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A passenger's five-column statement charges criminal carelessness aboard the wrecked steamship City of Washington
A harrowing eyewitness account describes how the steamship City of Washington ran aground on Gull Rock shoals through the crew's negligence, nearly drowning hundreds of passengers amid fog, confusion, and a desperate nighttime rescue.
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The Cairo Bulletin · July 11, 1873 · Page 1
1 min readNEW YORK, July 10.
New York, July 10. A five column statement of the loss of the City of Washington, by a passenger, charges that the loss of the steamer is due to criminal carelessness of the officers and crew, and that all just barely escaped being engulfed in the ocean. The captain, says the passenger, frequently warned the chief officer that he was running too far northward, and advised running a hundred miles further south, but the advice was disregarded, though the second officer acceded to it. No sight was taken for seven days, notwithstanding the vessel was going through a heavy fog at the rate of 12 or 13 knots an hour. Had she struck at night she would have gone down; or had she gone to the right or left 200 yards she would have struck either Green Island or the reefs, and a fearful loss of life ensued.
Some of the women displayed great presence of mind and heroism, sitting quietly on the deck, waiting their turn to disembark.
The women displayed great presence of mind and heroism, sitting quietly on the deck, waiting their turn to disembark.
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