December 2016 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 25. HISTORY FROM THE PAST - Bangor Daily Commercial - Early 1900s Capt. Robbins’ Statement. Capt. John Robbins of the METAMORA,


gives the following account of the collision: “We left T Wharf, Boston at noon


Friday, bound for Boothbay to get bait, and were having a grand run off . There was a stiff breeze going, the sea was running heavy and we were skating along all of ten or twelve miles an hour. Thirty-fi ve miles off Thatcher’s Island we saw the coaster coming, apparently nearly by the wind. We of course kept off , according to the rules of the road. Imagine my surprise and horror when the captain of the coaster also starboarded his helm and kept his craft off . “Had we both continued as we were


going the crafts would have come together and undoubtedly struck in such a way that both would have been sent to the bottom and there would have been nobody to tell the tale. “I immediately put my wheel to port,


hoping to avoid a collision. It was too late. There was a terrifi c crash. We separated, almost immediately and the other craft was lost to sight in the darkness. I knew those poor fellows on the coaster needed aid, but we were unable to fi nd her for a long time. Finally she loomed up near at hand. “It was a hard night, but we realized that aid must be needed on the coaster. It meant life and death, so my men were too ready to risk their lives to save others. There was a fi erce sea running, but a couple of dories were thrown over, and four fellows, sprang into each and off they went in the darkness. “It was a long wait for them to return,


but at last they hove in sight, and by the fi ve additional men I knew that they had been successful. It was no easy job coming alongside, and before all hands were on the deck of my vessel one of the dories was smashed into kindling wood. “The rescuers reported that they had


saved all but one man, who was washed overboard from the icy deck and was drowned. A careful search was made, but he could not be found.” The WILLIAMS was in command of


Capt. T. H. Getchell and the men saved were the captain: Steward J. W. Cunningham of Summerside, P. E. I.; Mate Michael Culver of New Orleans; Nels Olson and Charles Erickson. The identity of the lost man will


probably never be known. His fi rst name was Henry, and he was about 45 years old. That is all that the crew could tell of him.


15 December 1904 Saved from Watery Graves


Terrible Experience of Capt. Reemie, of Machias, and the Crew of the bark EMITA.


A story of hardship and miraculous


escape from death was related by the crew of the New York barkentine EMITA, who were brought to Boston Wednesday afternoon by the Clyde line steamer NEW YORK, which gallantly rescued them last Sunday, 15 hours after they had been carried adrift on a fragment of their vessel. The EMITA, which left FERNANDINA,


December 7, with a cargo of 300,000 feet of pine lumber for Fall River, struck on Diamond shoal off Cape Hatteras at 10 o’clock, last Saturday, during a heavy storm and was pounded to pieces by the furious seas, but although the barkentine literally crumbled to pieces beneath the feet of those on board, not a life was lost. The captain of the vessel was W. E. Reemie of Machias, Maine, and besides his crew of seven men, he had his wife with him. The voyage was without incident until


last Saturday when the weather appeared threatening. At noon when in north latitude, 34 degrees, 30 minutes, Capt. Reemie


decided to reduce sail and when this was done he ordered the vessel headed for the Diamond shoal lightship. The wind steadily increased from the west northwest and in a short time more sail was taken in. A thick vapor came over the water, followed by occasional snow squalls which made it impossible to see ahead of the bowsprit. At 8:30 p.m. the lookout reported that he made out the glimmer of a light, but could not tell whether it was the refl ection of one or two lights as the mist again settled. Capt. Reemie judged that the light came from the lightship on Diamond shoal and he immediately ordered the foresail taken in in order to haul by the wind.


Suddenly the barkentine struck bottom


with a terrifi c shock and was brought up hard and fast on what afterwards proved to be Diamond shoal. In a few minutes the vessel swung around and great waves came tumbling aboard and great waves came tumbling aboard, which threatened to sweep all hands from the deck. The deckload was torn from its mooring and thousands of feet of lumber was swept overboard. The entire crew and the captain’s wife


found shelter in the forward house. A few minutes before Mrs. Reemie was struck by a huge wave and carried from the pilot house to the cabin, but she escaped injury. Within a quarter of an hour after


the vessel struck, the mizzenmast went overboard and at the same time a great sea wrenched off the stern up to the after hatch. Each huge billow as it thundered over the stranded craft lifted her entirely clear of the bottom at times and with each receding wave the great gaps in the hull widened. Finally the bow of the vessel began to go to pieces and in a short time was torn from the hull at the fi re hatch. The main deck gradually went to


pieces. The crew attempted to construct a raft, but the storm continued and the task was abandoned. The forward deckhouse remained attached to the main deck, and when the sea swept it away the captain, his wife and crew were able to hold their positions. The wreckage drifted about 20 miles in a southeasterly direction, and into the path of the coast steamers. At noon Sunday, the steward started a fi re, which attracted the attention of the steamer NEW YORK, bound from Jacksonville, Florida, and Charleston, South Carolina, for Boston. Chief Offi cer Googins of the steamer was sent off in a boat with several members of the crew. Although the sea was still running high all the castaways were taken off safely. When seen in a local shipping offi ce, Capt. Reemie said: “I have been 32 years at sea and have


been a captain for 14 years and have never been shipwrecked until the last voyage. The weather was so thick that it was impossible to see your hand before your face. The storm continued until 11 o’clock Sunday. We had nothing to eat during the time we were adrift except a few beans which the cook was able to save. We lost all our eff ects and have had


to get clothing from the crew of the NEW YORK to make a presentable appearance. In fact, my wife is still on board the steamer and will remain there until I provide her with more clothing. The experience was the fi rst of the kind I ever had and I do not care to go through such another.” Capt. Reemie said


his crew were mostly Germans, he expected to go to New York to


confer with Swan & Son, the owners of the barkentine. The EMITA was built at Harrington,


Maine, in 1883. Her tonnage was 477 net and 522 gross. She was 143 feet long, 32.9 beam and 17.3 deep. The vessel and cargo are insured.


17 December 1904 Portland Schooner Seen Burning at Sea The CLARA GOODWIN was Sighted


off the Diamond Shoals, Cape Hatteras, Saturday – No One was On Board Baltimore, December 17. The


cruiser TOPEKA which passed in Cape Henry, Virginia at 7 o’clock, Saturday morning, reports that the schooner CLARA GOODWIN from Port Tampa for Philadelphia was afi re off Diamond Shoals. No one was aboard.


19 December 1904


Snow Drifts Four Feet Deep Cape Cod Suff ered Severely from Sunday’s Storm


Many Vessels Driven Ashore The Gale the Most Severe for Years


at Vineyard Haven – Telegraph Wires Down.


Boston, December 19. – Communication with Cape Cod by telephone and telegraph, broken off by Sunday’s storm, was still interrupted Monday though hundreds of linemen were at work making repairs. Trains were delayed and news from cape points by mail and messenger could not be expected to reach here much before noon. The telephone lines were intact to Wareham, about 50 miles from Boston and Buzzards Bay, 55 miles from Boston, could be reached by telegraph but as these points are about 30 miles from points on the southern side of the cape and about 75 miles from Provincetown, at the end of Cape Cod, practically no news had reached either place since Sunday evening. Such additional information as has been received indicated that the earlier reports of


storm damage had not been exaggerated. The snow is from two to four feet deep and in many places drifted so as to block highways and shut car lines. The wind which blew at times 40 miles an hour had strewn the Cape with broken telegraph poles, trees and other wreckage. N o


additional news had reached either Buzzards


Bay or Wareham early Monday about the many vessels driven ashore at Vineyard Haven or concerning other marine disasters along the Cape shore.


* * * * * Three Schooners Ashore New Bedford, Massachusetts,


December 19. – The storm at Martha’s Vineyard was the most severe since the November blow of 1898, and in every part of the island communication by telephone is paralyzed. Poles are down, thoroughfares are impassable except where shovel brigades have cleared the way. Nothing like it has been experienced for several years. At Vineyard Haven a large fl eet of


vessels sought shelter Saturday night and early Sunday morning and so far as can be learned no lives have been lost. Three schooners went ashore, two dragging their anchors in the harbor and a large three- master going ashore at East Chop, just north of the Vineyard Highland wharf. It will be several days before the telephone wires are again in working order. It is estimated that the fall of a few days ago there are 20 inches of snow on a level on the island. It drifted in some places quite badly. The storm was of about 18 hours’ duration and for the length of time was one of the most severe known here. The shipping which was caught in the harbor and come in after ample warning of the approach of the disturbance had been given and had the wind been in any other direction they would have found safe harbor. Monday morning there were evidence that another storm was approaching and activity was increased in order to make repairs to interrupted communication before there should be further snow fall.


* * * * *


Maine Schooners Were Driven Ashore The LODUSKIA of Winterport and the FRANCONIA of Ellsworth Still


Continued on Page 26.


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