The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-04-17 00:00:00

A TERRIBLE TALE OF THE SEA.

Apt official inquiry into the less of the barque Ulster, of St.
John's, New Brunswick, was concluded at Liverpool on
Saturday last, before the Stipendiary Magistrate, assisted by
nautical assessors. The inquiry revealed a terrible story of
hardship and privation The Ulster sailed from St. John's on the 29th of
January last, with a cargo of timber for Liverpool,
arlds'llP to the Bth of February ha a fine weather and
favourable winds. At midnight on the Bth, however,
the wind backed, and a heavy gale commenced to
blow. At daybreak the weather continued unabated
and the heavy seas shipped from time to time caused
I'll° deck load to ci-4.st adrift. Captain Evans, the
'master of the vessel, thereupon got his crew to work
at throwing the deck load overboard, which was done
until dark, the pumps, meantime, being kept going at
every opportunity. The night having come on again,
and the gale being unabated, the boat skids were
14.Q1C4?41 by the seas, and two of the boats—the pinnance
and the gig—as well as all the loose things about the
deck were washed away.
On the 10th the weather moderated ; but the follow-
ing day another gale came on, and about two p.m. the
binnacle and the wheel were carried away by a
tremendous sea, which threatened to engulf the ship
entirely. At four p.m., during a lull in the si:.°l'll,
'Ole Crew were able to go below and get sonie dinner;
tint while they were so engaged the shin was struck by
a hurricane from the north-west, which caused the
Inainyard to break away, and threw the vessel on her beam
ends, the port rail being under water. At six p.m. the
cabin door was burst in, and some of the men took to
the rigging.
At daylight on the 12th it was discovered that the
steward was missing, having probably been swept
away from the rigging by the waves. Later on the
*.welling of the timber in the hold cansgd the hatches to
ciVtii from below., and the veßss.3.l became water-
npon whieh the crew took refuge in the upper
44zarette,,where they remained helpless for six clays,
Subsisting on preserved provisiOns, which they obtained
by breaking. through the bulkhead into the cabin. All
that could be found to drink was a jar of fresh
Water.
On the 18th the crew left the lazarette and took to
the rigging, but the raging sea swept away one 11'151.1,
tIY; iiiten,se cold andexv:c.Faire cased another man,
Aorweg44/i, to (lie in'tho rigging. The cook became
delirions from the privations to which he and all the
Others were subjected, and jumped into the sea in a fit
of frenzy. For three days the unhappy men remained
• clinging to the rigging.of the waterlogged ship, having
neither food nor water to sustain them, and their suf-
ferings being increased by the fact that two steamers
Were sighted which, in spite of the signals made by the
l-iairing men, passed on without noticing them,
tb,a Vrni Fei!rtiavy they were seen by the steamer
I,4l.4llParelms, which took them off in her lifeboat, and
"I'ollo4 them to London.
„ The above facts having been shown by the evidence,
tne Board of Trade Court, in giving judgment on
Saturday, exonerated the master from all blame, attri-
buting the loss of the ship to the terrific weather which
141:Iva:ilea in the Atlantic at the time.
A P,

.erincess of the Grand Ducabfamily of Hesse had
" narrow and marvellous escape from a terrible death the
ether day. The Countess Erbach-Schonberg was returning,
%with her father, Prince Alexander, hgr husband, Count
ach, and her brother, Prince Louis of a. Battenberg, from
't to the Landgrave of Hesse, when, on crossing the rail-
way, the countess stumbled. An engine which was rapidly
.I)Proaching would inevitably have caused the" death of the
4ntess, bad not her husband and a railway' official who
near and saw the threatening danger rushed forward
and snatched her almost frZm under the very wheels of the
locomotive.