The Liverpool Standard, and General Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-10-17 00:00:00

LOSS OF THE UNITED STATES MAIL

STEAMER. ARCTIC

ON Thursday last great excitement was created in
Liverpool by the receipt of intelligence that the splendid
steamer Arctic, Captain Luce, had been lost near New-
foundland. Intimation of the.sad catastrophe-was brought
by the screw-steamer Cleopatra, which arrived here from
Montreal on the morning above-named. The Arctic was
one of the " Collins' line," andi left the• Mersey, on her
voyage to New York, on Wednesday, the 20th of Septem-'
ber, with passengers and a crew, numbering in all about
368 individuals. So far as is known, all went prosper-
ously with the noble ship up to the-26th ult., when she
became enveloped in a dense fog, within about 65 miles of
Cape Race, on the Newfoundland coast. Here she was
run into by the French merchant iron screw-steamer
Vesta, bound from St. Peter's to Granville in France
The collision was instantaneous, both vessels going at
great speed, in opposite directions, and from the density
of the fog they were, it is stated, unable to see each other,,
for more than about a minute prior to the fatal collision.'
The Arctic, it is believed, was steaming at the rate of
twelve knots and the Vesta at eight knots an hour. The
blow must have been a tremendous one, as it made three
large holes in the ship, two below the water, one of which
was about 6 feet in length, and I or 1-it foot in depth,
the whole cutwater and stem of the iron steamer having
been forced through the Arcties starboard side, near her
bow. In the confusion which prevailed it was thought
that the screw-steamer had sustained most damage, and
was on the point of sinking. Captain Luce immediately
gave orders for lowering the boats, with a view of saving
her crew and passengers. On board the Vesta great
alarm had been excited, and two of the boats were lowered.
The first sank ; the second was boarded by two of the
crew and some of the passengers, but in making towards
the Arctic they were run down by that vessel, and, with
one exception, all on board perished. The Vesta had in
all 147 passengers and 50 of a crew, 13 of whom have
been lost.

The serious injuries which had been received by the
Arctic were soon too fully revealed. All efforts to get to
the leaks by lightening the vessel forward were unavail-
ing; and, although the passengers did their utmost to
assist the crew at the pumps, the water gained upon them
very fast. In about thirty minutes all the lower fires in
the engine room were extinguished ; the water was six
feet deep in the hold, and all hope of saving the ship was
abandoned.

Amongst the passengers were Mr. E. K. Collins, his
wife, and family, and also the brother and family of Wm.
Brown, Esq., M. P. for South Lancashire. The pas-
sengers, iu their alarm, took possession of the
boats as they hung in their plaees on the sides of
the vessels. With difficulty some of the boats were
launched. Men and women jumped overboard to reach
them, until the sea was covered with human beings,
to whom no assistance could be given. Mrs. E. K. Col-
lins and several other ladies were put on board a boat as
it was being lowered into the sea. One of the tackles
gave way, and all in the boat, except one lady, who clung
to a sailor, were precipitated into the water, and lost. The
second officer took command of two boats, the one con-
taining 26 and the other 19 persons, and after rowing for
46 hours they landed on the coast of Newfoundland. It
is supposed that the Arctic foundered almost immediately
after they left her. The steamer is valued at £120,000,
and is partly insured here and partly in America.
It is to be feared that the captain is amongst the lost.
He told the second officer that his fate should be that of
the ship, and he subsequently desired, it is said, that his
son should share the fate of his father.
The accounts received are chiefly taken from the New-
foundland journals, from which the following facts have
been gleaned :
"On Wednesday, at noon (says Mr. Baahlam, second
officer of the Arctic), Cape Race bearing S.W. by W., 65
miles distant, while running in a very thick fog, were

struck on the starboard bow, about 60 feet abaft the cut-
water, by an iron steamer, which made three large holes
in the ship, two below the water, one of which was about
62 feet in length, 1 or 1i in depth, leaving the whole cut-
water and stem of the iron steamer clean through the
Arctic's side. So dense was the fog that the vessel could
not be seen a minute before the collision.

" The wheel was put hard to starboard, the engine
stopped instantly, and backed at full speed, until clear of
the other steamer, which occupied a couple of minutes.
The French steamer seemed to be sinking, bow first. Capt..
Luce immediately gave orders to clear away the quarter
boats, which was done, and Mr. Gourley, chief-officer, left
the ship in charge of the starboard boat, and in lowering
the port boat the captain exclaimed, ' Hoist up that boat
again, Mr. Baahlam,' and beckoned me to go to him.
Upon doing so, he ordered me to go over the bow to ascer-
tain, if possible, what damage had been done. I then
found the holes above-mentioned. Upon informing him
of the facts, he ordered the ship's head to be kept for the
land, which bore N.W. by W. By this time we had lost
sight of the officers' boat, and the other steamer, which

we supposed had sunk. Wo had not been on our course
more than 4 or 5 minutes before we ran over a boat and
crew belonging to the other vessel, all of whom perished,
with the exception of one, who caught hold of a rope hang-
ing over the bow.

Y‘ Directly the boat was seen, orders were given to stop
the engine, which the chief engineer said could not be
done, as the ship was fast sinking. In about 30 minutes
all the lower fires were out, and at the least there were 6
feet of water in the ship fore-and-aft. By this time the
confusion amongst the passengers was very great, but they
used all efforts to assist the crew in keeping the pumps
going, and in lightening the ship forward, for the purpose
of endeavouring to get at the leak from inside, which was
found to be useless, and numbers of them got into the
boats, which were still hanging to the davits. In 45
minutes after the collision, I came up from the fore-hold,
and informed the captain that the water was on a level
with the lower deck beams, and that it was impossible to
get at the leak. I then asked him what he thought would
be likely to be the fate of the ship, when be stated his
belief to me that there was no hope of saving her. He
then told me to see to my boats.

"On going to those on the port side, I found them com-
pletely filled with men and women, and no possibility of
getting near them. I immediately went to the starboard
side, and ordered two of the crew to lower the guard boat,
and asked the captain what his intentions were, who
replied that the ship's fate should be his. I then asked
him if he would not allow his son to go with me, as I
intended to take a boat, but he returned me the answer
that he should share his fate. I then jumped into the
boat, and was ordered by the captain to cut away the
tackle falls, and drop under the stern. I did so ;at which
time about 20 persons, as I suppose, jumped overboard, of
whom 17 or 18 were picked up. Fell in with another boat
which had been lowered from the other side, and lightened
her of part of her complement, leaving 19 in her and 26 in
my own boat.
"The last sight we had of the ship her guards were level
with the water, and the surface of the sea strewed with
human beings who had jumped or fallen overboard, to
whom, however, it was impossible for us to lend any
assistance, and we soon lost sight of all, as the fog con-
tinued to be very dense.
"We were then about 60 miles S.E. of Cape Race.
Deeming it my duty, for the safety of all, to take the nearest
course for the land, and after pulling 42 hours, with nothing
to guide us but the run of the sea, which I took to be
heaving from the southward, and in a thick fog, which
lasted all the time,*.we reachedißroad Cove, some 12 miles
north of Cape Race. _ _ _ . . .

--I`We then proceeded by land to Renews, which we
reached on Friday last. I there obtained and took charge
of a small schooner, which was hired by the purser and
myself, and proceeded immediately in search of the wreck,
or her boats. We cruised round until yesterday, in a
strong gale of wind from N.E., but could find no trace of
ship or boats ; but as there were very many vessels in the
neighbourhood where the disaster occurred, it is not impro-
bable that many lives may have been saved. No doubt,
however, is left on my mind as to the loss of the steamer
Arctic."