The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1854-10-11
DISTRESSING NEWS.
Terrible Collision between Two
Ocean steamships
TOTAL LOSS OF THE ARCTIC
Between Three and -Four Hundred
Souls Perished.
Only 1hirty-two Lives Known to be
Saved
.@NS-~>~-----.~-~-~>~..~~~-
Probable Loss OF British Steamship with a
Regiment Of Troops on Board.
->>>>~>~>>>>,>>c.-~~. M
LisT OF THE RESC JED.
NAMES OF THE PASSENGERS ON BOARD THE ARC rlc,
DC, &c.. 80.
Only 1hirty-two Lives Known to be
Saved
Probable Loss Of British Steamship with
Regiment Of Troops on Board


At late hour last evening wc received the hesrt-
rndiDg intelligence Of the loss Of the Collins steam
ship Arctic. Captain Luce, the wilc, daughter and
son of q. K. Collins, Mr. Sandford. and many citi
zens If tois .ity besides more than th 60 hundred
Of the passengers and crew hayn met watery grave
The noble steamer. withber freight of stark 20 pscs
is now sureg to ard fo beneath the surface OF the
b llov Of the Atlantic. Leaving more extended 70.
marks upon the awful catastrophe for future ws.
soD, We hasten to introduce the account furnished
us BY Mr.. George q. Burns, the express mess .nger
Of Adams 4 Co., who was on board. and fortunately
escaped the terrible rerils Of the disaster.
STATEMENT OF MR.. BURNS.
The steamship Arctic, with 226 passengers, OK
elusive Of children, l75 employees valuable cargo.
and heavy mail Is lost. OF the more Ian four hun
drtd souls who left Liverpool ON the 20sh u,t, fai
# hope, gaiesy and health, many returning fro
On Euro can tour Of pleasure, only thirty no are
kncwn to have been saved, and certainly 90. more
than ore tupdred can, By any poss;bIlt7, have c.
capped q ~atery grave.
[n addition to all this, another large steamer,
righted with hundreds Of human beicgs, has, in
all probability, met Ike fate. The "details of the
horrible disaster arc as follows -
On Wednesday, September q, precisely at IL
o'clock NJ, In dense fog, we cam. in contact with
bark riased iron propeller, With black hub, sal
mon colored bottom, lead colored p OF and boats
and black pipe. She vas bouad eastward, aai hso
all sail set. with strong, fair wind. The speed Of
tho Arctic at the time was about thirteen knots ar
hour. Tho shock to us appeared ellght. but tho
damage to tho other vessel was erishtfnl. Capt
Luee instantly ordered quarter boats cleared
away, and tre c ief mate, boats vain and three
sailors wcnt to her relief before other b,ats left,
the order was countermanded. The Arctic then
described circle twice round tho wrc,k. during
which time caught glimpse Of more than two
hundsed people clustered on her hurricane deck.
At this juncturc it was first asoertained that We
had sustained injury, and the wator vas pouring in
at our bows. When the first off or came alongside
to report, tbs captain was unsble to take him up,
but headed N.N.W. In the hope Of making land
Our position the previous day, ct IL o'clock, was
latitude 48 80, longitude As 27. We had run about
,h 60 hundred and ten milos from the time Of this
observatien until the moment OF :aision, and wsre
suppcsed to be forty miles from Cspe Rae. Tho
pumps .ere vigorously worked, aad anan hor chain
thrown overheard; but, in spsc Of all cxerson the
engines stopped and the water exsnguissed the
es. Four Of the lvc other life boats, beloved to
have been veil previsioned. containing the engi.
peers sailors, fes rassensc 3, and al the officers
except the captsin ard shi mate left the chip at
40 cary stage. The majority Of the passengers were
working at tho pumps-some firing tic signal guns,
and othsn launching SPAR, unser tho direction Of
Csptain Luce and Mr.. Doriau, tho third matc, to
form . rals.
In order to facilitate this latter work tho sixth
and last boat was 10 sersd Dorian, one or two Go
men, three Of the other passengers saved, and my
self, wero busily engaged lashing water casks and
settees to the moin yard, tSo topgalant yards aud
several smal,er spsrs--thc Captsin, with = numbcr
Of gentlemen, protecting the work by keeping back
tho crowd ud--when panic sezed all on board, rush
was made, passengers aud frcnea prccipitatcd
themsolves heaolong over the bulUarks on to the
raft, and in moment our little bat was fuu, and
in imminent daDgor Of being sunk. In this crncr'
gency, Ds rian ordered tho rcpo which hcld rs to
the steamer TO bc cut and with cur hands and axes
We padded from tho rats side 20 mate, who
throughout preserved great prceorce Of mind, aad
labored with heoi, energy, cried out, " For Gods
sake, Captain, clear the rsf, 30 that We can work
wont desert the ship while there's timber aboye
water.n -. ....-.
. But The sea was now flash wishthc headlights. In
less than three minutes from the time he spoke, tho
stern suDk-the foam went boiling over ths urbins
heap Of human beiDgs-many were dashed forward
against the pipe. Ibesrd ono wd yen, (ili ringing
In my esrs,) and saw the Arctic aud tho strasgIpg
mars rapidly cDgulphed. Members yet slang to
The impcrfectJy q instructed raft bat, alas, wc
could rDder them 0 aid. Our omn situation was no
leae precarioua; ard, cruel as it seemed, we we're
forced to abancon them to fste Heaven forbid that
ehoud ever witness such another sccne. We
hov ever pi ked ar two more men, and then with On
OVERLOADED boat without o'zs, tcoIepios. food .,
dirk avoidil VIII diaicults The fragments Of the
wreck, and passing many deed fcuAles, prepared ssl