The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1854-10-12

and circular giving the movements Of the gold
trade to the lat July, may be found elsewhere.
The Loss OF the Arctic.
1t has never devolvcd upon this journal
to recoNu so awful e. catastrophe as that
which hes appeared in our columns. In the
whole history of shipwrecks, the loss of the
steamer Arctic stands without parallel. There
have no doubt been cases where the loss of life
was greater, or where scenes of horror were
more thickly crowded together: but these we
can cnly picture in the imagination we can
only dream, as in frightful nightmare, of the
awful hour which saw the last survivors of the
President and the City of Glasgow sink be-
meath the wave Among the narratives of
maritime disasters which have reached us in
authentic form, meme can harrow the feelings
like the one we publish this morning. In every
point Of view, il is unpr ecedented. The col
lision took place at mid-day, in calm weather,
in the broad Atlantic, forty miles from land:
thousand years might elapse and no two YES
wells again pass over that fatal SPIT. The
Arctic was, all things considered as noble and
as perfect vessel as floats. So high had naval
architecture and skill been developed in
her cons truction and management that she
might almost have been considered storm
proof. Science had raised her beyond the
reach of harm from the sea, or the
wind or fire. Nothing but just such an accident
as has occurred could have destroyed her.
Even collision with nineteen out of twenty
sea going vessels would not have endangered
her: it needed large heavy steamship to tell
upon the extraordinary strength of her hull. The
large heavy steamship was there. After the col
ision, in nine cases out of ten, sail passed for
ward over the ,bews, and mattresses forced into
the leak would have enabled her to sail the short
distance Of forty miles which separated her
from Cape Race. The leak could not be
stopped: she did not sail one mile before the
end came. Altogether, the hand OF fate over
towering the effort of man, and setting at
nought the most careful calculations and the
strongest probabilities, was never more appa-
rent.
So unexpected was the shock as to ,ralyze
the whole city yesterday. Business was
stopped. Such was the anxiety to learn par
ticulars Of the disaster that $4,000 copies of
our edition Of yesterday were sold without ex-
hausting the demand. Men had no thought but
for the unfortunates, who in the midst of their
pleasures, and on the eve of a return to their
home, were suddenly thrust mo the jaws Of
death. No steamer had arrived here for
months freighted with SO many of our leading
citizens. Names familiar to us all from child
hood follow each other in sad succession in the
list of passengers. So goodly company is
seldom offered to the hungry wave. Out of the
whole two hundred and tweaty-six, we only
know of twenty persons, and not one female, that
have been saved. For our part, however, we will
not yet relinquish hope for some portion of the
remainder. AT least three boats may be still
above water with human beings in them, and if
go, we have every reason to believe they may
be picked up. Those who know Mr.. Gourlay,
the first officer, entertain strong hopes from his
skill and energy: he left the Arctic as will be re-
membered, to 60 to the aid OF the other
steamer. Besides, there is still chance
that some vessel may have rescued stray
passengers from portions of the wreck. II
is certain-deeply grieved are we to say
with most of the ladies, persisted before the
steamer began to sink, in consequence of the
tackles of their boat giving way. We know
also that seventy. one men and four females
died m'serably on the raft during the night of
the 9th. One boat load of men from the IN
known steamer was run over by the Arctic, and
all hands save one lost. The fate of all the
others on board both the vessels is yet mys.
terry God will that we be allowed hereafter 60
record their escape!
That the steamship Arctic has foundered no
one seems to doubt: we have only the boats
and stray fragments of the wreck to rely on in
her case. But the fate of the other steamer is
by no means certain. None of the Survivors
can speak positively on the subject: they all
think she went down, but cannot say for GER
tainty that she may not have remained long
enough above water for aid to reach her.
Even her name is,uncertain. She was at first
supposed to be the Charity which is now lying
in the port of Quebec: then the Glasgow, which
left this on Esd; then the Cleopatra, which
sailed from Quebec on oath for Liverpool. But
i is difficult to reconcile the accounts we re-
,eive of her appearance with that of these YES
'els. The Glasgow has four masts; the strange
steamer three. The Cleopatra has thistle on
Ter pipe; the strange vessel had none. The
ormer had hardly had time to reach the spot
where The collision took place by the 9th: the
after would have steered more northerly
,ourse. A seaman from the Arctic states that
,ne of the crew Of the strange vessel was picked
ip by his boat, and asserted that she was a
French steamer sent to bring home the French
lsbermen from the Banks this account Is con.
irmed by officer Baahlam's despatch from Hall
AK.
The first impulse Of those who have lost