Democrat and sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1853-1866, 1854-01-20

iom occurred, and we hope Congress VIII thank |
he master OF the British ship :. Three Bells as
he deserves it, and also the masters and crews
IF the American ships antarctic and kilby-
It appears from the telegraphic news that the
latter vessel, after having delivered the passen-
gers rescued by her from the San Francisco to
sea in a crippled condition. and is probably
lost. There has seldom been winter of such
disasters and fatal shipwrecks on the Atlantic
coast. We hope Congress will follow up the
suggestion already made; and have national ves-
sels always in readiness at Boston, New York
and Norfolk, to 60 to the rescue OF vessels wreck
ed in the frequent storms the Atlantic. No
better employment can be found for some Of the
steam vessels of our Navy.-Pinsburgh Post
Fate Of the San Francisco---News from
the Wreck.
The copious details which win be found on the
first page of our paper this morning, concerning
the wreck of the steamer San Francisco. viii be
read with painful interest, far and wide. The
loss of nearly two hundred souls, washed over
board or killed or dying from the exposure, sick
ness, and hardships of the wreck, is the melan-
choly feature of the story; but the saving of four
or five hundred lives by the Klby, the Three Bells,
and the Antarctic, is a matter for sincere con-
graduation. There was chance that all might
have been lost-the ship, and every sorl on board
leaving, as IN the case OF the il-starred Presi-
dent, no vestige aioat to tell the tale. Will
we lament; therefore, the fearful loss of life from
this fatal disaster we rejoice that so large pro-
portion of her passengers soldiers, and crew, were
snatched from the hungry waves.
1t will be seen that the fatal storm struck the
ship on the 2ith of December, two days out from
this port; that on the 25th, (Christmas day she
was rendered wholly unmanageable from the dis
location of her machinery and her rigging: that on
the same day her decks were swept clean by
heavy sea, carrying away all the upper saloon;
and mass of the people who were lost. On that
day, the ship, but for the extraordinary strength
of her hull. must have gone down, yet she con-
tinued drifting in the Gulf Stream, and under q
succession of heavy gales, almost unparalleled on
our Atlantic coast, still inhabitable though un-
manageable, till finally relieved and abandoned
ON the 9th of January. Perhaps there is rot an
other steamer afoat that could have withstood,
in her dismantled condition, the buffeting of
fortnight's such wintry storms in the trough of
the sea.
When first struck by the gale, on the night of
the Oath, the San Francisco was but one hundred
and fifty miles out from Sandy Hook; when
abandoned on the 9th inst, she was some seven
hundred miles off, having foundered away to that
distance, at the mercy of the winds, the waves
and the Gulf Stream.
On the 2Sth of December, latter having previ-
ously spoken two vessels, were lost sight of upon
the heavy sea in the night the bark Kilby, of
and for Boston, hove to, and took off hundred
persons, including all the women and children on
board. On the 3lst the British ship Three Bells,
of Glasgow came up; and on the 3rd of january
she was joined, while lying by the wreck, by the
ship Antarctic, Of this port bound for Liverpool;
and on the 6th between the two relieving vessels
the wreck was relieved of every remaining soul
on board, and left in sinking condition to her
fate.
Last evening the Three Bells arrived of the
Battery, and the following modest report is from
the log of her captain:
British ship Three Bells, (ofGlasgow,) y Creigh-
ton, Glasgow, As days, with merchandise and
16 passengers, to Mcdonald &Co. Dec. 81, lat 40
II. Ion. so so, spoke the steamship San Francis
co. having on board United States troops. The
S. F. being in disabled condition, having had
decks swept, &C. and waiting assistance, conclu-
ded to lay by her, which we did for six days, and
| succeeded in getting on board two hundred aud
thirty of her passengers, and brought them to
this port.
This is, we repeat, q modest report; but Capt.
Chreighton has not told all. Those from the lost
ship say that the Three Bells was leaking all the
time, had TO keep her pumps going constantly;
that the ship had lost her sails, and was short of
water and provisions. But in this last item, the
Kilby, the Three Bells, and the Antarctic were
plentifully supplied from the abundant stores of
the wreck. or they could not have carried off so
many passengers with any other prospect than
immediate starvation.
The captains and crews of the three relieving
ships, though they simply discharged their duty
in the premises, something more than ordinary
credit is due, for the case was an extraordinary
one in the labors and hazards Of the rescue. Our
Government, as an act Of reciprocity and OF sound
policy, should approve the gallant conduct of the
relieving parties, and especially of that genuine
Jack tar and his crew of the British ship Three
Bells.
1t is estimated that the Antarctic carried off
for Liverpool some two hundred passengers, SOL
diers and crew-that one hundred were taken to
Boston or Bermuda-as she had a leading wind
for that standby the Kilby, and two hundred
and thirty were brought to this port by the Three
Bells-making total of five hundred and thirty
saved. The San Francisco sailed hence with an
estimated total of seven hundred persons on board
SO that perhaps one hundred and seventy have
been lost from the ship. This is melancholy;
but still the five hundred saved call for our con-