25 AUGUST 1888, Page 3

The frill accounts of the collision between the steamers '

Geiser ' and "Thingvalla,' off the Nova Scotia coast, which reached London on Saturday last, show that the 'Geiser' —the ship which sank—lost 79 of her passengers and 26 of her crew ; in all, 105. No very clear explana- tion of how the collision occurred has as yet been given. Though the weather was very bad, and the night dark at the moment when the Thingvalla ' struck the Geiser,' it appears that an hour before, the vessels had sighted each other. The officers and crew of the Geiser,' during the very short time allowed them between the collision and the sinking of their ship, seem to have behaved well; but on the part of the passengers there was a frantic rush to the lifeboats, ending in two of them being rendered utterly useless. The second officer of the 'Geiser' managed to save his life in perhaps the most remarkable manner ever recorded. He was asleep in his berth at the time of the collision, and only awoke to find "the bow of a steamer ploughing its way right through his state-room." It flashed through his mind that his only hope of safety was to get on board that steamer. As he reached the floor from his berth he saw "the anchor-chains of the Thingvalla 'right in front of him." To these he clung, and as the • Thingvalle drew away from the Geiser,' he climbed over her bow, and found himsPlf in safety.