Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1849-01-15
AWFUL DISASTER ON BOARD 4 STEAMER
Serentir i,cO Persons Sufoc1feJ

dreadful loss Of life opened on board HE steamer
Londonderry, her vovap, from Sro ia Iiyarn,l u,
the ID of December. The stories uiyel bv the ib n,
pers first absurdy discrenont hath ae IN ,ba
cause and. the extent of the CALAMITY The fIIuvinr
account from Tie Belfast News ! aI,er ,rno. -,
truthful:
Inc steamer Londonderry. Capt johnston one Of the
vessels belonging 10 the Northwest of Iceland Seam2ac,
et company, and at present plying between Si,o and
Liverpool, LETT oII0 at four O'clock on Froay evening"
ior me later port, with general carg large M nbrr
o' c''e ana sheep about 1870 steerage passengers emf
S'aS oi 'eiI way via Liverpool, to America, and
Ut Iee cabin passengers As she proceeded on her vow
age me weather became exceedingly fonI and after mid
iS te WING rose . perfect gale. About one O'Clock
mat n9h'' OF raher Saturday morning. il deemed
e2peden to put the steerage passengers below and the
oruef was executed not. we understand, without some
ieS.s'a''ce on me part oi many OF them.
MoS 81 our readers are probably acquainted with the
u'e'Su''S ol s'eerage cabin Of an ordinary Steamer
compartment rarely than eighteen feet l,nr bv
e" or twelve In width, and in height about seven feet
'n'o nS space' ventilated only by opening the
P'loh-iou human beings. as we have been iufrmei.
"ele l"cheu oseihef " can only guess at the
oy "Hcn gaVe occasion Tor iIils apparently nhuman,
anu adS a'i ofdeT but 1t Is reasonable 10 suppose thai
'9'I "' al apprehension lest S me OF the untor-
W e pass myers might nave been washed overheard had
they remained on the deck. the was at the time
"ioHN"S over me vessel. he eerage being hus
P' was "eA'' "s alleged feared lest the water
snouo 8et admission through the companon and this
o'iy 'e' oy when air could be admitted to the suf
III III" III 'oSeu' "l'u 'ap ann nailed oyer T.,
'us hefheocalIy sealing The aperture, and preventing
me PossOli'y OIL any renewal OF the exhausted
P"Gtt'
st''iief "ehi on her way, CALAMITY braving the
"''u' "u Waves unconscious 6" The awful work which
uea' was meanwhile doing wl'hln her In the darkness
anu ea' aHd oahsomeneSs OF their airless prison. its
"t'cheu inmates shIleked Tor aid; and there
bOIStPrOuSupSS If he
Or 'hey Were heard none sag1clous enough to inter
pre- ne ufeauiHI meaning they meant 70 convey. At
rh9h one man. me last, II IS sild who had been put
uo"I' colVed to ELECT an opening through the tarpau-
m vi ''e companion, and pushing himself out. coInmlI-
ncated 10 the mate that the people in the seerane were
dying for the want Of air The mate instantly beca ne
Alarmed ana obtaining lantern, Went down 10 render
assistance Such however, was the ful state Of the
AIR IN the cabin that the light was Immediately exn-
gulshed. second was obtained and it tn, was extn
suIsfed.
a. length the tarpaulin was completely removed and
a ifre access u ar admitted. When the Went be
10" 'hey We're appalled, by the discovery that the fl
was covered with dead bodies the depth of some feet
Men, women and children huddGd together black
ehed WIN suocatIon, distorted by convulsion bruised
ana bleeding from The desperate struggle for existence
which preceded the moment when exhausted nature re-
signed the strife After time the living were sep
araled from the dead, and it then found that the lat
ter amounted to nearly half of the entire NUMBER
Seventytwo dead bodies Of men, women and chi! ren.
lay piled indscrminatey each other fur deep ali
presenting the gastly appearance Of pars,ns wb hal
died in the acones of suocation; very many Of them
were covered with blood which had pushed fr1n the
mouth and nose or had flowed from the wounds n1icsd
by the tramping Of nail studded bropars ad ~, H. f
tic violence Of those who STRUGGLED for escane II w.s
evident that in the struggle the door GREATNESS had farm
the flesh off each others limbs Ne,rIv all f Tho s,aor
age passengers were Door farmers from The rahhoh d
Of Sligo and Ballina with their familesand manv Il III
dead were nearly naked. from p,vertv.
The Londonderry nut into Lonoh rovle At ten o,I,c