Washington sentinel., 1854-04-23
Wrecks at Absecom.

LUkab LOSS or W6 lUUHutuH-AU on 6OQTt
Psrished--Tioo Hundred Lices Lost-Thril
ling Naratire.
The New York papers received to-day rende
it probable that nearly all the bodies washed
ashore were from the Powhatan, and that shs
was the only ship, wrecked on which there was
any great destruction of life.
The Powhatan was built in Baltimore abou
fifteen years ago, and was not, from the ap
pearanee of her timber,-a very sound ship
Two large pieces of her hull lie on the beach
also large portion of her waist, and the star
board side OF her quarter, in which is lodgee
an iron tank fitted in her run. Some of the
ships papers came ashore in the captain desk
and were sent on by the resident magistrate tc
the consignees in New York. She was loadec
with iron for ballast, which is the reason, pro
badly, why her bottom has NOE come ashore
There is no insurance on the Powhatan in New
York all the loss will fall on Baltimore and
Philadelphia insurance Offices.
The Herald says:
The ship, laden with passengers left Havre
for New York on the lst of March last under
the command of Captain Meyers, of Baltimore.
She was driven among the shoals and remained
there until Sunday evening at s o'clock, before
she went to pieces. 1t was observed by the
anxious eye-witnesses on shore that directly she
struck she hauled to the wind" from which
circumstance it was impossible for any of her
passengers to leave without certain death being
the result. They, however, hoped for the best.
They trusted that the storm which had now
lasted so long must soon abate
During the long night of Saturday and the
whole OF Sunday the unfortunates-it is sup
posed some two hundred and fifty in number
were seen clnging to the leeward bulwarks of
a,I.x Al ~
them, and expecting death at the rise of every
succeeding wave. No assistance could be Of
fered to them, for the sea then ran so high that
boat (if any had been at handy would have
been instantly swamped.
Between four and FIVE o'clock on Sunday
afternoon, the ships bulwarks burst, and about
fifty persons, at the same moment, were washed
overheard. Mr.. Jennings, the wreck master,
with others, made great efforts to save some of
those who were in the water, but in vain. The
captain, too, was heard to cry from the ship:
.sFor Gods sake save some OF those who are
drowning" Every exertior. was made, but it
was no use; and in all of the six bodies which
the wreck-master succeeded in rescuing from
the water life was extinct.
It was Immediately after this that the ship
commenced going to pieces in earnest. No
small boats were to be procured, for the gov
ernment boats did not arrive until all was over.
About o'clock the vessel was completely
broken up; most of her passengers and crew
were drowned; but few still survived, cling
ing to pieces of the wreck The shrieks Of the
dying rose even above the roaring of the storm,
which seemed to be increasing rather than sub
siding in fury.
1t was at this moment that huge wave was
noticed rolling inward, the dead and the dying
IL GA - Lol
passed over them, there was not one left alive
Of those passengers and crew of the ilfated
Powhatan, who numbered two hundred and fifty
souls that same morning. A singular fact con-
nected with this is, that even the ship itself was
splintered into minute fragments, SO that
scarcely trace Of her existence remained,
with the exception of the few pieces of the
rigging that were washed ashore. She was
probably laden with heavy ballast; for her hull
is supposed to have sunk, or else some portion
Of it must have been discovered.
When first discovered by Captain Jennings,
of Long Beach, which was on Sunday morning,
she lay with her head to the south, the decks
were crowded with passengers, and the sea was
making clean breach over her. The wind
blowing a perfect gale from north-northeast,
the waves ran mountains high, twisting the
ship about in the sand as if she was merely a
cork boat. Seeing the condition Of the vessel,
Captain Jennings, who is stationed as wreck
master on the beach, sent all the men that were
at his command, though the snow-storm was
raging violently, to the government-house, in
order to bring down the life-car and other
wrecking apparatus, and stood on shore himself
watching the effects of the billows upon the i'll
fated vessel.
Hour after hour slipped by, but the men did
tho hQ-
came uneasier, and many unfortunate people
were swept off by the heavy surf About 5
o'clock, p. M, one immense wave washed fully
one hundred persons overheard, who were car
ried away down the beach by the undertow.
Some OF them came ashore and were picked up
lifeless by Mr.. Jennings, who searched in vain
among the number for q survivor, but all had
breathed their last before they reached the
beach, being awfully mangled by the force OF
the waves pushing thep against the hull of the
vessel and throwing them with violent force
upon the beach.
At this time Captain Myers, who was on the
deck Of the Powhatan all this while, called
out in loud voice to Mr.. Jennings, entreating
him to try and save some of those who might
be washed ashore. Captain Jennings replied
that all those who came ashore were dead, and
that it was no use looking for them, as they
were,all killed before they got out of the water.
About seven o'clock, the ships masts went
by the board, and almost Immediately after
wards the hull bursted in two, and every soul
on board was launched into eternity. The sea
presented black mass of human heads and
floating pieces of the wreck, but in few min
! utes all had sunk to rise alive no more. The
beach was strewn with the dead bodies Of wo
men and children, pieces Of the wreck, the bag
gage Of the passengers, and empty casks
Nothing remained to mark the spot where the
ill-fated ship had gone ashore, except surging
waves beating upon fragment of the hulk
which lay upon the beach.
The crying of the drowning men and the
shrieking of the women and children was
hushed. All lay in the deep numbered with the
dead, whilst the wind walled loud and mourn
fully, adding still more horror to the awful ca
tastrophe. ALL had sunk-captain, officers
crew, and passengers. Oftwo hundred and fifty
persons, not soul lsras left to tell the tale. Nc
aid came from the government-house that
night, and Captain Jennings was compelled to
remain there BY himself lonely watcher Of
the dead.