The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-04-07 00:00:00

TIE NORTHERN TIMES.—LIVERPOOL, MONDAY, APRIL 7,114 Se.

AWFUL SHIPWRECK-TOTAL LOSS OF

perhaps explained by a statement, not very clear, in a log
found in the boat with Nye (kept probably by the mate), to
the dffect that the water tanks of the ship bad been stove in
a violent storm a few days before entering the ice.

THE JOHN RUTLEDGE, AND 143 LIVES

The New York papers received by the Arabia, supply us
with the painful details of the loss of the ship John Rut-
ledge, on her voyage from Liverpool to New York, by
which 143 lives are believed to have been lost. The ship
foundered in consequence of damage sustained by collision
in the ice; The only survivor, so far as is at present known,
is a Mr. Nye, a seaman, who was picked up by the Ger-
mania, while on her passage from Havre to New Yoik, and
which reached the latter port on the 24th ult.
The Germania sailed from Havre on the 29th of January.
On the 28th February observed a ship's boat ahead, hove
to, and fou,,d it to contain, alive, Thomas W. Nye, of New
Bedford, the survivor of thirteen persons, the remainder
having perished of starvation and cold. They had been in
the boat nine days. Nye's hands and feet were very much

The following are the-last entries in the log above spoken
of :

Feb. 18th.—A t eight a.m., the weather is thick and hazy—
a drizzling rain falling. In the latter part of the day,
strong breezes and rainy. Passed several icebergs on both
sides—one within ten feet of the weather side. Lat. D. R.
45 dg. 34, lon. D. R. 46 dg. 56 N. W. Nine p.m., light
winds and hazy. The vessel is surrounded with icebergs.
It is very difficult to keep clear of them. At eight o'clock
we tried to run clear of the ice. There being very little
wind, the ice got down to the snip before we could get past
it. The wind ding away, we could not steer clear of the
ice. Eleven p.m. The ship is completely wedged in with
drift ice, and there are very large icebergs in all directions.
A breeze has sprung up aft, there is no alternative but to
proceed. The further we go ahead the thicker the ice be-
e' M.'S, and the more numerous the icebergs. Midnight.
Light winds, and the ship making little headway. Four
a.m., 19th. The same. Eight a.m., steady breeze—ship
making more headway. Passed some very large icebergs.
The John Rutledge was a vessel of 1,008 tons register,
built at Baltimore in 1851, and insured in New York and
Philadelphia for 64,000 dollars, principally in New York.
Freight and passage money insured for 6,000 dollars.• The
cargo was an assorted one, valued at from 75,000 dollars to
100,000 dollars, and is largely covered by insurances in
Wall-street.

frozen. The bOat also contained the bodies of Mrs.
Atkinson and three others, names unknown, all belonging
to the ship John Rutledge, Captain Kelly, of New York.
The John Rutledge left Liverpool for New York on the

16th of January ; fell in with ice on the 18th of February,
in latitude 45 34 N., longitude 46 56 W. ; got into field ice
the next day, but succeeded in working clear of it. She
subsequently, however, ran into an iceberg, stove a hole in
her bow, and was abandoned at six o'clock the same even-
ing. Five boats, filled with the passengers and crew, left
the ship. It was the intention of Mr. Atkinson, the mate,
to have left the vessel in the boat which was picked up, but
she broke adrift, and he and several others went down with
the wreck_ It is conjectured that the other boats, which
were well manned and furnished with compasses, would pull
for the Gulf Stream, as the weather was severely cold.
They may, therefore, be picked up by passing vessels. The
compass of the rescued boat was accidentally broken ; and
it being cloudy, her crew could not shape their course. The
John Rutledge belonged to Messrs. Howland and Ridg
way, of New York.
There were on board the Rutledge, at the time she struck
the iceberg, 144 souls. Two had been lost overboard pre-
vious to that time. So far as we know, but one of that
large number now survives. All but him, no doubt, ere this,
have met with a terrible death. The calamity is appalling.
And the feeling of horror which its details awaken, is
rendered more intense by the certainty that now exists, that
at least one other noble ship has met a similar fate, with not
one, in all probability, left to reveal her sad story to hun-
dreds of anxious hearts.

The Germania, after rescuing Mr. Nye, stood to the north
west until dark, and then lay to until daylight, in hopes that
some others of the drifting boats might be seen. None,
however, were discovered, and she then sailed to the south-
west, keeping watch. At nine o'clock a.m. there came on
a very thick snow storm, which cleared off at noon,
but still no boats were to he seen. The Germania still
kept to the south, as the other boats were better
manned than the one found, had compasses on board, and
it was supposed that they would pull for the Gulf stream.
Mr.,Nye could not tell which way the other boats went,
but a barque had come :out of the ice the same time,
bound west, which may have possibly picked up some of
them. If not, the probability is that those on board the
boats have ere this perished. On the 11th of March, the
Germania experienced another hurricane, west-north-
west, which lasted three days, driving her back 150 miles
into the Gulf. It was very cold, and there was much
snow. The Germania was 25 days to the westward of
the Banks.
The reader will not fail to notice that the track where
the Germania encountered the ice on the 28th of February,
and where the John Rutledge was lost upon it on the
19th of the same month, is about the same where the
Arago encountered it on the 18th of January, the Atlantic
on the 19th of February, the Arago on the 22nd, the Bal-
tic on the 27th of the same month, the Persia on the 31st
of January, the Africa on the 2nd of March, and about
the same as that where the Edinburgh on the 27th of
March saw, what has been supposed by some to be-the
wreck of the Pacific. An additional hope to that faint
one which our ardent wishes still keep alive within us,
that the Pacific has not been lost upon that same icy
track, may possibly be derived from the fact, that neither
the Germania nor the survivor from the John Rutledge,
brings any report of having seen any vestige of wreck
in that part of the ocean.

We subjoin a statement made by Thos. •W Nye, the
rescued sailor. The narrator was very low, and was much
fatigued by the effort. A sailor before the mast cannot
know many things of interest in connection with an event
of this character, and yet the statement of Mr. Nye is full,
concise and intelligent.

STATEMENT OF THOMAS W. NYE

The ship John Rutledge, Captain Alexander Kelly,
sailed from Liverpool on the 16th of January for New
York. She was loaded quite deep, and had on board an
assorted cargo, including a large quantity of iron. She
also had 120 passengers in the steerage. The officers and
crew numbered twenty-six men. The name of the first
mate was Atkinson, and he was from Philadelphia.
We encountered the most tempestuous weather, and lost
a man from the jib-boom. We also lost a passenger, who
was washed overboard by a sea. On the 18th of February
at noon, in long. 46° 56' West, lat. 45° 34', we en-
countered field ice, and in making our way through it,
struck one or two heavy pieces projecting some four
or five feet out of the water. The weather was hazy,
and we could not see far ahead. The wind was aft, and
the ship being closely surrounded by field ice, would not
steer well. We could not keep clear of the heavy masses of
ice. At last, early the next morning, the ship
struck heavily upon an iceberg, and started planks from
the forefoot. The pumps were sounded, and it was
found that the ship was leaking at a fearful
rate. Two pumps were set going, and the crew and
passengers divided into watches of twelve each
to work them. A quantity of salt and crates of crockery
in great number were hoisted out of the hold and thrown
overboard. By this means the leak was got at, and some
pillows and clothilig were stuffed into it. But they seemed
to do little good, and it soon became evident that the ship
was filling rapidly. Preparations were then made to
abandon her, and take to the boats. There were five boats
attached to the ship, which I think would not have carried
all on board. As it was, some twenty-five or thirty were
left to go down with the wreck, of whom all but the mate
and carpenter were passengers. The boat that I was in was
the last fo shove off. It was the intention of the mate and
carpenter to have joined us ; but they went to sound the
pumps, and while so doing, our boat broke adrift. Indeed,
had we lain alongside a few minutes longer, we should have
been swamped.
We soon lost sight of the ship, and found ourselves—.

thirteen in number—upon the wide ocean, with but about
a gallon of water, and six or eight pounds of bread. The
party in the boat consisted of the boatswain, a Scotch
sailor,—five men, four women, and a little girl, passen_
gers —and myself. One of the women was the mate's
wife. The weather was intensely cold ; the boat shipped
a great deal of water, and, from the effects of both,
the sufferings that we were to encounter were not long
delayed, The two other sailors, Mrs. Atkinson, and
myself, were warmly • clothed ; but the passengers,
with the exception of one lady, were not. That lady
was wrapped up in two blankets. We had a compass
in the boat, but Mrs. Atkinson, in jumping in, broke it
It would ha •

been of little use, the boat was so unsteady.
We made no effort to reach any particular point—our
only hope being that we should be seen and picked up
by some passing vessel. Mrs. Atkinson took charge of
the bread and water, and would give but little out. She
and the boatswain drank most of the water. Both were
soon exhausted, and then the bitter cold began to tell
uFon. us. It is my opinion that if we had been well
supplied with food and water, most of us could have with-
stood the cold. On the third day in the boat, a male
passenger died. He was very thinly dressed—a light coat
being his only one. He was followed the next day by a
woman, whose husband survived her for a day or two. We
this day saw a brig running free, with a light wind. Our
hearts were cheered with a prospect of speedy relief. We
raised a signal on an oar, and pulled for her with all our
strength. We gained on her for some time, and I had
begun to picture to myself the hearty welcome that would
be extended to the shipwrecked by her captain and crew.
But a breeze soon sprung up. and our hopes were crushed.
She gradually left us. I thought we were near enough to be
seen from her deck, but no notice, was taken of us. Notwith-
standing this great disappointment, I endeavoured to keep
up my spirits.
On the fifth day, all those in the beat with me began to
drink sea water. I warned them against it, but they
persisted. I got very little of the water taken from the ship,
but I drank no sea water. When my mouth became very
parched and dry, I rinsed it out with sea water, but
swallowed none. Some snow fell one day, which I found a
great relief. After the others began to drink the sea water
they died in quick succession. On the seventh day the last
one died, and left me the only living being in the boat.
Tie dead who first succumbed were thrown overboard; but
the four last were beyond my little remaining strength, and
for more than two days, I was forced to sit with their
distorted bodies before me, and with but little
hope that a better fate would be mine. The last who
died was a passenger--an English lady, of slight form—
the mother of the little girl. Her daughter preceded her
a few hours. I cannot remember the order in which the
others died. The boatswain, the night before his death,
became delirious and furious. He assaulted Mrs. Atkinson,
bit her severely on the arm, and scratched her. He threw
the bucket overboard, and attempted to throw the oars over-
board also. He assaulted me with the canteen, and struck
me a blow on the face, the marks of which I still bear. He,
died about noon, some hours before which he became list-
less and stupid. Nearly all the others became delirious.
Mrs. Atkinson called in the most agonising tones for water
—stretching out her hands to receive it. They all died like
the boatswain, and in many instances the first notice I had
that another victim had fallen, was by his pitching over
when the boat lurched heavily.

When all my mipanion's were dead, I fixed an oar
upright, with a white woollen shirt and a red silk handker-
chief waving from the top as a signal. This was the first
permanent signal that had been erected. My feet and legs
had become very badly frozen, and I was hardly able to
move. I lay in the bow of the boat. It would ship a sea
occasionally, and I would rouse myself and bail it out. I
would then lie down again. On the 28th of Feb., when I
had been nine days in the boat, I saw a ship bearing down
towards me. I was now confident that I would be rescued.
I was directly in her path. As she neared me she hove• to
and sent a boat to my relief. Myself and the boat which bad
borne me so long in mid-ocean, were hoisted on board. The
bodies were consigned to the deep. I found the ship to be
the Gtrmfoa'a, Captain Wood, from Havre for New York.
Captain Wood, who proved to be a townsman of mine, his
wife, Mr. Papon (the steward), and the first mate, have
been unremitting in their attentions. My frozen limbs
were put in cold water, and then bran poultices were
applied to them. To this, and other judicious treatment,
which I received at the hands of my good friends on board
the Germania, I shall be indebted for the restoration of my
limbs to use. I belong in New Bedford, Mass. I have
never supposed my constitution was especially rugged. I
weighed about 146 pounds when I took to the boat. I at-
tribute the continuance of my existence beyond that of my
companions to my abstaining trom the use of sea-water. I
used some of the ice that formed upon the boat. It was
only a little bitter, having lost the brakish taste peculiar to
sea-water, and was without its injurious effect upon the
system. My companions appeared to suffer great pain after
they had drank sea-water.
Regarding the scene on board the ship, when it was
resolved to abandon her, the statement is silent. But we
understand from the officers of the Germania, that Nye told
them that some of those remained did so from choice—the
mate and carpenter among the number. This does not
agree with the above statement, nor harmonise with the
presence of the mate's wife in the boat ; but undoubtedly
has some foundation. It is not difficult to imagine that
there were those who preferred the chances in a water
logged ship to those in an open boat without food or water
in midwinter: The want of an adequate supply of water is