The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-05-31 00:00:00

PALLING W RECK OF AN EMIGRANT
SHIP FROM LIVERPOOL.
TWO HUNDRED LIVES.

LOSS OF NEARLY
One of the most disastrous shipwrecks on .
occurred on the 3rd instant, at Stirrup Key, among the
Bahama Islands. The news of the dreadful calamity was
taken to New York on the 16th instant, by the brig
Reuben Carver, from Sagua la Grande, which had on
board the captain, first and second mates, and six of the
crew of the ill-fated vessel William and Mary.

record

The barque William and Mary, commanded by Captain
Stinson, left Liverpool for New Orleans on the 24th
Nl.arch, with a cargo of railroad iron and 208 passengers,
Principallyfn
German, Irish, and Scotch emigrants. No-
Particular occurred, with the exception of fourteen
deaths among the emigrants and one birth, until the 3rd
Isfwhen they entered the dangerous channel of the
.111: Et haEa a s , with the most unfavourable weather, the wind
ulawing stron from the south-east, with a heavy sea.
About seven go'clock in the morning, the barque passed
4' The Hole in the Wall," the most southern point of the
Island of Abaco, so called from one of the most prominent
rocks on the coast being perforated with a large hole,
Which is visible a considerable distance at sea. Passing
this in safety, Captain Stinson steered for Stirrup Key,
which at twelve, meridian, was about ten miles dis-
tant, the weather becoming more clouded, and the
nind increasing. Till the afternoon the vessel kept on
her course without accident of any kind, but at half-past
eight she struck on a sunken rock, on which she remained
for about fifteen minutes, and received extensive damage.
The passengers were all, on deck, running and screeching
We are lost ! we are lost !" and crowding the debk so
that it was almost impossible to get from one part of the
shin to another. The captain ordered the boats to be
cleared and launched. The two life-boats were launched
first, and four men got into the starboard boat, taking
With them two cans of water, a compass, and some bread.
They remained in the boat all night, and with the greatest
difficulty kept her from being stove. The larboard boat
was safely launched, but about half an hour after was
stove under the quarter, the decks being so crowded aft
that the boats could not be dropped astern. The boat at
the cranes was so filled by the passengers that they bent
the cranes down to the water. This boat was stove also.
The long-boat was still remaining on the afterhouse,
unfit to be launched without caulking. Part of the crew
were, ordered, however, to get that ready, and the re-
mainder to lay forward and get ready to cut away the
mast. The ship was now rolling very heavily, the sea
breaking over her every few minutes during the squalls.
Some of the headstays were cut, and everything got ready
to let the foremast go overboard ; but the captain gave
orders not to cut it, as the sails kept the ship from rolling.
Her anchors were let go as soon as possible, and after ift.
ing a few rods she struck again so heavily that it prostrated
many on the deck, and it was evident to all that the ship
could not possibly stand many more such shocks. The scene
was now dreadful beyond description. Some were upon
their knees, praying to the Lord to have mercy on them ;
some were crying, others were running,
catching hold of
the officers and crew, begging them to save them, telling
them that they were unfit to die, that they were unpre-
Pared to meet their God. Some who had the evening
previous been boasting of their infidelity were the first
11Pon their knees, and loudest in their cries for God to
have mercy upon them. It now seemed evident to all
that
e the ship would go down immediately. Men, who
Itnl fokree this, had acted their part nobly, now ceased to
any effort to save themselves or others. Some
Went to a cask of liquor that was between decks, and there
!orgot their dangers and troubles. At midnight the water
I.ad gained so rapidly on the sinking vessel that it was
thoudr feet in the hold, and, at 4 a.m., eight feet. Scarcely
ten dal' dawned when it was announced that there were
dc- feet of water in the hold, and the pumps were aban-
doned in despair. The boats, the last resort of the terror-
a__ icken passengers, were unshipped from the davits ; but
all except the life-boat and long-boat were swamped. The
Ilia officers, and a portion of the crew got into
rapidle life-boat and abandoned the ship, which was then
sinkine. The captain was the last who got into the
;T!lfe-boat; and even then he had to be urged very strongly
ore he would consent to leave the vessel. When the pas-
ngers saw him leave the ship they knew there was no
longer any hope, and became perfectly frantic with despair,
r;ireaming and calling wildly for that assistance which it
restmpossible to render them. As soon as the captain
, six of the crew, who still remained in thee t
got
dy the long-boat, into which some of the passengers
Junsped indiscriminately.
scene on board the sinking ship was most heart-
ra rTedhi e
Women and men jumped overboard from the
ma nY r part of the vesssel, near where the boat lay, and
were drowned. One of the crew, who was in the
'wag-boat, was compelled, with a hatchet, to keep off the
passengers who were crowding into the boat, and who, if
allowed to enter it, would have sunk it. The life-boat,
occupied by the captain and crew, was so crowded, that
!Va IT cutting the rope, they debated the necessity of
! wing lots to see who should go overboard. At that
lust Ilene a poor fellow was standing on the side of the vessel
as the rope was about to be cut. He asked the mate
if he might jump in ; but receiving no encouragement
from him, he was about giving himself up for lost when
he thought that by rendering some service he might be
allowed to get into the boat. Knowing that they were in
want cf a sail he took one of the ship's skysails and
handed it to those in the boar, who, although
the boat
was already overcrowded, could not refuse him a chance
for his life. The rope was cut by another sailor, named
'Ridley, who immediately after jumped into the water and
was taken on board. The long-boat ultimately got away
with about twenty passengers and one or two of the crew.
In about half.an-hour after the barque was left she went
down, and all on board ate supposed to have pe-
rished. 'After beating about for some hours the life-boat
was picked up by the brig Reuben Carver, and conveyed
to New York. The captain stated that about noon on the
lth. the day after the wreck. he saw the long-boat picked
Pby an English vessel bound up the Gulf. On the 11th
instant the American schooner Smith Shuttle spoke an
English
Reef, barque, one hundred miles north of Maritanilla
steef, bound for Liverpool, with cotton, from New
Orleans. She had picked up twenty-five passengers from
Lan American ship the day previous. The barque was
bound to Europe, but Capt. N. could not ascertain her
name- There is every reason to believe that the persons
rescuedscued were some of the passengers of the William and
from
the The Reuben Carver was twelve days at sea
'ue time she picked up the crew of the lost vessel till her
rival at this I.'l port. She fell in on the 10th May with the
11e Oneco, of Portland, and received a supply opro-
visions, which was greatly needed, after receiving the
Ntain and part of the crew of the William and Mary on
.!?ard. There is every reason to hope that the passengers
who had throvvn themselves into the long-boat have es-
d unable to the melancholy fate of their companions who were
leave the vessel. _ Thes William and Mary was 512 tons burthen, was built
u_ bowdoinhana last year, and was owned by J. Harward,
?! that place. She was insured for -8 26,000, at the fol-
lowing offices :--New England, -810,000 ;
City, sB,otio ,
and Hope, -88,000. e passenger-ag
Th ent in Liverpool
was James Chambers.
About eighty of the
going passengers were Germans, who were
out i
large tract n company, with the intention of settling on a
of land which had been bought in Illinois. The
%Iremainder ainder were composed of English, Irish, and Scotch,
1 Irish forming the largest portion. One of the sailors
la
raft that some of the passengers may have formed
a t and saved themselves upon it, or by floating on some
fragments of the vessel. This he considers not at all im-
T,ebable, as there were two or three sailors left behind on
saw.. such
; and these, he believes, would have devised
paw.. such means of saving themselves and some of the
10:''enters. Should they have done so they would not be
some vessel
about before they would be picked up by
fo"!le_ vessel, as the place where the William and Mary
("uttered is a general highway to vessels bound south.

ESHIRE—AND---* ALES.
Weed
w ,R.s.r.R AND HOLYHEAD RAILWAY.--Traffic for the
&e. ended ended May 22, 1853 :—Railway: Passengers, parcels,
~,e,..,„3,095 6s. 3d. ; goods, £1,210 11s. 9d. Steamboats :
;7fnly 179.11 d. T0ta1,.£4,78-1 155.11 d. toopease as compared
''. the corresponding week last year, £1,60t, 145. 6d.
tiz...it.,TAYLOR, gardener to Harold Littledaawlpe-pw,rEeocrsikqam.tio:n:
''''''tg-h 11 has been presented
testimonyby
ohfisthfeelirlo
'with a silver' cream jug, in
'with
his uniforcrnre kindness towards them. Mr. Taylor is
out to retire from his present situation.
of THE
dißt otrosltit: have visitors
CHINESE a rmx.— ur
at Rock Perr i D ing the past week crowds
Ferry.
patronised the junk, which has been re-
at moorings
really apay-gate,
gratification, a Chineseclo close to the
war-vessel
visit
too thislich our readers should
speedily avail themselves of.ne w
DANGE
ddoazniatsht
etsborse Stir° RT .17.
horn a , two of' th°elT As three.,, young girls were walking
face with shots
struck in the .
Neith gun used by one of a party of
were struck
r erry to Tranmere, on Tiles-
" 0 the • the Shots penetrated were dangerously wounded, although
CONCET. ac!jed the skin in both instances.
msthe pigeon-shooters.
concert at tbe-c: l‘ridaY, Mr. ahead, t
another feature of which wagntn
se th7rds'
Birkenhead, of Birkenhead, the principal
i .„,sPnearance, for the first time in
Welsh vocalist. The -ca. L. Williams, the celebrated
consisted of Welsh Part of the entertainment
very well received. .°4B, sung in costume, which were
EASTFIAII FERRY.
-cures at the romantic Est- exhibition of moving life-size
crowds during the WhitsuYtiof Eastham has drawn great
Persons from Manchestern de
exhibition in one day. holidays. Five hundred
chivisited the ferry and the
With the " show," and it i ldren
Ira
induced to leave so attractive with difficulty they can be
onand busy a scene.
greatly delighted
wk. 11 ,13R AR RscoUNTER.
Isi tam Fowles, of Nantwich,PfreilaY, at a late hour, Mel.
Thin with a bear wi hiwas
muzzled d escaped from its kennel.
o_, attacked Mr. Fowles very ;
, t great strength and presence of u ;
rinoimslayl, bulitiai dint
succeeded in
wereicnocking bins down three times, Wrvenad ,tilliee
owners,w h 0
ein search of it, came up and took it away, to the
wcosMlng.. delight of the brute, who had evidently had the
,4, of the encounter.
5„..%1P lilitscti AT CHESTER.—On Tuesday, a handsome
;.,,.'lee steamer, the property of the Australian Coal and
riat r-Colonial Steam Navigation Company, was launched
fully Mr. Cram's shipyard, Chester. The day was delight-
thetli fine, and crowds of spectators were assembled to see
rei aunch. A little before one o'clock the vessel was
the_ eased from the stocks, and glided into the water most
tunkiestically. Mrs. Alfred Pegler, of Manchester, named
vessel " The Golden Queen." Her length is 175 feet,
'cam 26 feet 3 inches, and depth 15 feet.
RN CHURCH ORGAN.—On Trinity Sunday, this

, 'ttlxco
-:,rgan, wl

tOP, and an octave and a half
reopened by Alr. W. S. I
11gustine's Church, Liverp po
o the 'Rah has been changed, for the purpose of givisition of
n fuller
effect to the volume of sound. A handsome carved oak
screen, presented by a member of the congregation, has
been erected, which separates the organ from the body of
the church. The cost of the enlargement was about £BO,
of which had been subscribed by the congregation.
Three sermons were preached on the occasion, and the Collections after the services amounted to

h has been en'

a powerful trumpct-
als with pedal-pipes,
jun., organist of St.