Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1854-10-18
LONu ~ fhe Arctic.

ers, left Liverpool for New York, On the Goth
September, with large number Of passengers. =
Not arriving al the usual time, serious aprrehen-
sIons were excited in reference to her safety, and
on "Wednesday last the wors, fears were realized.
On that day, the ship Lebanon arrived at New
York, bringing tidings of horrible catastrophe.
During dense fog, on the 9th ult., the Arctic
came into collision with another steamer, and was
50 much damaged that she sank in few hours.
number of the passengers and crew took TO the
boats; one of the boats was picked up by the bark
Huron, aud the fate of the others is unknown
Among the persons known to have been lost were
Capt Luce and son the wife, son and sister, or
daughter of Mr.. Collins. owner Of the line; MIR.
James Muirhead, of Petersburg, Va; and Mr..
l1ewett. and Mrs. Hewett and daughter, of Fred
ericksburg. The unknown steamer which caused
the catastrophe Immediately disappeared in the
fog, and is supposed to have persisted also. The
following account is given by Mr.. Burns. the ex-
press messenger of Adams S, Co., who was on
board the Arctic
On "Wednesday, September 81, precisely at II
O'Clock, M, in dense iig. we came In contact
with bark rugged iron propeller The shuck to
us appeared slight, but the damage to the other
vessel was irightfu. Capt. Luce instantly or
| dered the quarter boats cleared away, and the
chief mate, boatswain and three saurs went to
her relief before other boats left, the order was
counermanded. The Arctic then described a
circle twice round the wreck during which time
caught glimpse of more ihantwo hundred PEG
pie clustered on her hurricane deck.
At this junclure'i it was first asceriained that we
had sustained injury, and The water was pouring
| in at our bows. Ashen the fist officer came a.
longside to report the captain was unable 10 take
him up, but headed n. n. w. in The hope Of ma
KING land. Our position on the previous day, at
| II o'clock, was latitude AZ 80, longitude As 81.
| We had run about three hundred and ten miles
from the time Of this observation until the moment
| of collision, and were supposed TO be forty miles
| from Cape Race. The pumps were vigorously
worked, and an anchor Chain thrown overheard !;
but, in spite of all exerlioa, the engines stopped
and the water eXtinguished the fires. -Four OF
the five other life boats, believed 10 have been
well provisoned, containing the engineers, sail
ors, few passengers, and all the officers except
the captain and The third male, left the ship at an
early stage HC IH"Joiiy vi Tic P'9oSES eiS "eie
working at the punps-sume firing the sigma!
guns, and others launching spars, under the drec-
| ton of Captain Luce and Mr.. Dorian, the third
mate, To form ra!t r,
In order To facilitate this latter work the sixth
and last boat Was lowered. Dorian, one OF two
firemen, three of the ether passengers saved, aud
myself, were busily engaged flashing waiercasks
and settees to the maiR yard, two topgaIlanl yards
81 ornallar anarG-tha C,p.aia yAith
+! number of gentlemen, protecting the work by
keeping back the crUwd-when panic seized all
on board, rush was made, passengers and FIRE
men precipitated themselves headlpng over the
bulwarks on 10 the raft, and in moment our lit
tie boat was inll. and in imminent danger ofbsing
sunk In this emergency, Dorian ordered the
rope which held lis to the steamer 10 be cut, and
with our hands and axes We padded from the
RATS side The mate, who throug hout preserved
great presence OF mind, and Iabored with heroic
energy. cried oni, For God'ssske, Captain, clear
the raft, SO that we can work 1wonl desert the
ship while there's timber above water"
But the sea was now flush with The headlights
In less than three minutes from tie TINE he spoke
the stern sunk-the foam Went boiling over The
tumbling heap of human beings--nany were dash
ed forward against the pipe. 1leard one wild
veil, (stl ringing in my ears,) and saw the Arc
tic and the struggling mass rapidly engulphed-
Numbers vet chung 70 the impefectly constructed
raft but, alas. We could render them no aid
Our own situation was no less precarions; and,
cruel as II seemed, we were forced to abandon
them TO fate. Heaven forbid that should ever
witness such another scene. We however picked
up two more u(sn, and then, with an overloaded
boat without osrs, tholepns, food or drink, avoid
ing with difficulty the fragments OF The wreck,
and passing mjy dead females, prepared for
night upon the ocean. We secured floating
pumpkin and cxbbage to guard against immediate
starvation, dashed spar to the brow OF our boat
to keep her mead TO the wind and sea, and thus
drilled until daylight; the night was cold and fog
gy, with heavy swell, and, In cramped.
drenched and half naked condition, we suffered
terribly.
Without dwelling upon our mseries, alleviated
much by the consciousness that Ne had endeavor-
ed to do our duty to our fellow men, suffice it to
say that at five O'Clock on the afternoon Of the
2S,h we espied sail, and raised a handkerchief
to attract attention. We were successful. With
the rude substitute for oars which We had con-
s,ruc,ed during the day by flashing planSs to cap
stan bars, with view Of attempting 10 gain land
when the sea subsidized, we pulled towards the
ship. On our way We passed the remnant Of the
raft, with one man on 1t apparently alive.
The bark proved TO De the Huron, Of ST. An
drews. n. b., Capt. A. Wall, bound for Quebec.
Our men safe on board, the noble hearted Dorian,
with some of the Huron's crew, returned to the
raft and rescued the poor fellow who for twenty
six hours had chung TO the spars. He states that
after the steamship sunk, he counted seventy-wo
men and four women on the raft, but ats O'Clock
he was the only one alive. In the morning two
bodies were beside him, much eaten by the fishes,
and at the time he saw our boat he was on the
point of voluntarily dropping into the sea to end
his agony. Coming from the raft Dorian encoun-
tered and examined the life car of the Arctic. Ii
contained bottle of water, some cheese, and Ia
dy's garment.
By the humane captain of the Huron, and Mr..
WELLINGTON Cameron. a son Of the owner, we
were received with great kindness, our wounds
dressed fires kindled. and food and clothing pro-
vided in abundance On the evening of the 29th
he spoke the ship Lebanon, Capt. Story. bound
for New York. by whom eighteen of our number
were taken of, kindly welcomed and well treated
After the above was put in type, news was re-
ceived that the vessel which came in collision
with the Arctic, the French propeller Vesta, had
arrived at ST. Johns. New Brunswick, thus re-
lieying the anxiety as TO her fate The details Of
the calamity now gven show that there was an
entire lack Of disciplined control over the crew,
and that almost in the first moment OF danger
they took possession Of the boats and with the
most unmanly cowardice left the passengers, "a
mong whom were large number OF women and
children, to,their fate. 1t is even believed that
the desertion of the fremen and eng neers was 50
precipitate as to deprive the vessel of the use Of
machinery long before the water had extngulshed
the fires. If The Arctic had, as represented boats
sufficient to sustain FIVE hundred persons, there
appears to have been no reason. the accident &C
curing in the midst of perfect calm, why every
soul on board should not have been saved.