The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1854-11-01

no excitement, but ludics} and chill.
drcr began to collect on deck with
anxious and inquiring looks, receiving
no hope or consolation, wife and hus-
band, father and daughter, brother
and sister, would weep in each others
embrace, or kncel together imp orinr
Almighty God for help. Men. would
go about the decks in sort of bewi
derment, as to what was left to be
done, now laying hold Of the hand
pumps with rc.doublcd energy or
with sickcning effort, applying their
power to the hauling of freight out of
tho forward hole, already floating in
water before the lower lmtches were
opened. System of management or
concentration of effort was never com
.nenced or applied to any one object.
Two separate intellectual attempts to
stop tho leaking by dropping u sail
down over the bow were made, and
tho engines were kept working the
ship alcad towards the land, but in
the course of an hour, should think,
from the time of THO collision, the low.
or furnaces wore drowned out and the
steam pumps stopped. Then it seem
cd to become onlya question Of how
many hours or minutes we would be
above water.
The first officer, with his boats
crew, we had left behind from the
first. The SECOND officer, with a lot
of the sailors, had Lowered another
boat and lpll the slip, and general
scramblng seemed to be going Oh as
to who should have places in tho only
two remaining haats that saw on deck
The stern tackIing Of another had yiv
cii way iron, tho wight oi' i.e:sG.,s IN
il wl'lo IL Was swinging over. tho side,
and think seYe:a! ...;st have been
lost with that. saw one lady hang
ing 20 the bow tackle oft after tile
stern had broken loose. One Of those
still remaining was n large one on the
quarterback occupied by ladies and
children, and some few gentlemen.
The other was on the upper decl, for
ward, and in the possessions of 81 lot
of lircnlcn. : Things were in this con
o' ~ aoo'o =" nuns altcr tllU nc.
cidcnt. Captain Luce WAS supcrin,
tcnlins the lowering Of spars and
yards, aided mostly hy passengers, for
the, purpose of making Il raft, and
complaining that all his ullicers and
men had left him. Most Of the wp.
men and children were collected round
the boat OIL the quarter Duck, seeming.
y resigned to their flto. Somo few
gentlemen cxcrting all their power to
prevail OH others to work on nj The
pumps, but all to no purpose, sbe kpr,
on gaining in quantity as steadily as
time progrcsICil.
The engines had stopped working.
and ], seeing that the Miy EMyinccr,
wiM same ofA G.sisiunts und fireman
had got tie iorwurd boat IN the wslter
orcr dy the bo", under The pretcncc |
SAW of working ut the canvass, which
was hanging over the bow, so as to
sink IL down over the leaking places;
but seeing, rs thought, symptoms of
tlseif real intestion t,l gst uiF from tho
ship without ton many In the boat, |
dropped myself do~n near by them
on to small raft of three planks
about a foot wide each, and ten or
twelve feet long, and IN inch in thick.
ness, i.>hcd together with some rop.
and four handspilics, and which had
just previously huIRcd to lower into
The water for the purpose n! workin.
from about the bow of the ship. Find
ing it bore me up Shaved oil, ntcn-
ding to get alongside of The engineers
boat, hut rs ! showed of several fire.
men 0Hd nAe or two Has2sNyerS drop
pei do~n into tie boat, tie engincsr Dro
s tiny oyui';st their doiny SO, undni Mc
same time pnshed OF and pulled rel
array .tro1,t Tic SLIP, wiM abom tmcirc
or fourteen persons iA his boat, dcciar-
ing 10 Mose on hoord, ut tie Sumc Hme
M"k he ""s mqt.yqiag II, bnt woulI stay
hy TIE slip IN Tie last. At the same
time he or those in tho boat with him.
continued to pull away in s'hat u,n
sdGrol WAS the direction of the
land, and were in few u,illntcs lost in
the fog. | now saw there was no pro-
paDlc CHtiiCC Ioi INC DuL 10 remain
where was. on my irail litl!e raft,
until could see EuiRc better chance
after or before the ship went down.
She had ow settled down to the
wheel houses. Thy upper iur, aces
had for some tino been drowned out.
People on board were doing nothing
but firing. signal guns of distress, try
ing To get spars overheard, and tcar-
ing doors oil tho hinges. NotAing else
seemed TO present itself as Il means
of saving the liYps of somo three hun
drcd souls still on board. |. have
crossed tho ATLANTIC nine times now,
and nearly every previous time have
lad in charge one or more ofmy fam
q IN al 1.