From the Sept. 12, 1904 issue of the Daily Kennebec Journal, selected and edited by Kaimi Rose Lum
With drawn revolvers cowing a nondescript crew, Chief Engineer Dee Miller of the steamship Longfellow kept them at work pumping out a leaky and doomed boat off Cape Cod, Friday night, until the vessel reached a point close enough to shore to warrant a hope that when the steamer was abandoned the men could reach shore in their small boats.
The Longfellow went down in about 13 fathoms of water and took with her a cargo of dynamite estimated at 350 tons. What will be the result when this dangerous explosive begins to wash ashore and adrift from the steamer is a problem which is giving the Cape Cod life savers many an anxious minute.
The Longfellow sailed from Wilmington, Del., last Tuesday morning under the command of Capt. Edward G. Riley. … Beyond some trouble with a defective pump the boat had no mishap until 6 o’ clock Friday morning, when the chief engineer and the oiler, as they came on watch, discovered she was leaking a little forward of amidships. By 8 o’ clock, the leak was so serious as to demand constant attention …
The boat, in the morning, was a little below Gay Head and nearly all hands were sent to work at the pumps and bailing. Once during the afternoon the crew became frightened and almost threatened mutiny, and the persuasions of the officers kept its members at work.
About 5 o’ clock, so rapidly had the water gained upon the vessel that the men, panic-stricken, refused to stay in the hold and started to escape. Words proved unavailing. Chief Engineer Miller drew his revolver and for a few hours longer kept the mutineers at their task, while the captain was making every effort to reach Provincetown or some other harbor of refuge.
It was about 9 o’ clock when Capt. Riley and his men abandoned their ship. Their attempts to reach the shore, at least those of one of the boats, instantly attracted the attention of the coast guard and Coston lights were burned freely to keep the sailors clear of the beach and its pounding surf.
After dark, when the condition of the boat became desperate and it was found there was no hope of her salvation, signals for help were freely burned, but at least one steamer, watched eagerly by the anxious eyes of the imperiled crew, passed along the Cape without manifesting any sign of having seen the summons for help.
Not so the hardy surfmen, who were alert along the whole stretch of dangerous shore. …
When the boats left the Longfellow, Capt. Riley took command of one. In the other boat were Mate Johnson, Assistant Engineer Halloway and six of the men. Close upon midnight the Longfellow, which had gradually sunk lower and lower in the water, foundered. The boats were safely away from the suction created by her descent beneath the waves and there she lies, about 8 miles off Highland Light.
