Transcribed from South Africa Magazine, 11 July 1896

By Ellen Stanton

THE LOSS OF THE “DRUMMOND CASTLE”

There is but little to add to the full accounts we have already published of the wreck of the Drummond Castle. Up to the time of writing, no further information as to the position of the vessel has come to hand, neither is there news of any further recovery of the bodies of the victims. It is almost certain now that no further light will be thrown on the catastrophe, so that our knowledge of its details must be confined to the particulars already published.

ANOTHER EXPRESSION OF SYMPATHY

The following resolution was passed at the fifty-seventh annual meeting of the Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society, held on June 25, under the presidency of the Earl of Dunraven, K.P.:

“That this meeting wishes to express its cordial appreciation of the humanity and benevolence displayed by the inhabitants of the Island of Molene on the recent sad occasion of the loss of the steamship Drummond Castle, and that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to the Cure of Molene.”

ANOTHER LETTER FROM THE CURE OF MOLENE

The following is the translation of a letter from the Cure of Molene:--

“Isle of Molene (via Brest), June 30,

“My very dear Mr. Gerald E. Maude—Many thanks for your kindness; many thanks for your praises, which I do not deserve; many thanks for the letters and many newspapers which I receive every day from these good English people. Will you be good enough to say through the newspapers that I sympathise deeply in the grief of the relatives of these unfortunate victims of the sea, and that I do not forget them in my prayers. I regret that I do not know English. If I had a knowledge of it I would have answered all the letters which I receive from England; but I am going to begin to learn the language, so that I may some day be able to tell you how much I love the English, and how warm an interest I take in them. Accept my sentiments of respect and devotion in our Saviour Jesus Christ.

“G. Le Jeune, Parish Priest.”

BURIAL AT EAST FINCHLEY

On the 3^rd inst, at the Marylebone Cemetery, Finchley, the remains of Mrs. Harold Stephens, who perished with her husband and little daughter of two years of age in the wreck of the Drummond Castle on June 16, were interred. The service, which was attended by members of the family and a large number of sympathizing friends, was performed by Dr. Gaul, Bishop of Mashonaland, an old friend of Mr. and Mrs. Harold Stephens, assisted by the vicar of St. Paul’s Finchley (the Reverend S. B . Mayall). Mrs. Stephens’ body was found floating at sea, eight miles off the rocks at Pontzall, on June 19, and was in the first instance buried on June 22 in the cemetery at Ploudalmezeau. It was, however, desired that the body should be brought home to England, and it was therefore exhumed on June 29 under the sanction of the French authorities.

LEGAL POINTS

In connection with the loss of the Drummond Castle it may be pointed out (says the Law Journal) that the liability of shipowners in case of any damage happening without their actual fault or privity is strictly limited by section 503 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, in respect of loss of life or personal injury, to an aggregate amount not exceeding £15 for each ton of the ship’s tonnage, and in respect of goods to an aggregate amount not exceeding £8 for each ton of the ship’s tonnage. By section 504 of the Act, where any liability is alleged to have been incurred by a shipowner, and several claims are made or apprehended in respect of that liability, the owner may apply to the High Court to determine the amount of his liability, and to distribute rateably among the several claimants, “and may proceed in such manner and subject to such regulations as to making persons interested parties to the proceedings, and as to the exclusion of any claimants who do not come in within a certain time and as to requiring security from the owner, and as to payment of any costs as the Court thinks just.” Shipowners being, like other common carriers, insurers in respect of goods, the liability in respect of goods exists whether any negligence on the part of their servants be proved or not. All this may, however, be altered by special contract, as in the case of the Satanita and the Valkyrie.

AN OFFER

Mr. Hoare, of the Mercury, Hamble, Southampton has made the following offer:--“In view of the disaster to the Drummond Castle, I should be very glad to be of assistance to some of those left destitute by the calamity, and I think the most practical way in which I could show my sympathy would be by taking four boys who would come up to the requisite physical standard from the families of those lost in the catastrophe. These four boys I would keep entirely for three years, and would either send them into the Royal Navy or obtain other means of livelihood for them. I should be happy to forward particulars of the standard referred to upon application to me. As every boy on the Mercury costs £30 per annum to maintain, I may, perhaps, add that this would be equal to a subscription of £360.

A LETTER TO THE WESLEYAN PRESIDENT

The President of the Wesleyan Conference has received a letter to the following effect from the Cure of Molene, in reply to one from the President in connection with the loss of the Drummond Castle:--

“Molene Island, July 4

“Very Dear Mr. Waller,--I am profoundly touched by the gratitude you, and, indeed, all England, are showing me. How good the English are! Tell them all that I cannot forget them, and thank them for me. Not knowing the English language, I am not able to answer all their letters. Be so good as to express to them my regret on this account. Deign to accept, very dear Mr. Waller, the assurances of my respect and of my high consideration—G. Le Jeune, Rector and President of the Molene Salvage Committee, former officer in the Franco-German War, 1870-71.”

VICTIMS IDENTIFIED

The following is a list of persons whose bodies are believed to have been identified up to July 5:--Walter W. Whipp, passenger, buried at Ushant (afterwards buried at Brest); F. W. Whipp, passenger, buried at Molene (afterwards buried at Brest); P. S. Ellis, fourth officer, buried at Ushant; Miss Freda M’Gee, Harry Cohen, Miss Alice Reed, passengers, buried at Ushant (afterwards brought to England); W. H. Wilson and Mrs. F. J. Sandbach, passengers buried at Molene (afterwards brought to England); W. Reed, passenger, buried at Conquet; Herbert Hinds, passenger, buried at Molene; J. E. Howard (stoker, H. M. S. Phoebe), passenger, buried at Conquet; E. W. Rich, passenger, buried at Ploudalmezeau; Miss Nellie Peachey, passenger, buried at St. Pabu; Mrs. Harold Stephens, passenger, buried at Ploudalmezeau (afterwards brought to England); Miss Olive (one of two Misses Olive), passenger, buried at Molene; H. Eyre, first engineer, buried at Ploudalmezeau; P. Kilgarriff, passenger, buried at Camaret; F. Bradshaw, passenger, buried at Molene; H. Liddle, second baker, and J. W. Blinkhorn (name not on passenger list), buried at Molene; C. P. Kingswell (?), passenger, buried at Ploudalmezeau; A. Johnstone and J. Stevens, firemen, and Lieutenant Von Giese, passenger, buried at Molene.

“ONE TOUCH OF NATURE”

This is the title of a painting by Mr. A. Forestier, representing a pathetic incident after the wreck of the Drummond Castle. The painting was reproduced as a two-page supplement to the Illustrated London News last Saturday, and by the courteous permission of Sir William Ingram, Bart., M.P., we are enabled this week to present our readers with a reduced reproduction of it. One of the most touching sights in the simple yet impressive ceremonial with which the Breton fisherfolk interred the bodies washed up after the wreck of the Drummond Castle was the tender care bestowed upon the coffin of the little girl, Alice Reed. At the funeral possession to the churchyard of Ushant, the mothers of the village bore the coffin in (turn?) preceded by a little Breton girl, who carried a beautiful wreath of white flowers.

THE OFFICIAL INQUIRY

The official inquiry will be held at Westminster on Monday into the loss of the Drummond Castle. The liability of the owners to the relatives of the deceased passengers, says the Central News, will not in any way depend upon the result of the inquiry, but mainly on the question of whether a proviso exempting the Company from liability in the event of loss through the negligence of their servants was stamped on each passenger’s ticket. The relatives of deceased passengers, as well as of the captain and officers, will probably be legally represented.

TWO OF THE VICTIMS

Among the passengers on board the Union Company’s steamship Athenian (Captain Martin), which arrived at Plymouth on Saturday night, was Mr. M. H. Morris, auctioneer to the British South Africa Company in Mashonaland. It appears that his wife, who was Miss Zefferrett, of a Jewish family formerly resident in Plymouth, embarked at Natal for England in the Drummond Castle. When the vessel reached Cape Town, Mrs. Morris, who was in a weak state of health, went to the boarding school where her two sons, Leon and Sidney, aged 10 and 9 respectively, were being educated, and made arrangements for them to accompany her to England. She secured berths by permission of the Captain, and even the husband did not know they had traveled with their mother in the Drummond Castle. The two children must therefore be added to the number of victims. Mr. Morris joined the Athenian at Cape Town in the full hope and expectation of spending a holiday home with his wife. There he learned that she had taken the children with her, and all his hopes were crushed when, on reaching Madeira, he was informed that the Drummond Castle had foundered with his family. Mr. Morris, who is prostrate with grief, has offered large rewards for the recovery of the bodies of his wife and children.

THE “DRUMMOND” FUND

We have been requested by Messrs. Donald Currie and Co. to state that the following amounts under £10 have been received up to date:--

E. M. Watson, Esq., £1 1s; H. W. Burgess, Esq., £2 2s.; Dan B. S. Hill, Esq., M. B., £2; Messrs. W. Dunn and R. Watson, £5 5s.; Major Cruden and Mrs. Cruden £1; William Thomas Morrison, Esq., £5 5s.; H. W. Morrison, Esq., £5; Mrs. Alex. Muter, £5; Messrs. Capper, Son, and Co.’s Employes, £4 0s. 3d.; Abney Congregational Church, £5 16s.; The Earl of Belmore, £5; A. C. Crossfield, Esq., £1; Th. Escott, Esq., 2s. 6d.; Messrs. John Cook and Son, £5 5s.; Israel Davis, Esq., £1 1s.; Theodore Kennert, Esq., £5; The Grand Canary Coaling Co. and The Teneriffe Coaling Co. (per Messrs. Elder, Dempster, and Co.), £5 5s.; The Hotel Metropole, Las Palmas, Grand Canary (per Messrs. Elder, Dempster, and Co.), £5 6s.; Messrs. Solomon and Co., £5 5s.; Captain Richmond Moore, R.N., £2 2s.; Messrs. John Lilley and Son, £5 5s.; J. O’Brien, Esq., 1s.; John Scott (Eastertyre, Ballinluig), £5 5s.; Messrs. Sperling and Williams, £5 5s.; Wm. M. Wisely, Esq., £5; E. L. Martin, Esq., £5 5s.; Mrs. E. L. Martin, £1 1s.; J. P. Werner, Esq., £2 2s.; Miss Wood, £5; Balance of Entertainment Fund, last Homeward voyage of “Arundel Castle” (per W. H. Swain), £3 1s. 6d.; Anonymous, 5s.; B. J. Mayer, £5 5s.; Castle Line Shareholder, £5 5s.; Mrs. M. L. Bensusan, £1 1s.; C. H. B., £1; Chas. Davis, Esq., £5; Sir James Hanbury, £5; George F. Smart, Esq., £5 5s.; H. N. Vignoles, Esq., £2 2s; Messrs. Oakley and Watling, £5 5s; A Passenger on “Arundel,” “Roslin,” and “Garth,” 10s.; “Sinbad,” £1; Messrs. Godefroi Bros., £5; Messrs. T. and A. Constable, Edinburgh, £5 5s.; The Prince of Wales Court, Ancient Order of Foresters, 10s; Capt. G. M. Lumsden, £5; The Liverpool Steam Tug Co., £1 11s 6d.; B. D. Godlonton, Esq., £2 2s.; F. Hunt Lester, Esq., £5 5s.; A Dailey Cooper, Esq., £2 2s.; Richard Brushfield, Esq., £1 11s. 6d.; E. A. Serre, Esq., £5 5s; John Lloyd, Esq. (St. Albans), £5 5s.; David J. Clark, Esq. (Glasgow), £5 5s.; W. P. Bloomfield, Esq., £5 5s.; Wm. Handyside, Esq. *Kilmun), £2; Mrs. James Bridges, £5; Collection at St. Mary-at-Hill Church (per Rev. W. Carlile), £2 7s. 1d.; M. H., 5s.; E. H., 1s.; H. Currey, Esq., £3 3s.; George S. Gibb, Esq., £5; London Edition of “Johannesburg Standard and Diggers’ News,” £5 5s.; Mesrs. W. Thacker and Co., £5 5s.; Mrs. Edward Goodall, £2 2s.; J. A. Fradgley, Esq., £5; Elkin J. Solomon, Esq., £5 5s.; James E. Pollock, Esq., £5 5s.; W., 5s.; Th. Mayer and Co. (Bordeaux), £5 5s.; A Sailor’s Son (West Perthshire), £5; Col. Jodrell, M.P., £5; Mathew Bell, Esq., £1 1s.; All Hallows Parish Excursion Collection (per Rev. A. E. Dalton), £3 12s. 2d; Wm. Borders, Esq., £2 2s.; Philip Sedger, Esq., £5; W. Kermode, Esq. (per Natal Bank), £5; A. F. Tayler, Esq., (Bristol), 2s.; H. A. Matthews, Esq., (Slough), £2 2s.; Charles Plummer, Esq. (Dartmouth), £5; John Day, Esq. (Harrogate), £1 5s.; C. Newberry, Esq., £5; Walter Bury, Esq., 15s; Leslie M. Hyam, Esq., £5 5s.; F. Muck, Esq., £5 5s.; J. S. Duncan, Esq., £5; Wm. Asch, Esq., £5 5s.; “Alfreton,” (Middlesex), £1 10s.; The Curriers Company, £5 5s.; Miss Earp, £5; Miss Mary Philip, £1; Joseph Gwyer, Esq., (the Penge Poet), 10s.; Comr. L. F. G. Tippinge, £1; “Ceylon,” 10s.; “B.C.” £2 2s.; Mrs. Theodore Harris (Leighton Buzzard), £5 5s; Messrs. J. W. Newton and Co., Ltd., £3 3s.; The Rev. E. A. Wade, 7s. 6d.; The Abinger Hammer Band of Mercy (per R. Harrison, Esq.), £1 3s. 6d.; the Rev. G. H. Johnson, £1; Mrs. C. C. Townshend, 5s.; Miss Helen Letten (Malta), £1; R. Ramage, Esq. (Leith), £5; The Rev. and Mrs. C. H. Wilkie (Salisbury), £2; Messrs. M. and A. Hart, £5 5s.; The Cyclostyle Co., £2 2s.; Geo. Rae, Esq. (Liverpool), £1 1s.; Gustav Hermann, Esq. (Nuremberg), 10s.; Arthur C. Searight, Esq., £5; S. J. Clarke Esq., £5 5s.; Mrs. White, £5; Messrs. Bryce and Murray, Ld. (Glasgow), £5; Offertory at St. Devenickes Episcopal Church, Bieldside, Abderdeen (per J. Robertson), £1 15s 5d.; Edwin Sturgeon, Esq., £5 5s.; Young People’s Society of Christian Endeavour, 11s.; R. E. Wallace, Esq., £5 5s.; Major Mountsleven, £2 2s.; Mrs. Augustus Darling, £5; Offertory St. Peters Church (Woodhall Spa), per Rev. H. Benwell, £5 6s. 9d.; Offertory at Hesley Hall Chapel (per B. J. Whitaker, Esq.), £3 7s. 5d.; T. G. K., £1; Messrs. Fosbery and Co., £5; “Persis,” 10s.’ C. Jackson, Esq., 10s.; Messrs. Gilfillan and Page, £5 5s.; Men’s Bible Class, Abbey Walk, Cambridge (per H. J. Rayner), 5s.; Messrs. W. and A. K. Johnston (Edinburgh), £5 5s.; Geo. B. Hilliard, Esq., (Chelmsford), £5; The Camden Steam Laundry, £5 5s.; D. Ritchie (“A friend”), 10s. 6d.; J. G. N., 4s. 6d.; Miss Kemp (Manchester), £1 1s.; M. L. Frisch, Esq., £2 2s.; T. R. R. Davidson, Esq., £1 1s.; Major General J. Emerson, £2 2s.; The Land of Promise Lodge, Manchester Unity Oddfellows (per A. Gregory, Secretary), £1 1s.; J. Williams, Esq.; £5; T. A. (Sheringham), 2s 6d.; M. A? Burton, Esq. (Liverpool), £1 1s.; East London Association of Marine Engineers, £5 5s.; Collection on Steamer “Gondolier,” Caledonian Canal (per Capt. Carmichael), £2 6s. 3d.; Collection at “Punch’s Tavern,” Fleet Street, (per Geo. Turley, Esq.), £2 5s.; Collection by Gospel Pioneer Band, Redpost House, 8s.: W. B., 5s.; Col. And Mrs. R. Jelf, Royal Engineers, Gibraltar, £5 5s.; Messrs. Gregson and Co., £5 5s.; John Taylor, Esq., £2 2s.; John Reid, Esq., £5; A. C. Allen, Esq., £2 2s.; Mrs. Agnes Samson, £2 2s.; Mrs. Blakeney (Co. Galway), per the Right Hon. The Lord Mayor of Dublin, £1; A Schoolboy, 2s. 6d.; John M. Connor, Esq., “In memory of Percy Ellis, 4^th Officer,” £1; A. M. M. W., 7s. 6d.; Members of Star of Christchurch, Oxford Lodge, Phoenix, Poplar, £1 1s.; Mrs. Petrie Hay, Himsur, Southern India (per Messrs. Leslie and Anderson), £1; Col. C. Lampen Owen (Southsea), £1 1s.; C. P. Marquardt, Esq., £5 5s.; Messrs. Previte and Co., £5 5s.; M. H. Lowe, Esq., £1 1s.; C. R. O’Flaherty, Esq., £2 18s.; Scholars and Teachers of Burghley Road Board School, £4 16s.; G. Skinner, Esq., £2 2s.; Col. A. E. Ross, £1 1s.: Parishioner, 10s.; C. John Coote, Esq., £1; “Southall,” £1; W. H. Buss, Esq., £2 2s.; R. M. Holland, Esq., £3 3s.; Mrs. Young, Aldershot, £2; Bible Class Providence Baptist Chapel, Northampton, £1 1s.; D. C. S., £5; J. H. Henderson, Esq., £3 3s. Total (included in Generl List), £528 13s. 10d.

The Star declares that there are to be found in Johannesburg men “who would desecrate the graves of their ancestors for a tickey rise or fall in the market—or for the imperative glass of liquor, for that matter.”

One of the many who have interviewed Mark Twain in South Africa remarked to the humorist:--“You will have some difficulty in making the book descriptive of your present tour as entertaining as your “Innocents Abroad.” You have not the old institutions to serve as a butt for your humour.” “No,” he said, “I guess I know the limitations of this book, but if one had time to do such a tour in a leisurely fashion, one could write five books on it without much trouble.” During the interview, Mark, speaking of the penalties attached to being a distinguished humorist, said:--“The public are more prone to believe a lie than the truth, and if a man begins to paint in a certain style, he must keep it up or his public will forsake him.”

St. George’s Cathedral, Cape Town, was recently the scene of a wedding which attracted a goodly number of spectators, when Miss Mona Kitto, daughter of Captain Kitto, of far Namaqualand, was married to Mr. Charles Glenny, of farther Salisbury. Mr. Glenny is a popular member of the staff of the Bank of Africa. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. Reginald Smith. The bride was attended by her sister, Miss Kitto, as bridesmaid, the groom being supported by Mr. Chapman. Some of the dresses were exceedingly pretty. The bride wore white spotted silk trimmed with real lace and orange blossoms, white soft straw hat, with trimmings of white velvet and green foliage, and carried a lovely shower bouquet. Her going-away dress was of green cloth, tailor made, the coat opening to show a salmon pink silk front, green hat, with salmon pink trimming.