Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1837-11-02
AWFUL STORM AT SEA.

packet Home, recently wrecked on Her Pus-
sage from New York to Charleston, is well
known to our readers. Another steam. pack
e., the Charleston. left Philadelph,a ON the
same day. (7lh Octobcr,) and encountered the
same tremendous storm. The following mar
rative of her provideDtal escape from threat
cned destruction, is extracted from letters
received from one of her passengers, and
published in the Philadelphia "FRIEND" oi
the 2Ist ut. We think the narrative will be
read by others, as it has been by us, with q
thrilling interest. The camness and self
possession OF her commander, Captain
Miercken) in n season of such imminent peril
is beyond all praise. Tho first part was
written before the storm had fully set in.
FRS. day afternoon, l0rh month Sth.-The
wind and swell nf the sea have increased
considerably, and tho appearance of the ocean
is awinlly grand. The waves tower above
our upper deck, while the gulf which yawns
below seems es though it would swallow us
up. Our course is in the trough Of the sea
with the winds and waves on our side, which
makes the boat roll excessively, and the force
nf The waves striking the boat makes her
lrcmhlc from end 10 end We have shipped
some seas on Our forward deck which covered
II several inches in water, and altogether II
may br considered quite storm. The sea-
men are now recfng our square-snil to be
eady for rounding Cape IIaltcras, where we
are to expect n rongh time. The boat rolls
80 that have to hold on with one hand while
| write with The other.
The gale. of which spoke in what wrote
on first day. rapidly increased IN fury towards
night, and the terrific appearance of the bill
lows. with the howling oftIe wind, convnced ID
me that our situation had become most Sc
rious and dangerous. We Were off Cape
Hattpras, between 20 and 80 miles from land,
IN one of the most dangerous parts OF the
coast Of North America. ] retired To my
berth late, and wos So fully impressed with
ouT danger that | could not sleep, and the
tremendous lurchng ofth bont would hardly
allow me to lay in my berth. A little before
two O'Clock in the morning n sea broke ove'
the stern Of the boat like an avalanche the
concussion was so great as to break in the
bulk heads and shat,er the glass in some Of
The windows, far from where it struck. II
broke in the skylights of the after cabin, and
sweep over the nftcr-deck ms deep as the
bulwarks, nearly four feet. The violence of
the sea lifted the deck fore and aft Of the
whcclhouse, making on opening about one
inch wide the whole length of the boat,
through which the water poured into her
spnnsons every time We shipped sea, that
ahc relied like log IN the water. The
weather side, moreover, took so much moro
than The other. TINT IT occnsoned her To list
over very much, and dcr,nged the working
OF the engines. Had these failed, all hope
would have heen at an end. The captain
behaved with remarkable coo!ness and de-
cision. Ilc had been on the upper deck, at
the helm, all the day ard night exposed to
the fury Of the winds and waves without any
shrlter. When we shipped The sea, ut = p.
W. he ran down into our cabin, said he could
not be absent from the helm, and that If we
wished to save our lives. we must turn 10
hajing ont water, or he greatly feared the
boat would be swamped, she was so loaded
with il. At this moment four skyhghts. each
eight inches bv thirty, were pouring down
columns Of water. the whole cabin aflont. md
trunks. setiees. bonnet boxes, SC. were dash
ing from, side To side as the vessel heavcd in
he trough Of the sea. Buc kets were procured
q md we commenced baillng as fast az we
could. but every sea we shipped brought IN
vastly more than all Of us could bail out, and
The water soon became So deep as to run in
n the top Of my boots. 1t was evident that
.orie other means must be rrsorted to. The
passenyors and crew behaved with great
-almnfss and propricfv. none who were ahle,
refusing 10 work. We took our mattresses
md pillows and stuffed them into the lights.
,ut the returning waves washed thcm out
We then barricaded them with scttccs, and
stationed men to hold ,l,cm in this succeed
ed in m r, but no sooner was this accomplished
than a tremendous sea struck us on the other
side. and opened way for the water in there,
md into the ladies' cabin. 1t now became
necessary to rut some stopping on tho ou..
side. but the boat was shipping such tremen-
dous seas, that it was q work of great hazard.
A man, however. was procured to 60 who
was dashed to the sianscions by strong ropc,
but such was the depth of the water on the
dock from the continual washing of the
waves, that he could do but little. The boat
rolled and pitched so Grendfnly that we could
scarcely stand even when holding on. and she
had shppcd 40 much waite: that she leaned
on the side toward the sen. exposing her TO
its full action. stood baiing and handing
wator from the time 1t first broke into the
cabin until o'clock in the morning wet to
the skin and nearly ready to sink with fatigue.
As the day dawned, the storm ragged more
the hillows rose "a high as our
smoke pipe. and as they curled aud broke,
fell on W. with amazing power. hbont ten
o'clock the engineer told us he thought the
engine could not hold out much longer, she
was so dlsarranged and injured By the heavy
shocks of the sea. We knew that as far as
regarded outward means, this was our only
hope Of safety. and the intelligence was ap-
Mailing. Our captain was collected md en-