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Story
October 2, 1899
The Evening Times
Washington, District Of Columbia
What is this article about?
Survivors V. F. Smith, Edna Smith, and Duncan Sinclair recount the Scotsman's wreck off Newfoundland, crew's looting and hoarding amid passenger starvation and cold, a perilous trek to lighthouse, and rescue after five days.
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OCR Quality
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Full Text
SCOTSMAN SURVIVORS TALK.
Marylanders Tell of the Horrible Sufferings on the Wrecked Boat.
NEW YORK, Oct. 2.-Three passengers from the Dominion Line steamer Scotsman, which went ashore in Belle Isle Straits, coast of Newfoundland, arrived in this city today. According to them the ill-treatment of the passengers by the crew and the suffering from privation were fully as bad as reported, and not half of the story has yet been told.
They say it is likely that some died on the island who did not get a chance to come away when the steamer Montfort stopped to take off the surviving passengers.
The persons who reached New York are V. F. Smith and his sister, Miss Edna Smith, of Hagerstown, Md., and Duncan Sinclair, manager of the Coalbrookdale Company, of Shropshire, England. They are at the St. Denis Hotel, with only such baggage as they had purchased in Quebec.
While the captain and his assistants were working like Trojans, the passengers say many of the crew broke into the staterooms and filled their pockets with whatever valuables they could find.
On getting ashore, said Mr. Sinclair, Mr. Smith concurring, "we needed blankets to keep us from dying of cold, but we found that the crew had got hold of most of these and they declined to give them up. I saw one of the crew take a blanket away from a woman with a little child. The passengers got but little food, while the crew literally gorged themselves. All that night while the passengers were trying to sleep on the rocks, some of them without a single blanket, actually dying of privation, the crew made merry with drink and cigars.
"Women cried for food and nearly starved, while they saw the crew helping themselves. There was plenty of food to go around if it had been properly doled out. The captain, while anxious to treat passengers well, was powerless. The crew ran riot and we were all at their mercy. We could not realize there were such beasts in human form.
"On Saturday Mr. Smith and I started out with a party of twelve for the lighthouse, sixteen or eighteen miles through the mossy, boggy ground. One old woman sank down with exhaustion, and Mr. Smith remained with her all night. Others of the party went on and arrived at the lighthouse about midnight, after a twelve-hour tramp.
"The lighthouse keeper sent up 150 rockets before the steamer Montfort, after five weary days, finally stopped and took 250 of us off."
Marylanders Tell of the Horrible Sufferings on the Wrecked Boat.
NEW YORK, Oct. 2.-Three passengers from the Dominion Line steamer Scotsman, which went ashore in Belle Isle Straits, coast of Newfoundland, arrived in this city today. According to them the ill-treatment of the passengers by the crew and the suffering from privation were fully as bad as reported, and not half of the story has yet been told.
They say it is likely that some died on the island who did not get a chance to come away when the steamer Montfort stopped to take off the surviving passengers.
The persons who reached New York are V. F. Smith and his sister, Miss Edna Smith, of Hagerstown, Md., and Duncan Sinclair, manager of the Coalbrookdale Company, of Shropshire, England. They are at the St. Denis Hotel, with only such baggage as they had purchased in Quebec.
While the captain and his assistants were working like Trojans, the passengers say many of the crew broke into the staterooms and filled their pockets with whatever valuables they could find.
On getting ashore, said Mr. Sinclair, Mr. Smith concurring, "we needed blankets to keep us from dying of cold, but we found that the crew had got hold of most of these and they declined to give them up. I saw one of the crew take a blanket away from a woman with a little child. The passengers got but little food, while the crew literally gorged themselves. All that night while the passengers were trying to sleep on the rocks, some of them without a single blanket, actually dying of privation, the crew made merry with drink and cigars.
"Women cried for food and nearly starved, while they saw the crew helping themselves. There was plenty of food to go around if it had been properly doled out. The captain, while anxious to treat passengers well, was powerless. The crew ran riot and we were all at their mercy. We could not realize there were such beasts in human form.
"On Saturday Mr. Smith and I started out with a party of twelve for the lighthouse, sixteen or eighteen miles through the mossy, boggy ground. One old woman sank down with exhaustion, and Mr. Smith remained with her all night. Others of the party went on and arrived at the lighthouse about midnight, after a twelve-hour tramp.
"The lighthouse keeper sent up 150 rockets before the steamer Montfort, after five weary days, finally stopped and took 250 of us off."
What sub-type of article is it?
Disaster
Survival
What themes does it cover?
Misfortune
Survival
What keywords are associated?
Shipwreck Survivors
Crew Mistreatment
Passenger Suffering
Newfoundland Wreck
Scotsman Steamer
What entities or persons were involved?
V. F. Smith
Miss Edna Smith
Duncan Sinclair
Where did it happen?
Belle Isle Straits, Coast Of Newfoundland
Story Details
Key Persons
V. F. Smith
Miss Edna Smith
Duncan Sinclair
Location
Belle Isle Straits, Coast Of Newfoundland
Event Date
Before Oct. 2
Story Details
The steamer Scotsman wrecked on Newfoundland coast; passengers suffered from cold, hunger, and crew theft/mistreatment while awaiting rescue. Survivors trekked to lighthouse; rescued by Montfort after five days.