The Sun.
London, England, 1854-11-01 00:00:00

THE LOSS OF THE ARCTIC.

The following additional particulars in reference to
this disastrous accident, furnished by Captain Luce to
the reporters of the American journals, will be read with
melancholy interest by the relatives and friends of those
passengers who were so suddenly launched into eter-
nity :—During the time succeeding the discovery that
the vessel must inevitably be lost, a young man, named
Stewart Holland, an engineer under instruction, had
been constantly firing a cannon. About 10 to 15
minutes prior to the vessel's sinking, he discovered that
further efforts in that direction were useless, and, as he

fired the gun for the last time, young Dr. Waring ap-
proached Captain Luce and shook him warmly by the
hand, and said to him, " Captain, should you ever live
to reach the land, let the world know that here's one
man who has done his duty bravely." Captain Luce
ce stthaitse
es i
th: y
re-
plied that he knew it. A more brave and self-sacrificing
never being
ethanmv.
this
Mr. youngßb
Babcock
were on deck also rip to the last moment. Mrs. Bab-
cock had been lying sick during most of the passage.
eocmkan and Caphti's'inladLyu, of
"I think," said Captain Luce, "that I shook hands
with them both." He thought "that Mr. M'Cracken
and his sister, Mrs. Scott, were on the upper deck also."
Mr. Allen thought, at the time, that he saw Mr.
Catherwoed there, but, upon being questioned by Cap-
tain Luce last evening, he could not call to mind
whether he was so or not. Captain Luce said that Mr.
Comstock went over when the tackle of the small boat
broke. He did not recollect whether Charles St.
John was among the crowd on the upper deck when
the vessel went down or not. He saw Captain Pratt
and his lady there, and thinks that they went down
with the rest. Mr. Newbold was one of the
most efficient among the passengers, and but a short
time before the ship went down was working with
all his power to get a spar overboard. He was on the
ship to the last. lie saw Mr. Springer, of Cincinnati,
on tte upper deck while she was going down. About a
minute befere she went down he saw Mrs. Collins, with
her daughter and son, standing on the deck. The two
former, he thought, had on life preservers. Master
Collins had taken off his coat and boots. Mr. Stone
and ids family and Mr. Day awl his wife and daughter
were also on the deck, and were standing together when
the vessel went down. Mr. Grant and his wife and
son were standing together on the upper deek,lnedt were
swept off with the rest. He spcke to Mr. .Gand
his wfe not two minutes before the vessel sank.
saw Mr. Benedict and lady with the others. He
was speaking with Mrs. Hudson, who was standing,
with her child, with the other passengers. She wished
thst he would allow her to go with him, as she sup-
posed that he was going to take the boat. He told
her that he should stand by the vessel to the last. He
saw the Due de Gransmont make a spring into the bows
of Mr. Dorian's (the last) boat ; but those near to him
drove him out again. That was the last that he recol-
lects seeing of him. Captain Luce states that a large
number of persons got on water casks ; some lashed two
together, thinking they were thus secured ; but in many
instances the lashings became loose, and, of course, the
casks became useless. He saw six different persons
climbing up and endeavouring to sustain themselves by
two casks. They kept above water for a time, but
finally sank. After the vessel went down, a great ma-
jority of those on board, as they rose, got on the raft
which had been built. A large number got on small
pieces of the wreck, doors and other fragments, float-
ing by. These gradually separated, and each one
soon lost sight oF the others. When the last boat
was upon the deck, Captain Luce succeeded in getting
Mrs. Collins and a number of other ladies into it,
but they were forced to leave, as the' required the
boat for service in making the raft. They did so
without any apparent reluctance. Captain Luce says
that the ladies, after the first fright was
over,
were as calm as could be imagined under such circum-
stances, and seemed perfectly resigned to whatever might
be their fate. Captain Luce continued :—As the waves
were engulfing him, he saw, close to him, Mr. and Mrs.
Petrie, of Philadelphia. Mr. Mahlon Day succeeded in
getting on the piece of the wheelhouse on which he was,
with others ; but, observing that they were already too
full, he betook himself again to a door by which he had
formerly been sustained. Mr. Allen thinks be saw Mr.
Edward Sandford on a piece of raft, very soon after the
sinking. Mr. Cahill and lady were alongside of him in
the water. After he had succeeded in getting on the
pine of the wheelhouse, which at that time was lying
close to the raft, he reached ever and assisted Mr. Ca-
hill from the water to the raft. He afterwards fell off
again. Mrs. Cahill called to him to try to, reach him ;
but he could not do it without going overboard himself
After Mr. Allan and he had
got -up on the raft, they saw
Mrs. Allen, Mrs. Brown, Miss Maria Brown, William
B. Brown and his lady, and some 50 others, on the main
raft ; and they were still upon the raft when they
last saw them. With regard to the prospects of others
having been saved, Captain Luce bolds out a faint ray
of hope. He says--" I think it is quite possible, and
not at all improbable, that we shall utimately hear of
the safety of others. At this season most of the vessels
that pass near the spot are outward bound, and I see no
reason why others may not have been picked up, the li
same as I and my companions were. After the gale,
however, of the Saturday following, I think there was
no possible chance for aity who were on the pieces of
wreck to be saved. They must have perished. Those
who were in the boats, however, would ride out
the gale in safety, and might have been picked up
days afterwards, and, provided the boat was pro-
perly managed, by having her head kept to the
sea, I do not see why the occupants need suffer
materially from the heavy seas. A young Ger-
man boy, named Ferdinand Keyn, who was on the
same raft as Captain Luce, and who had previously
rescued the French seaman through whose instrumen•
ta!ity the attention of Captain Russell was called to the
raft, by throwing him a rope when the boat belonging
to that vessel was run down by the Arctic, appears to
have suffered intensely. He happened to have some
biscuit with him which had become soaked with the
salt water, and eating these only increased his thirst,
and, to make matters still worse, he drank some of the
sea water. His sufferings were beyond all description.
Twice lie jumped overboard, saying he would rather die
than suffer as he was doing ; and each time they pulled
him back on the wreck. At one time ho cut open a
vein in his arm and sucked his blood. The last time
he jumped over was about 15 miuutes before they dis-
covered the Cambria. This young man has obtained a
strong hold on the affections of all who have met with
him. Captain Luce speaks in the highest terms of his
gentlemanly bearing and kind deportment, and Mr.
Allen, his fellow-sufferer, has decided to take him into
his employment at the Novelty Works. At Quebec 65
dollars were subscribed for him, and on the cars other
sums were generously contributed. As a contrast to the
cowardly conduct of the crew, who in one instance
threatened to use a knife to Captain-Luce when he ordered
them out of one of the boats, is the following instance
of faithful devotion. When Captain Luce went below he
discovered the stewardess of the vessel, Anna Downer,
who was the only person below, working at the pumps
with all the power she could command. He told her to
come up ; -that she was only exhausting herself; that it
was as useless for her to attempt to pump out the ship
as it would be to attempt to pump out the ocean. " Cap-
tain," said she, " I'm willing to pump as long as I can
work my arms." He told her again that she had better
come up with the others. She asked him if he would not
take her into the boat with him. He replied to her that
he was not going to get into the boat, but when the ship
sank he expected to be in the sea.
In another instance— that of a man in his employment
—Capt. Luce says :—(1 During the whole of the scene