidly to enable the crew to do much to save life. The stewardess was lowered into a boat, but no other woman was on board. 1 entered one boat. In a very few minutes both vessels sank. The captain and two seamen of the barque were found olinging to the wreckage of their vessel and taken into one. There were forfcy-> four of us in the boat. We drifted for two days, having neither food nor water The weather was fair, but we suffered severely from cold, On the 20th we attracted the attention of the Norwegian barque Thereßa, bound for Quebec, which picked us up, treated us kindly, and two days later transferred twenty of us to the barque Louise, bound for Quebec, as we were making serious.inroads on the provisions,', The third officer of the Florida says that the night was perfectly clear, that the chief officer was in charge, and that the captain failed to realise the gravity of the situation until too late to save life, Nobody is able to aocount for the collision in such weather,