Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1854-11-14
THE LOSS OF THE YANKEE BLADE-OU
RAGE ANL KlRIiERH


The san Francisco p" .,crs are filled with accounts
Of the loss OF the Steamer Yankee Blade. which
red on the lst OF October, Iy running rock near
Point Conception, whra -, hours out from San
Francisco. The Chron,l, OF tha; city. says:
As soon as she strur; ,. V ".s were backed, but
it WIS O. no Use she WIS completely fast. The Wa
ter immediately commenced IL rush in at the bow,
aud the stern settled 50 o;hat the whole Of the pron
made deck, cyc.'pi the guards. was under water.
\ scene of great confusion "usuod. Their" H."
order and scarcely any aItenp, nj the preservation Of
order The first impulse of nll when they h"ard the
crash, To rush na deck and see what was the
matter md the second va return and secure their
yauabl,s; but manv wcr late. The next thou .ht
after the attempt Ia save valuablcs, was that the
steamer would break To snon and that tn. only
safety was 10 get on "llo
Capt: Randall w. j" {" It, with six men, in about
ten minutes after ia" um,r struck, und went
ashore to find a landing acr Soon after that the
first mate left with nn"'r hnS, with ladics =,
and then the second mate onk another boa, of ladies.
One oi these boats swaMp"d, and ont of II per-
SONS was said that twelve, uf whom ii nll
were ladies, were drowned. Tie land, distant about
three quarters OF nu!': from where the str,ncr lay,
rose in bold bluff OG feet nigh, and the place where
landing prac,ica5n was between two large
boulders.
About seven or eight bor, vis were landed on Sun
lav. Here most of the prs-Gnscrs were ludri. but
the second mate took his boat down the coast abnut
ten miles 10 q beach. All III" Indies were landed be-
fore night. Most of the paScrs had saved nothing
" The m sea ~ was rnther 70 though there was little
wind. The surf was 80 Avy along the shore that
the boats were swampcd Var or five times, and the
men who had rcachr'i shore had little disposition
To 20 out again.
When sht approuchH.Hr was of course mposS-
bc to proceed with caI~y3mg the passenger. 10 the
shore. The general impression was that the steamer
would so to pieces during the night. The boat rolled
very much The upper cabin did not fill with water
oIf.r th. y.I rttps
said that icnds immediately began to pillage the pro-
pcrty nf which there owner Immediately pre-
sent The filling Il" the cabin before dark prevented
the continuance of pillage.
As night approached the stern settled down and the
bow rusr that tho deck stood at angle of about
twenty degrees. The forward stccrage wis thus rlc.
va.cd abnve the water, und IN night came ii be-
came the OF horrible pillage. There was large
number Of steeragc passengers on the Blade many oi
whom had money valuables i'll carpct-bags, slowed
away in their bcrths.
There were twenty or twenty-five wrcchrs on
buuri, who determined 10 take advantage Of the
confusion and commit Il general robbery. No sooner
was the fvorlg mantle OF darkness spread over the
sky than they hurried down into the steerage and be-
gan to examine the clothes in the bcrths and 10 cut
open the carpct-bags. What was done down there no
honest knows; or at least We have not been able
to find About seven O'Clock tn" cry OF murder
WAS heard in the sccrn.'c, and about the same time
two pistol shots were heard. Who WIS the murderer
and who the murdered no one knew.
4 number of persons started 10 go down into the
steerngc, but the steps were taken away by those be-
low and threats were made that no lnan should come
down there alive. The condition OF affairs on the
boat was such that there not much disposition 10
undertake to defend the rights of strangers. There
were about 500 persons OH the steep deck oi The boat
sitting down, standing up and few lying down,
shvcrng in the cold, and waiting almost III despair
of seeing morning No slept or thought u sleep
ing. Many who had never before been known 10
pray, spent the night in prayer but in such wild and
incoercnt terms that others, even church members
were moved TO laugh, serious as the "cchon was.-
During the ught further SCENES ul violence oc-
cured. A number of persons assaulted. One
person was knocked down and compelled, with pis-
tol to his breast, tn give up his money. Another was
robbed and an attempt was made to throw hun over
board. 4 number more of similar Cases occurred.
When daylight came, persons went down into the
stcerarc and saw some marks of blood but if mur
der had been committed the body had been cast into
the hold, or otherwise disposed of. The floor OF the
steergc was covered with articles Of clothing, carpet
bags cut to pieces and rich China shawls which the
miners taking presents to friends nt homie
In the morning the boats began agHln to take off per-
sons from the wreck. The third mate and the purscr
were the only officers who staid on board The pas
sengers speak i'll high terms OF the third mate.
By fortunate accident the Golial came along
within sight OF the wreck about . O'Clock i'll the
morning. Captain Haley took large load of the
passengers OH board, and landed them at San Diego.
In the meantime n humber of the mcn on shore had
started Tor SuuiH DurDiIu Ndn uu'ui az huts
to the Northward The Goliah on her return stopped
there and found forty there and then proceeded TO
the wreck where she found the shore the remainder,
all OF whom she brought to this city II may be that
few were missed who on the way from the lnId-
ing place To Santa Barbara and had not arrived when
the Goliah touched there. All the rest ARE i'll this
city Or in Los Ai:glrs. When tie Guiah returned,
the wreck was scarcely visible above water and II i
very likely that iy this tine nothing Is left, aid that
the specie is u total loss.
In regard IL the number of lives lost there is much
difference Of opinion among the passcnscro. Solnc
think thirty were lost, and estimate il as high
as sixty. In one boat load swamped twelve were lost,
in another five, in another three &c. One man who
had two carpet bags fastened to his neck one oil each
side was anxious to get to shore, that he jumped
from the steamer, intending to swim 10 small boat
which was near receiving passengers but his carpet
bags were too much for him. He sunk like stone.
Besides, it is said three persons jumped overheard
from the Goluh, on the way to San Diego.
Tho loss Of the steamship Yankee Blade Will fall
heavily upon the insurance companies. She Is III
sured for $l15OUO; of which SlOO,OOo is in London,
and s75,OU0 in Wall Street, New York. She had SUI
passengers, and $la2, 600 in gold-tlc latter lost
COMMANDER HoLLISs the hero Of Greytown, has
lo., haI from, Tho command Of the naval ren