The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1854-11-15
Loss OF the Steamer Yankee Blade.

Fate Of the ,SurciU0rs- Dreadful
Scene on Board.
From the San francisco Herald.]
The following is the Official report oil
the wreck Of tho Yankee Blade, foi
which we are indebted to Purser Vought
STEAMSHIP GoLi,n, at Sea, Oct. 8, 1864
EplToRs OF THE HERALD: l would
respectfully submit the following report
of our disaster. hoping you may be able
to find something worth transmitting
through your columns to the public.
The Independent steamship Yankee
Blade, Henry Randall, Esq, command
err, sailed from San Francisco, Sept. 80
at a o'clock, p. NJ. with eight hundred
passengers, and 100000 in specie
passed the Heads At o'clock, and at
Q o'clock the same evening saw steam.
er on the storboard beam, supposed To
be the Uncle Sam or John l.. Stevens
Oct. |, at 8 O'Clock. p. NJ, being en-.
comprised in dense fog, steering q s.
+. by 8 course, and supposing ourselves
at least ten miles from shore, we struck
a reef Of rocks off Point Agucllo. about
fifteen miles above Point Conception,up.
on which the ship ran upward of sixty
feet, with her stern swung in nine faith
oms Of water, which in twenty -6ve min.
utes sunk below the promenade Geek ;
but so firmly was the forward part i'm.
bedded in the rocks that up TO tho time
we left the ship (nbout p NJ. on the
I'd inst. she had not receded al inch.
FURTHER PARTICULARS.
From a number OF the passengers on
the i'll fatcd Yankee Blade, We have OBJ
tanned the following additional particu.
lars Of tho disaster. The ship struck
about o'clock in the afternoon of the
LIST inst, Sunday in the midst of a
dense fog, the land being distant about
thrcc fourths of q mile. The ses be-
tween the ship and the shore WAC very
rough, breaking heavily 10 many places
over the reef As soon as she struck
the engines were reversed, and every cf-
fort made to back her off but so strong.
ly had she become fixed upon tho rocks,
that she would not bulge. 1t then be.
came apparent that she must be wrecked,
aud the only salvation Of those on board
depended upon their getting ashore The
boats were Immediately lowered, and
were in an instant crowded. Three Of
them started from one side Of the yes.
sci, the fourth under the command of
Capt. Randall. from the other side. In
these boats werc large number of wo.
men and children. Ono of our inform.
ants, Mr.. J. Moore, with his young son
Adolphus bound for Hancock county II.
linois, got into ono of these bonts, under
the command Of the first mate. She was
swamped in the surfaud out of the TWEEN.
ty persons in her, but five escaped. OF
the fifteen lost, four wcrc ladies aud sew.
en- children.
The violence Of the breakers hurled
their boat end over end but ms it was
life-boat, it would not sink, and a few of
the drowning wrctches managed to cling
to it. 1t was turned over again and
again, but by dint of desperate struggle.
themselves by their hands
only, they ccntrivcd TO hold on until
they were washed ashore. MIR. Moore
lost his young son, and was himself cast
iusensible upon the beach. He was picked
up by woman on shore. carried up the
bluff, and by her untiring cxcr,ions
brought back to consciousness One la
dy in tho boat had on two life-preservcrs
which prevented her from sinking. She
was knocked about by the waves, how.
cyer.until she became iusensible,in which
condition she was washed ashore and left
for dead She remained all night upon
the beach and next morning gave signs
of life. and was finally restored. Before
tho boat was swampcd, the first mate CT
pressed his determination to go back af.
ter he had landed to save more Of the
passengers. lie was himself so badly
crippled, that he could not afierward
move One of the other bouts that start.
ed at first was also swamped, and some
of those on board persisted. Only two
boats were now left to rescue nearly $50
souls, and night fast closing aud the wind
raising These two boats, however, re.
turned to the wreck and took off as many
more passengers as possible. by this
time the fog hac sci in more dcnsely than
ever, and the gloom Of night began to
ovcrspread the scene.
When it became known that the boats
were on the eve Of leaving the ship for
the last time that night, many Of the pas.
sengcrs became frantic, and in their ca.
gerncss to get on board the boats, long
after they were full. jumped from the
deck into the sea, struggled to get hold
Of the gunwale-g urglcd and went down.
1t is supposed that large lumber Of un.
fortunatcs lost their lives in this wav
Some, in desperation. jumped overheard
and tried to swim ashore, but a duck
could not live in such a sea, and they
soon sunk to rise no more. Our inform.
ants estimate the number of lives lost
as at least one hundred and fifty, some
say two hundrcd-far more than reported
by the Purser.
After the boats had stopped running
and night with all its horrors had set in
the scono upon the wreck was horribl.
beyond expression. All the after par,
Of the ship aud the lower steerage were
under water. Upon the forward dccx ,ant
in the upper steerage, were crowded near
ly eight hundred souls, wet by the sur
that broke over them, and chilled to tn
marrow by the cold. All that disma
night they huddled together, expectip,
every moment that the hulk, which wa
quivering and cracking at every dash o
the waves, would 60 to pieces and launcl
them into eternity.
) No sooner had the boat struck, than
large band Of men, armed to the teeth
consisting Of notorious shoulder.striker
and rufiians from this city, and porto