Grand River times. [volume] (Grand Haven, Mich.) 1851-18??, 1854-05-03
From the New York Herald.l ~
LOSS OF TIE POWHA TITAN
TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY LIVES Los

and chidren-there is not one left 10 tell the
tale.
The Baltimore ship Powhattan, on the night
Of the 18th of April-during that terrlhc storm
which we felt so severely here, though comfort
ABLY housed--was lying among shoals below,
with the water breaking over her. Seldom1s it
the painful duty of Journalist to record such
an awful scene We often read OF horrible ship
wrecks. and our blood curdles at the tale OF suf-
ferino but seldom is it thus brought home to
ms. Eighteen years have passed away since we
chronicled an account as heart-rending as the
one now before us. But, though eighteen years
have elapsed who has forgotten the loss OF the
Mexico and the Bristol! The details Of the
wreck of the Powhattan are even yet more ter
rible.
Within the memory Of man such storm as
that which commenced on Friday, the l4th, and
lasted during the three succeeding days, has not
been known The coast strewn with fragments
of shipping told of its unparalleled fury. The
fierce northeastern was felt even here, and DAM
age was done to vessels in our sheltered harbor
What wonder then, that the Powhattan-an old
ship of about six hundred tons-became ungov-
ernable and struggled fruitessly in the waters!
What wonder, that, on Saturday last, after run
ming aboutin the gale for hours under bare poles
she found herself at last irretrievably entangled
in the shoals about twelve miles below Barnegat
inlet?
So it was. The ship, laden with passengers,
left Hayre for New York on the lst of March
last under the command of Captain Meyers, OF
Baltimore. She was driven among the shoals at
the place we have indicated above, and remain
ed there until Sunday evening at five o'clock be-
fore she went to pieces 1t was observed by
the anxious eye-witnesses on shore that direct
ly after she struck she hauled to the wind"
from which circumstance it was impossible for
apv of her passengers to leave without certain
death being the result. They, however, hoped
for the best They trusted that the storm which
had now lasted so long must soon abate. Du-
ring the long night of Saturday and the whole
of Sunday the unfortunately is supposed
some two hundred and fifty in number-were
seen cingingto the leeward bulwarks of the ship
with the sea continually washing over them, and
expecting death at the rise Of every succeeding
wave. No assistance could be offered to them,
for the sea then ran SO high that boat (if any
had been at hand) would have been INSTANTLY
swamped.
Between four and five o'clock on Sunday af-
ternoon the ships bulwarks burst, and about fif-
ty persons at the same moment, were washed
overheard. Mr.. Jennings, the wreck-master,
with others, made great efforts to save some of
those who were in the water, but in vain. The
captain, too, was heard to cry from the ship,
Gods sake save some of those who are drown
ing" Every exertion was made, but it was no
use; and in all Of the six bodies which the wreck
master succeeded in rescuing from the water, life
was extinct.
1t was Immediately after this that the ship
commenced going to pieces in earnest No small
boats were 10 be procured, for the government
boats did not arrive until all was over. About
five o'clock the vessel was completely broken
up most Of her passengers and crew were
drowned, but few still survived, cinging to
pieces of the wreck The shrieks Of the dying
rose even above the roaring of the storm, which
seemed to be increasing rather than suDsiding
in fury It was at this moment that huge
wave was noticed rolling inwards-the dead and
the diving were alike engulfed within it-and
when it had passed over them, there was not
one left alive Of those passengers and crew of
the Inflated Powhattan, who numbered two hun
dred and fifty souls that morning. A singular
fact connected with this is that even the ship it.
self was splintered into minute fragments, so
that scarcely trace of her existence remained,
with the exception of the few pieces of the rig
cling that were washed ashore. She was prob
ably laden with heavy ballast for her hull is sup
posed to have sunk, or else some portion of it
must have been discovered.
More distressing even than such sight as
this TO those on shore, was the sight of the
beach next morning The storm had increased
during the night, and the waves cast up their
dead far and near Twenty-six men and two
women were discovered near the scene of the
shipwreck, and from Abescom-some twenty
miles below-we learn that about forty bodies
men, women, and children, had been washed
ashore on that and on Brigantne Beach, about
quarter of mile across the channel Those
seen by our reporter appear to have been Ger
mans. They were all much disfgured, and when
our reporter left, bodies were still drifting
ashore Twenty-eight of those found were de-
Gently buried at Manahakin, amid the profound
sensation that the event has caused in that vii
lage. Mr.. Joel Hayward, a citizen of West
creek, picked up the body of a lady while cross.
ing the bay on Tuesday and it is believed that
many others will be discovered there as soon as
the weather becomes more favorable.
FURTHER WREcKs-The Manhattan-The
schooner Manhattan, of Bangor, Maine Captain
Fields came ashore about mile below the Pow.
haitian, on Sunday night. after considerable
humping on the bar she was driven over and
was beaten up on the shore. The sea ran very
high and drove her up within fifty yards of the
beach. Capt Jennings repaired to the spot and
endeavored to persuade the captain and crew,
seven in number to let themselves down by
rope from the end Of the jib boom, which, when