Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1836-08-19
From the Limerick Star.
HORRIBLE S1IPWRECK,


From the Limerick Star.
HORRIBLE SHIPWRECK.
The Francis Spaght of 345 tons, laden
with timber sailed from st. Johns, New
foundland, on Gath November, bound for
Limerick. The crew amounted to Ia men
with the captain q matethev had fine wea-
Their few days, bat it afterwards blew so
hard that they were obliged to drive before
the wind. AT three in the morning of Decem
Der Sd, the vessel, through the carelessness
of the helmsnnan, suddenly broached to,
and in less than an hour she lay on her |
beam ends, the greater part of the crew
saving themselves by clinging to the rig.
ging Patrick Cusack and Patrick Behane |
were drowned in the torecastle, and Grit. |
fifth, the mate, in the after cabin. The |
Captain and Mulville got to the fore and
main masts and cut them away; the mlzen
top mast went with them over the side,
and the ship Immediately righted. As
soon as she rlghted, she settled down IN
the sea, and there was scarcely any of her
to be seen except the poop and bulwarks.
No situation could be more miserable than
that of the unfortunate crew tanding ANGLE
deep on the wreck, in winters night, and
cling ing 10 whatever OBJ Jet was nearest, as
sea after sea rolled SUCCESSFULLY over them.
On the dawn, they discovered that their
provisions had besn washed overheard, and
they had no means Of coming at any fresh
water. The gale continued unabat ed, and
for safety and shelter they gathered into
i. = the cabin under the poop Even here she
was so deep with water, dry plank could
not be found, and their only rest was by
standing close toget her. At ten in the
forenoon vessel was deserted to the
westward, but she stood far away beyond
the re,fh oe signa, and was soon out OF
sight. That day and the next passed
away without any change in the weather.
On the third, it began to moderate. There
were thirteen hands alive and not one had
tasted a morsel of food since the wreck
, and they had only three bottles of wine:
this was served out in wine glasses at long
intervals. There was some occasional
rain which they were not prepared at first
for saving, but on the fourth or fifth day
,. they got a cislern under the mzen.masts
:, where it was filed in two days. The Pc
u RODS in which liule or no rain fell, were,
y however, often long, so that they stnted
themselves to the smallest possible allow
- ance. 10 seven days after the appearance
=, Of the first vessel, another was seen only
e four miles north. An ensign was hoisted,
y but she bore away like the former, and
c was soon lost to their view. Despair was
70 now in every countenance. How they
e lived through the succeeding five days it
> would be hard to tell /; some few endeavor.
y ed to eat the horn buttons of their jackets.
= Horrible as this situation was, it was made
- yet worse by the conduct of the crew to.
wards one another. As their sufferings in.
~ creased, they became cross and se!h,h-the
y strong securing a place on The cabin floor
and pushing aside The weak to shift for
themselves in the wet and cold There
y was a boy, named o Brien, especially, who
&c seemed to have no friend on board, and en-
" dnred every sort of cruelty and abuse. -
;" Most of the men had got sore legs from
y standing 10 the salt water, and were pcev
= ish and apprehensivc of being hurt; as sooi
- as O'Bren came near them in search of
:" dry berth, he was kicked away, for whicl
=: he retalated in curses.
" On the 10Th December, the 10th Ca
~ since the wreck, the Captain said, the
7" were now a length of time vii hout sust en-
. ance, that it was beyond human nature t.
y. endure it any longer, and that the onl
question for them TO consider was whethe
" one or ali should die; his opinion was
We that one should suffer for the rest, and tina
lots should be drawn between the four boy
Gu as they could not be considered SO great
o' loss to their friends, as those who ha
IS wives and children depending on them. =
y, None objected to this, except the boys
VI who cried out against the injustice of sue
TO a proceeding. OBrien, in particular, pro
tested against il; and some mutterIngs wer
o. heard amongst the men, that led the latte
Tx TO apprehend they might proceed IN NOR
to summary way. FrlendIess and forlorn a
Ia, he was, they were well calculated to tefrif
tu the boy into acqulescence, and he at lengl
ut submitted. Mulvile now prepared som
,re sticks of different lengths for the lots.
ut bondape was tied over O'Brien's eyes, an
"a he knelt down, resting his face on Mulvllle'
he knees. The latter had the sticks in h
H. hand and was to hold them up, one by ont
demanding whose lot it was. O'Brlen wa
icy to call out a name, and whatever pcrso
lso he named for the the shortest stick, was I
its die. Mulvllle held up the first stick, an
ms demanded who it was for. The answe
en- was, "for little Johnny Sheehan," and tn
md LOT was laid aside. The next was held uI
ate and ,he demand was repeated, con myself
he upon which Mulve said, that was Il
ost death lot-that O'Bren had called it {,
himself The poor fellow heard the an
nd men told him he must prepare for deaf
IRE and the Captain proposed bleeding him
of the arm. Tine cook cut his veins aero
The with a small knife, but could bring no flo