The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1882-05-09 00:00:00

SWAN AGE.
AN AWFUL SHIPWRECK.
Loss or 30 LIM.

A party i.l Swanagiaus and visitors were watching
the terrible a.e.isit tit the star u at Tilly NV, i o about
four o'clock on :4aturday afkrnoon, when Mr. Fred
at
Hardy called their tentiou to • full-rigged ship, •
mile from the shore, lo wiag out of the spray-formed
mist. To the horr .r .4 ad, she was seen coming stern
first towards the iabouud stiffs. Mr. George liartlyor
at once sped towards the coainguard-statiou with the
iutelligence, while sores 1 the others crept along be.
hind the @hater of the calls, and often on their
bawls and knees, so tremendous was the force of the
Wind, to see where the ill-fated craft would strike.
She had two jibe set, but her mamma trailed, like
rope-ends, in the blast. They could not see any hands
aboard as she rushed on to her doom with awful haste.
'They lost sight of her for about three minutes under the
almost perpendicular cliffs near filagger'a Hole,about I
gills to the west of the lighthouse. She seems to have
struck the wall of rock and instantly prated at the
bow, her anchors either being let go by the crew, or,
more probably, slipping out with the severed forepart.
Her manta broke &crows the top of the cliff—portions,
including a truck, have been found on the gram. By
this time, Mr. Fred Hardy and • companion, reaching
the spot, saw her masa' were already swept away, her
sides lifting, and the hurricane tearing off her topper
sheathing, and scattering It like paper; the deck-
house, palsied white, held fast for some time, but the
breakers made swift work with the destruction, go
that In less than an hour the wee :kegs wee Boating
along the shore for upwards of five miles, en tie leers
than five initiates her crew must have disappeared in
the chnroing leas The Swansea coastguard, under
Mr. Fox, promptlystarted to the rescue. Three stout
6,ms were taken from stone waggons, harnessed to
the rocket-cart, and at tali speed the party hurried
against the gale as far as the lighthouse, where the
ladders and liaise were transferred to the h and-barrows
and backs of the men, who then made gallant teadway
along the cliffs in weather, of which the officer reports
he "never remembers to have Hien worse." I, three-
quarters of an hour they had reached the Hole—four
miles distant—alas I to find all hope long Mune van-
hilted. The ship was scattered like matches. The St.
Albans' men had been on the alert, and arrived about
the same time as the S +snags guards. A son of the
am Laster Lester, of Laugton. sighted the ship
within a hundred yards of the share, and, returnicht to
the village, lent • horseman to dwailage, but the alarm
had beeu already given. Tee difficulty of getting near
enough to the edge of the cliffs in such terrific weather,
and the spray mist over the coast, will fully account for
the fact that no men were sash aboard. The shock of
the coldsion must have swept the 90 men or more off
Into the sea at once. A " sou'-wester " au been
' washed ashore with a nasty cut in the crows, a of
I:O.mA-stains on the outside. At Hurst Castle wreckage
with " clitt.stoos" in it tele its tale. A boat hewing
the same of Allen Dranan, St. John's, New
Brunswick, has been picked up, and • vast amount of
flotsam at Cowes, end among the jetsam at Swanage
we find • pair of eas en i other clothing marked
'• Purdy," and a chart with course pricked. The
ship masts were bull., this (with the size of one of her
aides still in sight) seems to show her to have been •
vessel of at least 1,800 tons. A three-masted schooner
now at Poole parte company with the doomed ship
during the equal. The Swanate lifeboatersarched the
scant on Sunday morning for the missing crew without
effect. She could not have lived in the storm of
Saturday. It was at first reported that the ship wee
the emigrant ship Western .LLuirarch. It has, however,
turned out to bathe Alexandrovin4, of Ho dismay, N. B.
Tee former vessel, which left London about • week
ago for Marlborough, New &Maud, with about 330
emigrants and the usual complement of seelDell, called
at Plymouth on Friday for the Government passengers
at 4 p.m., the wind at that time, according to • letter
received from Captain Wend by the Royal Exchange
Shipping C nipany, the owners, being light two) the
aruth-west. Toe captain stated in his advice that be
Intended to tow out as far as the Eddyatone Light,
Kern web), on account of the wind being unfavourable.
and thus it has been ascertained be di i, the vessel
being left by the tug off the Eddystone about 8.30 a.m.,
and was spoken off Falmouth at a later hour by •
pilot cutter. nines Saturday morning no advice has
been received of her, but there is every reason to sup-
psi that she was en ebbed to beat out into the Atlantic
before the full force of the gag was experienced, and
where she would have plenty of sea room.
[Lena.)

The ill.fateci vessel, as communicated above, is,
without a doubt, the Alexandrovna. which sailed from
Rotterdam for Cardiff on April 220 1. She wag a
vessel of L 274 tons rerister, was built at &Abseil,
N. 8., In 1874, and owned by Mr. Gilbert and gr.
Sleeves, of Liverpool. It was hoped by many that
the poor fellows on board foresaw their danger and
had 'snipe], but such was not the case, as the finding
ot dead bodies fully wean. The body of • young
man, shout Oft. in height, was picked up on the
Wednesday after the sad Incident near the wreck. It
warn much bruised, and • life buoy near him, which
bore the ehlp's name (Alexan Irwin). The weather
having moderated on Wednesday last, • number of
fishermen with boats visite I the scene of the react
disaster. The bay in whilh the ill.fited ship was
driven ashore is one of the most dangerols on the
coast, ani it is not surprising that the ship se middy
collapsed after striking the treacherous rocks which
there abound. The cliffs at this particular spot rise
to an altitude of about 100 ft., and are perpendicular,
while the MN is continually washing against the bass
of them. . . .

As stared above, the body of • seaman from the
thip was brought into Swanage on Wetheeday after-
nom. It wa. found by a man name I Robert Brown,
fisherman, of Swum" and an Inquest was held on
Thursday afternoon at the Royal Victoria Hotel,
before Ur. Daniel, of Wareham, the coroner for the
Isle of Purbeck, and a jury, of whom Kr. C. Burt
was chosen foreman.—The jury, on being sworn, pro-
ceeded to view the body, and the only witness called
was Thomas Marsh, who stated that be was seerching
on the rooks on the previous (Wednesday) afternoon,
whsn he found the lifebnoy (produced). It was
marks '' Alexandrovne." and the marks on it cones-
p maid with th.,se on the bo st picks-d up at Yarmouth
on Saturday. He subselosntly assisted in getting
the body of decossed, use of wirer legs wad jammed
between two pieces of rock, out of the water.—The
jury returned • verdict of "Found Drowsed," and
the foreman expressed, on behalf of the jury, the
opinion that is would be unnecemary to bold any
further inquest in the event of other bodies from the
wreck being brought in.—The Coroner agreed with this
remark, an I decided not to hold any further inquest.
On rhuraday evening inf wmation waagivets to P.C.
Greenstocie of the County Police, of the recovery of
two more bodies • two out of the three bodies were in
a perfectly node date, and the only articles attached to
the third were a pair of brows worsted stocking, and
elde-spring boots. The following is the description of
the three bodies height s(t. 10in., brown
hair, blue eyes, well-built, masonic star tattooed
on the right hand between the thumb and forefinger,
and a anchor on the left hand, a ring (tattooed) on the
third finger of the latter. It is thought that this is
the body of the captsin or mate. 2nd, height flit. Sin.,
dark Drown hair, full-rigged abip tattooed on the
heeled, brown wonted stocking', and sideeprbut boom,
Bach ,if the bodies' was fearfully knocked abo 1, and
it was impoodble to onuses with any degree of accuracy
ea t the age of either. We anderstan I that T.
I>owhrt. Beg, hee again come forward with his true
liberality and offered to defray the expense attending
the interment of the bodies.
On Friday • large number of men, including 17
engaged by the Local B wird, went out searching for
bodies, &c., at the scene of the wreck, and among
some men's clothing that bad been matt on the rooks
in that terrib e storm, wits found the photograph of •
child, apparently about three months old. There is.
however, no printed or written m deer of any descrip-
tion that might have led to a communication with
some of the relatives of the ill-fete I crew, who only
a week since were strong, bold sailors, but are now
taken from the sea stark-naked, mutilated, and terrible
to look upon. Possibly, alter those four descriptions
under, no more bocUet may be recovered, and so-
--

-
"The sea sod them in death
They did not due to ;
It was their truns when they had htlettbi
'TM now their home for ever."

Description of the four bodies found by the party
above, brought ashore DOW the Tower, and plead lu
• house near the Grove until the following day
(Saturday) :—let (or No. 4 body found)—No marks,
brown hair, about flit. Tin. 2nd (or No. 6 fonoti)—
No marks, sandy hair, whiskers and moustache, ab sue
sft. 91n. 3rd (or No. 6 (min ,)—No marks, light hair,
about fit I. 10io. 4th (or No. 7 found)--Has the follow-
ing tattoo marks : On right arm. ship on muscle, name
Agnes under, Elephant D. hicK, another ship, brace-
let, bud so anchor; on lot arm, female and serpent,
two female. and American flag, and • coat of arm.;
on breast, English and French flare ,• on calf of tight
leg, female standing on a flve.pointed star and holding
flowers over her head in each bead; on calf of left leg,
a five-pointed star and plume of feathers over it..
Notice was given to the undertaker( Mr. J. &Mil),aud
very respectable coffins were supplied by him, and
everything got in readiness.
Al half•prist two the 17th battalion Ist Hants A.V.,
beaded by the fife and drum band, met at the
Armoury and marched to the Dosetguard Station
whore tbq we.. joined by Lieut. and Mrs. Maas,
Mn, S. mat" the eessepardweee, mod game The