The Arkansas banner., 1849-08-14

Mf. FoFhes acknowledged Tue receipt of the medal giving interesting account of fife collision Ills letter is dated from the residence cf W RathbOne. Esq. After expressing his thanks he says
 "At o'clock of the dsy named, no, being well.
 retired to ny stse-rooB, in the forward cabin, and laid dowu with ny clothes on. on the set;ee. and scoa fell asleep | was suddenly aRekened by crash and shock which l could hoi fnisuBderssane. rushed upon deck and 10 the port bow of ship, where the sst appalling spectacle fsesefted itself fhe bow Of ship appeared to be half way through the bark, having eelered her just abai inc main rig giRg on The post side She had ali ss set one glance at the m Aied bark satisfied that she must instantly go down, and that no earthly power could many cf the passengers The afier hstehes were obsiruc- ted by pieces of hsoken timber: the main hatch entirely cieAr aud appeared 10 be filled with women and children. tainy endeArorlng te get on deck. l should iudge thai the ladder bad been knocked down in the general crush. Tbe wafer af this time rushing into the vessel like miilrace Seeing that the only chance to save any to lower cur boa,s rushed afi, taking oil uy oVeIeoat and my frcck coat as l went along on my way, and when near he after part of Inc post paddle box perceived that men were already clearing away the qUsrier boats. stopped to eudeaver 10 clear away the lte-boai, but being alone, znd having nothing bui small knife 10 cut the iAstngs, saw that nay efforts woaId noi avail in time Just as was abandoning the effort, perceived a woman asd child, the latter some ten feet from the woman, floating past the paddle-boK. instantly jumped down On the grating or sPonson, abait he wheel. crying 10 the many spectators about the main rigging for a rope, Fer Gods sake give me rope z but every one seemed stunned aud parAysed by the sudden and awful scene. 4 man came aoang along alive, and partially sustained by broken spar The Only rope thrown over, which should otherwise have gOi, was thsoSn to bim, he got hold of ii, and pat the moose his shoulders, and haaIed up. The first part Q! thls Ae for the moment, ;ook cf oor atentlon from the two floating and apparently insensbie persons before ailuded to, So ha, by the tune the safe, the others had sunk too far 10 be reached. As the sails on the rnainnast had not been backed, and he wind was the siaIboard quarter, the ship logged aaead and to leeward al the rate of 10 and half knots Suppos.ng that the wrecked matter must be 10 stAI board, jumped en deck and passed immediately over to the staboaId paddle box, as low cown the sponsor as could get, and just in tIme to very stout man drifting aiong partly face down, and the top of the water Several persons were collected on ;he rail, about the main shrouds to whom called loudly for rope. One was ihrUwn over. about ten or twenty feet abaft me. l scrambled quickly along the side and seizng the rope, jumped iorthe drown ing man. The rope was rather short, but luckily the ship, not being stesdied by the wheels rolled toward me. took advantage oi this. and got the rope round the na4n's body. and the end uP, and twice passed round its own part, before the ship rolled 10 port again. As was with the mAu partly under water. and the time very short, this required great effort. As the ship rolled 10 port, sue lerked us to the side rather rudsiy. I cried out. ''hAul up, haul ups bu' Il appeared on sub seqQsnt examination, that the rope l had used was the main sheet, a four inch rope, and that the upper end was fast hy a moased hook to The shp's side, several feet below the gunwals, and al least eight feet below the upper or monkey Tai, The effect of al this. aud the eontinued rning of the steamer, was to drag me and my man out of the water and again sudduly iameIse us. eoele do nothing but cry Haul up'' and eDdeav0r al each roll n the water to shut my mouth in tune and try ;o make the rope more secure, as it gave way little every time out Of the water. the man weighing al least 200 and myself i75 pounds whets dry, all of which was to be supported by my hands holang two round turns Of short end passed round it's own part and sfirping al each ascention. Fi- nsily some hands succeeded getting hold oaf rope and hauled us up so that my burden and myself rere above water or nearly so. Al ;his time cali ed ,e one of the party 10 come down and help me iamb the turns as the gradually siping n eonsequenee of my weight being partly on hi-p. The individual, uisiakng ny order, poi his foot ny banda and on ibe turss, and bearing down eaus- ed the man to siip ont and go under-board the SC eond time and apparently quite lieiess. l order ed he rope 10 be lei go and went agsan AR under. but did pot reach the body, Being now nearly ex- hostedI thought tine to take care of myself, and took advantage of a boat which came 10 my reiief.
 got into her and took iAs bo= saF. tie officer t;he fourth mate think,l putting her head toward the pieces Of floating wreck We soon discosered two persons the first had the plasure of reaching with boat hook: haGIed him sp on board, and he officer immediately went 10 work on him. reporting signs of fife; tbe other person sank out of sight while we were getting the hsrt of board. We con iiBnea oPali round among the wreck uniii ;bere appeared no chance of saving any more, and some danger of losing those had saved. unless proper means were used, 1t being very foggy, ano the snip nearly cut nf sight, we EhwiiIingiy gave up tie search fnr more aid returned on board Several hours elapsed before the nau hooked up vas brought round 10 speak; the other boat had sn ihs Hssa tune. picked up number, and among them lhe mss l tad been trying to save. Al Uncovered excepting the last une- He had woapd on hls head, and Il was generally supposed that he received s;ann.ag blow al the time of tue eolilsaoa- Although if has ,zkea some time 10 wTite these details, only te and -s-half inmates elapsed from the time first ianpea on 6sek Hniai tke ship aeni dowA. was on rhe port sPoason less than thai time, and the other siSe susPesaed 70 the man, perhaps altogether