Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1852-08-27
No,,e. of ,hc Passengers snvcd"Corqer's
inquest ON tne Dead.

inquest on the uchd.
Among the incidents which we have gasered'
connected with thetenible catastrophe OH thpake'
are the following: 49,;
While the life-boat was being lowered Stptam
Petty fell from the deck, striking his heaq Yains'
the boat and bounding into the water. Fihlai y.
aged to reach the Propeller then some
and the propeller was Immediately heaaea ES"ius
tile steamer. The Atlantic had sunk 70 .net uhl,
cane deck before the propeller or boats Elc.eu
her, and the females were then taken OIL a1as'us
possible, and after them, the males.
The following were the circumstances aehull's
the escape of Mr.. Aaron d. Sutton, MS we iiu
two Young children. While Mr.. S, was a9ustlne
the life preserver upon his wife, some oneinatch-
cd his own, and left him to his personal deriions
for safety. Being an expert swimmer, hepok ms
children and jumped into the lake, hlswitioliow
ing The life preserver buoyed up Mrs; Suttoh'
and Mr. s. kept his children ailoat until u were
rescued.
George Dana and his brother, and malInamed
Hagans three hands belonging. to the sealer, tore
off the binacle took out the compass and trowlng
the box into the water went IN and ciuhsh iouna
it. They were compelled for self preseration TO
kick from theln the forms of the drowning demand
women, many of whom chung TO their legs They
were among the last taken out OF the iae' ana
were picked up by their own boat Ill aaIge Ql
their second mate. They found the dead lody OF
a little girl about ten years old, with er arm
around a plank and her head resting on las tho
she was asleep. She had nothing save he under
garment on and was quite dead Inc Ddy was
aiken to Erie, and is the one which th Coro-
ner's inquest has been held.
, The last persons taken from the wreck Yere MI.
Givan, the Clerk, Mr.. Huell, the list engeer, and
a gentleman from Illinois, whose name Unknown.
These three were in the water clingnato ropes,
and when the shrieks of the afTrghted bssengers
were hushed in death, they heard for thdirst time
the voice OF child who was also clingEg to the
ropes at some distance from them. Thdhttle lei
low who was boy of about seven yeat old, was
saving, as if talking to himself, "Oh wish my
nonotwns here to hold me up-I cannd hold On
any longer, my hands are SO tired IJc gentle
man from Illinois, fine, stout, middle fed man.
Immediately expressed his determinatip to save
the noble little fellow or perish himself he start
ed down the rope, and reaching the chid, seized
him lust at the moment he was about tol INK. lie
held him for some time, and MIR. Givan,lh he CLERK
endeavored to get to him to relieve him as he cN-
pressed n fear that his strength was iaihlg. The
noble little hero told his preserver to lie him go II
he was tired and take care of himself. It thntmo-
ment the boat passed, loaded down the very
waters edge with passengers, and MIR. 4Van hail
ing the mate entreated him to save the ny at least
The mate succeeded in reaching the ro e and ta-
king the child from the arms of the tru man who
held him, placed him in the boat and havas saved.
The next boat took off the Illinois gentleman and
the rest. The boy it is thought was WI his UNI
Gle who was lost, and has parents III MaSsachu-
sets. He is now with his preserver probably i'll
Cleveland. ..
Mrs. Miller and two other ladies saed from the
wreck of the Atlantic, ascrbe their atety to the
prompt and fearless efforts of Mr.. L. ID Crppen, of
Michigan, in their behalf. Two of he ladies' he
rescued from the water, and the third was unable
to escape from her State Room until, the expense
of severe wounds upon his hands and ret he broke
in the windows and aided her escape
One young lady who was saved, Jumped from the
wreck into the water. She was drowning, whena
powerful man, supposed to be an enlignnt who
was evidently unable to swim, seized piece of
plank, and plunging overheard, male towards her
and catching her by the hair, held her up above
the water. He managed by immense extrtions, to
reach the side of the boat, having the pung lady
in one hand and the plank in the other! rope
was thrown to him. but he could not av,il himself
of it, and continued in the same position hntl some
of the hands of the boat succeeded in reching the
female and pulling her on deck. By this time the
moor fellows strength was entirely exhausted, and
he sank to rise no more.
The Porter of the boat gotta bureau from the
Captains Cabin, which he empted andcast into
the lake. He jumped on it and got SOM 20 or 80
persons aboard, when telling them 10 sdi to it and
they would be saved, he swan for his lit and got
safely TO the Propeller.
A meeting of the survivors was held il the SeS-
ston rooms of the Presbyterian Church atErie, last
evening, when the following, among otlfr resolu-
tons. were adopted:
Resolped, That we would call the ATTENTION of
the public in particular to the insuiicietcy of the
so called Life Preservers, which are tally use
less, which was too bitterly proved to sdne OF the
unfortunates who trusted themselves to heir fan
cied security.
RESOLVED, That we express our indignation at the
gross misconduct of the owners of thesteamboat
Atlantic, in not providing proper faciliti$to afford
the passengers on board the means OF sailing their
lives. We consider that the want of dsuifcient
number of boats to hold the passengers lin an I'M
anticipated contingency like the presen, and the
want of other loose materials to be walton tam
perng with human life, and that the owners Of the
unfortunate boat should be heldup to th public as
men w ho have cast aside these considerations from
Indifference to the lives placed in their dlargc:
meeting of the citizens of Erie was afterwards
called, at w hch much feeling was manie listed, and
the following resolutions were passed:
LIST. Resolved, that the loss of the sttamer AT
LANTIc, on the night Of the Goth August is ca
lanity of such an erwhelming and heTt-rending
character, that the voice ola outraged public is
inadequate to its expression, and that . citizens
of Erie, we desire that the proper authorities Mt
once proceed to arrest all the officers AM men who
are found within the county, who wereemployed
upon the ATLANTIC or the propeller OGDENDURG,
that the case of the collision may be CORRECTLY as
certained. ...
3D. Resolved, That the prosecuting attorney Of
this county, be requested to take immediate mea-
sures to obtain such evidence Us may lie desired
from the passengers now i'll town.
Sd. Resolved, That, in our opinion, the officers
and owners of the Steiner ATLANTIC IRE highly
censurabe for not having provided sufficient means
of relief in case of accident, and in overoading the
boat with passengers and freight.
4th Resolved, That in our opinion the life
preservers attached to the stools OIL Wallis boats,
by the late calamity, were found utteily made
quate and totally useless, and that the ndia rub
Der life preservers on that occasion perfdmed good
service; and that the travelling public can place
confidence in well made article.
An inquest was also held in Erie last evening,
on the body of little girl, name unknown, picked
up in the Lake, when the following evidence was
given: r- 4s zM
| DEGRAss MCNEIL, sworn-I am first mate of
Propeller OGpENsBuRG. l commenced my watch
at midnight. About half-past one, saw the steam
er, she had red light aloft and two white lights
below. We had two lights at the cross-tees, and
another signal lightin front of the wheel house
when first saw her, she was probably three miles
distant. We were steering for the Welland Ca
nal. and Judged from her course that We should