The true Democrat., 1854-12-13

l
 Nrginia Recorder, Buchanan, "a.
 Loss of the New Era.---Detailed Account of the Wreck.
 The ship New Era which was driven ashore at Long Branch, N. J on the 18th, has been declared total wreck. At latest intelligence her hold was filled with water, and she was rapidly settling in the sand We condense the statement of the New York Herald of the 16th Nov:
 The scene of the calamity at the time of our visit, was onesof terrible interest, and one pe- culiarly calculated to impress the beholder with awe. Along the beach were strewn the frag- ments of the wreck, with here and there some huddled mass. above which the sea-birds gath cred, while immediately opposite the vessel, from twenty to thirty bodies were lying upon the sand, rigid and ghasty, as they had been taken from the rigging and the deck. In every instance the face and person of the deceased exhibited the marks of violent struggle with death, and in many cases the rapid progress of decomposition, had deprived them of all traces whereby they might be recognized. Rough collins had been provided by the proper autho- rites, and the work of sepulture was continued during the day.
 As usual in such cases, the reports are many and various, and while we give publicity to all the information which we are able to collect. we are perfectly aware of the discrepancies which exist between the different statements On the part of the captain there seemed to be desire to exonerate himself by attaching all the blame upon his subordinates, as will be perceived by reference to his printed statements; while the officers, passengers and crew of the vessel all concured in charging Captain Henry with to use the mildest expression, the grossest careless ness. It was alleged by one of the crew that the Captain had permitted the boats to quit the ship with the utmost indifference, and that he, the Captain, had been the first man to enter the ife-boat sent from the shore, and to give the signal to shove off from the ship. It was also said he had been asleep up to the time of the catastrophe; and that, though the mate when rouslng him for the morning watch had warned him of his dangerous proximity to the coast he had refused to listen to him or to take any pre- cautions towards saving the vessel. On the other hand, MT. Henry details the particulars of his conduct, and gives fair cause for every thing which transpired
 There were in all, one hundred and ffty-fve rescued, most of whom arrived in New York during yesterday afternoon.
 Captain Thomas J. Henry, the commander of the New Era, has made the following state ment:
 We left Bremen on the 18th of September last, with three hundred and seventy four steer age passengers, six second cabin and four cabin passengers on board. Our cargo consisted of six hundred tons of chalk, and twenty thousand cubic feet of merchandise of various kinds. We had very hard passage, with heavy west winds, and about the 2Oth of October, we ship ped sea that swept everything from the decks The sea struck us fore and aft, and stove in the buwarks, swept off the passengers cooking range, killed two or three passengers, and disa- bed several others. The water passed into the main hatchway. The passengers killed were of the steerage list. The gales continued very heavy, and the sea being so strong it strained the vessel so that she commenced leaking. and when reaching the United States coast, she leaked very bad. The leak was so rapid that it was requisite to keep one pump in operation all the time, prior to arriving here The last observation l had was 66 min. long. west, and Al min. 50 sec. latitude This was last Friday. We have had no observation since.
 On Saturday it was thick, the rain falling heavily, and strong breeze from the south. I then judged the ship to be in 72 30 long,. and 40 25 lat. On that night we had the wind light from the eastward changed to south east about midnight, and commenced blowing very heavily.
 The cast of the lead was made every hour, and supposed the ship to be on the Long Island coast and we carried heavy press of sail to keep her off the coast l subsequently found the ship to be more to the southward and vest ward than Supposed. At o'clock last Mon day morning, the lead was thrown and as nearly as could be ascertained we were in from thr- teen to fifteen fathoms of water This was about half an hour before the vessel struck The sea was running very high, and as the ves- sel went ashore we braced the yards aback to haul her of, but found it was of no use, as she had gone head on, made two three thumps, swung around, broadside'to, and was fast. At this time the sea broke over the ship and she began to go to pieces. We then got all the passengers from the between" decks to the main deck, and ordered ont the main boat to run line ashore. The hatches were not closed, and on the contrary ordered every passenger up to the main decks at the time she struck. | The boat reached the shore safe with the line but the men let go of it. The mate and four or five seamen were in the boat. They let go of the line, went ashore, and stayed short time on the DoaCu. uc OtucI UOdLS were soon aICer got out, and the balance of the crew deserted, with two of the cabin passengers. There was an exception in the desertion of the crew, as two or three sailors staid with me, assisted in sav- ing passengers. After Me creao had taken away the ships boats, the people on the beach attempt ed to launch surf boat, but did not succeed. 1 About noon on Monday they attempted to l shoot the mortar towards us, to give us line. The first shot went ahead of theship the second fell short, and on the third and fourth the wire broke. The next shot made reached the ship and I got hold of the line, and with the assist ance of the passengers hauled it on board With this line hawser was hauled on board, and to that they attached a life-boat and we hauled her out to the ship; the life-boat cap sized several times, and when we got her along side she was full of water. got into the boat to bail her out, and the passengers rushed into her to such an extent that l had to push off; the line parted, and five of them were drowned, and five with myself were saved; there was nothing more done, except firing some more shots. When the boat upset went under her, oy,J oo,,1J m vca1f fnr ovoro min