The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1883-09-11 00:00:00

als
WRECK ON THE CHESIL BEACH.

V,

T tREE LIN' COS LO3T.
GREAT IJAMA ult THE lel,•It1).
on Saturday evening an I Sueday, re.ulting iu the
,A.,rgi
tail et, fncotmh uotihibw,myteiro opt° pitroarlt.litedd
deotruction of mean ;trope ty on the island, the
stranding of a brogue on our snorea and the loss of
the a ives. Short!, after five on Sun lay morning the
inhalottante oof Cheeil were awoke from their
*Welbers by the Mr tads of the ea. It is • common
occui ranee for the sea to pate data through the Beach
during • storm, but on this ocesaion sea after sea
swept over the higher end of the Beach, and rushed
into the houses is Chesil with relentleaa fury. lii one
instance the lower wind we, ,in'ore, and interior fit
-
Moira of • bou*e were entirely wamed away. At
the rail., oy stain the water Wa4 won four feet
deep.
Works
wA w w washednd the d fire en
s, pu an t
d oue the U.S
d
l
half-past aix three tremend ius seas washed over the
Cheeil Beach below the atation, awl patches of the
1 partisan .ut way were washed up, extending upwards of
a
t • quart r of a mile.
Fortunately the inteiligenim was transmitted to Way'
math in the nick iif time, and a train, which had
already eterte I foe Porolee I, See stop,ied lief ir.l It bad
tgot clear of the motion. 11 .1 this liot been the WWI
• serious disa,ter mu-t hay., ensue I, fr elms porti ins
of the permment way were greatly uudermined, end
It would hove been quite impoisoiboi f r tholes in char ge
of the train to have foreseen their danger. In some
placer the line was completely destroyed. A large
break-down gang, comprising men drawn from Wiry-
mouth, Dorchester, aid Portion I, were at once set to
work, but the greatest dilli salty was experienced in
the matter of Wiest, as the whole of thio indigent
-
able material had to be brought from Dorchester.
The men, however, worked with • will, being doper-
intended by Inspector Icing, end by six o'clock the
damage was, to a gleat extent, repaired.
Seemly atter half-pet ouo a large vessel was seen
In the dreaded West Bay, or Deadiuma'. Bay" as it is
appropriately calla I by a 'me. Tho b orque was seen
to be making for the Bill seal flying • flee of distress,
the weather at the time being very thick. It was
soon seen Viet there was very little chance of the
vessel getting out, no Mr. Colwell, chief officer in
charge, an i his wee ill in renutiell, c imprisiug both
the Chesil an I lialaciava Beach, arid bringing with
them the life-saving &operate., they fixed toe haw-
ser and the other articles 0,1 the beach opp site the
COY.) Inn, BO SS to be in reaffirnes. to give help imme-
diately it was required. rim v.-se I, however, mos
more mole an en laavour to get round the Bill cud
here one of their crew was wash, d over) iard by a try.
Well.' ba .011. The Vadelei WAS I,llt about and
LO the wgstw.oril some distithee, ititmt which she
was issued to the wiati. Chief Other C well seiug
that there was not aro rem ,te•t coaiuc, of escape for
the do .ined vesoel fl w the eissiiiU f r in th 1 ratite mast
as • signal t the captain, while a flag was waved to
indicate tee op it where it would be heat to ran the
ship agrouud. The violence id tho wind was driviug
her leo odaide towards the 'Moe, • number of
sailors were diecerned clinging oti t i he rigging for
their live., the Monica I us seas be aking again and
again right over her. I re-p time t i the Moots of
those on shore, the cap•aia pm,' his helm, and in a
few minutes she came ash tre with • tremendous
cereal. The coastguard were randy an 1 waiting, an i
ec on as she •trinik C lief If cm.° B oyley fired
a rock t with s nub splendid preeition that the
line went b tweeu the formai...a and maiomast,
t and the men, utideretending the tliiectioua, .00n
t got the apparatus in working order. As soon as
t the vessel struck, a mamma woo Wus at ra threw a
lifebuoy overboard end then j Repo I at t,r it, with the
intantion of trying to gain the bga.h, hut the sea wee
no tch to i powerful for him; he war dr own is, and it is
' believed he mast have bom atruck by the vesel, as in
t • few seconds he hal tlimpoearrl. His deal holy
reappeorgd no less than three timed in close proximity
t to the shore, and a cloth war male fir it, but without
' •WWWW. Immediately after this unfortuoat 3 man hod
I jumped, a lecond man had prepared to do • similar
thing, device the shouts fens tie excited thousands
ten the Beach to keep on board. Ile put a lifebuoy
round him, and then jumped in, and it was sowi
seen that he was a very powerful swimmer.
t He drifted eb iut for nearly two hours and •
half, now close to the shore, auti then drawn back
several hundreds of yards. It cket after rocket was
fired in vain endeavours ti get • line near him, and
finally, through exhaustion, he slippsd through the
buoy, ant was instantly I at to the eight of the mul-
titude in the beagh. Captain Prows., Board of
Trade Inspector, and the Wyke men made many
praiseworthy efforts to get a line near the poor
fellow. The line fired by Bayley hail been fastened
to tie wreck and three of the crew brought on shore,
Including the coptain ; there still rem aired three men
on board when the apparatus warn fixed, and • man
and • little by if 12 or 13 years of age ia the
stern. A line tat been fired on board at the stern,
but, through some misundestan hog on the part of
the sailor, could not be fixed, and the sailor, seeing that
the apparatus was working alright in the forepart of
the vessel, made his way there, heavier; the poor little
boy quite alone clinging t o the rigging. Just as the
sailer got there the cradle was returned, and he popped
in, and was drawn ashore The little boy, seeing 120 W
matters stood, with pluck worthy of a hardy mariner,
ran along the bulwarks to the fore deck, and signals
were made from the shore t o allow him to come
next, but, t i the surprise and indignation of thaw' on
shore, he was put aside, and one of the crew got in,
an 1 this was repeated until the last man got ashore.
and no one left on the wreck but the breve boy and a
large Newfoundland dog. Great excitement now pre-
vailed, tremendous Seas again and again swept over
the vessel, but the boy was still seen clinging to the
ratlines like grim death. Another sea washed up a
lot of the fl or boards, with which she was laden, and
it was fear el that the boy would be killed,he,however,
escaped with a few bruises. Another wave engalphed
the vessel anti nothing could be seen if the boy, and
there was • deep silence over the crowds on shore for
it was thought he mast have perished, but as the sea
cleared he was still seen clinging to the rigging. Be
this time the cradle had been rettiraed, but his troubles
were not yet at an end, for he had hardly got one leg
in before a lurch csused it to swing away, and he had
to take to the rigging once more. Be afterwards
got in all right, and was drawn ashore amidst the
cheers of the thousands assembled. At the same time
the dig jumped overboard anti swim ashore, but the
poor creature in so doing stptalawl a fracture of the
leg. Directly after the boy had left, the mainmast
came down with a crash, an I shortly after
the foremast. She the. broke in half, anti
her cargo washo i -ut, and pi leas than half
au our -cv. a total wreck, l'he Ile.och was strewn for
eevetal miles with wreck age. Toe MOUS I men, eight
In utiusher. were taken to the Cove House Inn, where
they rec tired every 'Mention fr m 11r. %nil Mrs. Way.
On Monday Oiit wers sent to the Salton' HMO, at
Weymouth. The barque was the Christiana, of
Drammen, Norway, 332 tons hurtles, Captain
Saturday,ml
arcrieluPhfnor edu,p,t:tthhip
ot,.brina
tediunn ot4ri eq. etcun 'lost: hot
rwh, why elm': ht:er
minting
the pilotl t
msoluent
.m7l: and
we the
ht
he
thee captainai''u,tp ht:ei.nt it ahpeavin r e tait '
rs rnoe
washed ashore. A large gang of men are at work on
the wreck endeavouring to rave as much as possible.