The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-12-13 00:00:00

ling
e Of
Out

way
Rat
I my
itioa
WMa
at of

aide
nnoed
F tn.
the
State
y the
-tine&
cono.e.

which
inevi•
to the
et was
,unt ot
OVer•
ap ot
liter a
; not
par
ich are

Itine•
wa•
si
.st K
• wall
isrunao
Ci

4
'on, and
..Its, 278
F ,rOgi
Wharf
1: litas
ordsl6
ostaned.

46 to 84
64
6° U.
76
11:
6: los
98 90'

espoo,"••
mend*,
4. to 416

to TA
ed.
Ltadocit
*
otr.
L.
nidoi
UP."

THE LOSS of the "VILLE DU HAVAE "

Th. COM tpondont of tho Doily S ttll hot mut tho folio*.
us commui.ication for publican,
PLYMOUTH, Sunday.

.pinie, Rohertaon and the crew of the Lochearn,
th,. Clyde clepper which Male into c !lesion with the
F., oh steamer Vote du Hare in mid-ocean, were
landed here hr N . 8 pilot en ter lest eveoiog from the
knip British QUCC 1,. from Philadelphia to Antwerp
Loptrears. -hortly after transferring those of the
Fate du Barri who survived the catartrophe, was
found tr be making water faet. and in a gale on the
28th or "Aran er her crew abandoned her and to dr to
their boats, and were picked op by the British Queen.
The captain, in his log give. the Following scomut of
th collision and the su'Aequeut foundering of his own
vessel:—

- -
At two •no. on the morning of November 22nd we
were in lat. 46.54 N. and long 35 6W. The wind
was S.W. and true. The ship was breeeti no on the
port task, heading Icy standord compotes N.W. by W.,
or AV. half N. true. A eteacner's meet. beryl light wee
seen from one to two points on the port bow. Our
side lithts were out and turning brightly. Shortly
after we saw two or three lights coming s.rMitlit for
us, but almost immediately afterwards she showed only
her port end mast Ina light.., an was at, ering at,
parently to pass under our stern. After a tone we
rang. no bell and ported our brim, as we thought she
was coming too near. The steamer was still ehowiog
only her port light., and when close up to the bow the
rive du flu erg Was Wairboarded, for she was going
across •ur bow. A collision was now inevitable, and
the order was given to back the aft yards. but before the
braces could be let go the ten chip* came into c Iliad. an,
the Loehearn striktng the IV( du Hang arnitiship,
The ships immediately separated. mut we drew our aft
yards back. A portion of the crew then shortened sail,
and the coma ntier cleared away the pert lifeb.at The ,
carpenter, who was at the pumps, reported that the
,hip was makivg no water. I then went forward, and
Lund that the bowsprit was gone, and the bow numbed ,
completely in, but the eollision • ulk head w.tp apparently ,
uniniered. A hen' trona the Ville du Havre then
came tdongside, cot-raining an officer and four men. I
asked if the steamer n,ol [Mirth injured, and the
officer replied that the was it junta, but he did not
say that she requirea any weletenCe. No signal of
distress was mace. by the etrauntr. and I was tinder
the impression at this time that the boat had been sent,
from the Ville de4 Barre to render na vegetal ce, but
while I was talking t ther'offieer I saw the steamer
apparently settling down. We therefore lowered the
port lifeboat at once, in charge of the Fecund offigee
and four men, and they immettiately made off to the
sinking ship. Our cutter and starboard liteboate were
then cleared away. and in • few minutes they werealso
despatched to the scene of the catastrophe, their only
guide the crie, of the drowning people, the steamer
having disappear. d. We kept our own he ate until day-
light,and until we had picked up every one that we found
Hosting amongst th.. wreck, anti we succeeded in
savirg eighty tour people out I three hundred and six,
a lance proptot it having Mine down with the steamer.
The Vide du Havre only floated about • nearter of an
hour atter having been etruck. At noon the American
ship Trimouniaan hove in eight. We at once hole ed
a Spiel of , istrne, and the captain of the Trinaountain
agreeing to take as many people on board as
we thought lit, and we sent the pasengers and French .
crew on board, with the exception of a gentleman
who was iujurel, anti one of the firemen. During
the remainder ttf the day we were engaged in
securing the Lochearn's foremast and topmast, all
the sides being Os November 23 no ship hove
In sight, and we were drifting to the northeast, the
wrath being moder tee but hazy. The crew were
employed with the carpen'er in gettiog a barricade up
across the b .w, composed of spars cut and lashed to.
gether with the packing of all our @pare sails, 4, keep '
her from staving in her bulklesd. We trimmed the
ship as wilco as possible, and when she came • little
mitre out of toe water we found that her stem and b ,
plates were smashed right .1 oen t, the forefoot. At
that time tho chip was making very little water. On
the followins day we sighted nothing. The chip drifted
to the north-east. It was bt eing • heavy gal..'
the sea breaking heavily aeainst the bulkhead, and
making it quiver. We were utilised t.c keep the ves-eel
under lower topsails, anti, the tuizon bring aback and .
theeffip in the trough of the sea, tt e monieut her head
came to the seethe water poured in by the -sides of the •
compartments which were now eeparated from the
striugers. On November 26 the sh.p was etill driftirg
to the eastward, the wind being strong front the we.st.
The bulkhead showed ni mistakable slrna of weshileen,
and the Water wa.., pouring in from both stringers. On
the 27thi the wind was westerly and moderoted. We
tried her again =die her lower totemic, but were
obliged to diseuxtin te the attempt. roe dulltheada
were generating fuse fr to the frau es, and they were .
much shaken, anti getting r.oreaa dad,. On the 28 h,
by dead re boning, we '-tic in let. 49 north, ,
and long. 30.3-1 west. A vio:ent sale was !do wing from
the west, the ship lying in the trough of the sea said I
rolling frightfnlly. At two a.m. the seaman on duty I
watching the bulkhead tenoned a fresh leek, and found
a heavy strain behind the spoon between the stringers
and the bulkhead. The water was coming in from
both aides with • force that rent it ten feet aboft before
it touched the skin. We also now found the water
comber in from the four frames abaft the bulkhead
and from the rivet heads around the compartineuta
We kept the pumps going, until about four a.m.
there was only five inches of water in the well.
Two hours afterwards the ship Brits?' Queen hove
In sight. We at once lowered the liteboat and
sent the chief officer on "crud to report uur ounci-
Lion, and to ask them to stand by till, as the water w as
coming in with greater force en ry lelhhour* and the
bulkhead was now completely separated from the
frame on both sidee. The crew re'noed to stay :or ger
by the ship. 'roe water was 111,, e racily ineresein;,
and was now coning in bee elnit-e, with the proepect
of the bulkhead giving nay entirely at any moment.
Therefore I reluctantly gave orders for lowering of the
boats, and put the crew on board the Britiih Queen.
We were recesnel with the greatest inseihle kho mess
by Captain Masters. Before leaving the Lochearn the
well Was s ended, and 3 feet 6 inches ot water Wei
found. The greatest quantity of water was aft."

A letter from Havre, petaled in the Xlire Sitte'e,
atat.a that a Inn, sal service foe the repo.« of he lentla
of those who were ,iet in the Ville du Havre WM. eel." ,
bested on Sunday morning in tin hoech of N dee .
Dame. The sacred edifice wee crowded. In front of the ,
altar was • catafalque surrounded by large wax nandhla
and near it were the crew nf tun mints) •t L'Areene
the survivors ot the crew of the Vil'e du Hance, and
the families of those who were lost in ttie j,l-fated
vessel. In the choir were M. Vandal and the three-
ton of the Trausatbmtie Company, Captain Sarimont,
and the other surviving nffi ,e 1,4 ; the Mayor el Hans
and his deputiee, the sub Probe', the nffi era of the
Arthe, the officers of the 6 ti Regiment of the Line,
of the Artillery, and of the Engineers, the members of
the Munieipal •.'reincil. and of the Chamb-r if Cm-
mince, the members of the Tribunal of Commerce, the
President and Judges of the Civil Tribunal, toe
Procure-ea of the Republic, and the offieers of the
Fire Brigade and Salvage Corps. The curd,
M. Duval, officiated, with all his clerey, while the
band of the sth Regiment of the Line played funeral
marches The emotion was profound. Mier the service
the curd ascended the pulpit and delivered a very
Affecting discouree. When cite preacher, bursting in o
ears. turned round, and extendu g his hands tarerle
the catafalque, exclaimed—" Anti we have not even
the consolation of baying the bodies of those for whom
we mourn," there Ives torunghout the church an ex-
traordinary manifestation of grief, and ieveral women
• aimed. In gOilig out of the church, ,1. Vandal shook
hand 4 with an who had maisted at the ceremony, arid
thanked them for having testified their borauw in so
touching a manner.

At the afternoon service in Bt. Paul's Cathedral, in
London, on Sunday. Croon Liddon made • feeling al-
lusion to the wreck of the Ville du Havre and the
terrible lo• 44 life iniolved in it. In the c in.e of his
Dermas, whith dealt much with inod-en materealiem,
the very rev. Canon said there were COM in this metro-
polis who once believed themselves to be immortal, but
who had ceeseed to do so. It WaR calculated that a great
number of kolliB passed out of exietenoe ever} 24 hours,
but the suffering was distributed over be surface of the
globe. But the catastrophe which befell the Vile du
Hater was of the sharpest, most pieraing hind. They
ronet feel that their weakness enabled them in some
sense Waite in what the sufferings must have been.
Few could have read in 'he mordng papers the ac-aunt
of two hundred and odd men, women, and children,
just like te meelres, roused from their beds on a
winter'e ti,:ht to find they had huts. me twelve minutes
ta lire ere they sank into a grave b: neath the wave.,
without ening, "Hid I been there in bed in that Vile
du /here, how would it have been with me? Wnst
would have been the conviction on my mind in that
momeat of cope-me agony? W. mei I have acquired
the esignathin of n c a few blessed by God in the great
ship? Would I have mid, from the d.-pi he of my .0111.
Into Thy hands, Oh Lord., I commend nry epirit ?'"
If the ft I,,rions gone' had done ereu, for them, then
merely they had solemn works to do without delay. In
Other worsen, if they had got g ace alai mercy, they
needed both should they be taken at a ehort uotim,
like 'hat given to tiennhaapy paoungers and crew of
the VI/IC nt. Harm The last qmstion he should tell
then, to asir themselves!. was "The gospel has done
everythlog foe ns—what have we done for Him of
Whom it rpeaker

On Sunday at Pontifichl high mass, at St. George's
Romern catholic Cathedral, Southwark, the Right
Rev. Moneignor Cap-I, who is preaching a writs of
Advnt serui cis at the chtu_cb, referred in the cow S.
of his diehoutbe to the lose a the Vile do Havre and
the msimicholy loss of life which folloatd it. He
made re ppaii :Al up ion to a Roman Crithol c orieat who,
when the ship ace &at settling tbiwn, raiet lit tyre
and hands to heaven, and prayed for the souls of those
who !sere then on the blink of eternity, and who at
last, with the bleeped name upon his lips, eillappeared
beneath the waters. Mormignor Capel told the is !n-
-gresation bow a trelancholy estaptrophe like that he
spike of should cense them airway to be prepar.d for
their last hour smith° live in amity and goodwill with
all mankind.