Plymouth advertiser. [volume] (Plymouth, Ohio) 1853-1988, 1854-10-14
STEAMER ARCTIC LOST-4On PER-
SONS DROWNED-3s SAVED.
liArErAN nrt II

I
'he second officer, appeared 10 on extra
on Tuesday. Mr. d. and other officer,
aud crew saved in Tire two bns,s, arrived
~ the Broad Cove and reached here on
Tuesday:
J On Wednesday. the s7h Sent. =,
noon, Cape Race bearing N. ~. 65 mills
while running in very thick f.r up,
struck on The starbnard bow about co f-s,
ahaii the cut water, bv nu iron steamer.
which made three large hol.s in the ship,
TWO below The water-oGe Of which was
anou' 81 feet in length, and I ] wide fre.r.
lng the whole cut w,ler aud stern cir the
IRON sieamer) clear through the hrctic',
side. 50 dense WAS tie iCg that the YES.
Sc! could not he seen one minute beCora
the collision. he helm was pni hard y
Starbosrd and Tho engine was slopped in.
St'nilv and backed at fall speed. aad un.
III clear of the other steamer which oc.
cupied coupe Of miuu'es. The Frenrh
steamer seemed to be sinking how first
Capt. Luce Immediately gave orders TO
clear away the quarter boats, which was
done: and Mr.. Gurley, Chief Officer,
Ieii the Arctic in charge Of the s,arboard
boat. On lowering the port boa, the Cap
tain exclaimed 'hust that boat again.
Mr. BaIham heckoned to 20 to him
Dong so, he told me to go over the h.
and to ascertain, if possible, what dapa...
h'd been done. | then found the hole,
above mentioned. Upon informing him
OF the iA"ts he gave orders to re, sails up
to try and get them round the bows ana
thus endeovor to stop the leak, which
was properly done, but to no advantage
whatever. So much of the bow and iron
broken Oft The other steamer was proiac,.
ing that the sails could not be brought
close TO the vessels side. The carmen
ter was .hen lowered over the vessels
side and pillows and mattresses passed TO
him, If possible TO force them in, but the
leak was found 10 be So far below the wa
ter line that they cauId not be got in, and
every eXerllon 10 close the leak proved
unavailable, Capt. Luce then ordered
the ships head to be put about, which
bore n. W. by W. By his time we had
lost sight o! the Chief Officers boa, und
the other steamer, which we supeose
had sunk. We bad not been on our
course more than four or five minutes be.
fore she ran over boat and crew BELONG
to the other vesse all of whom perixhed
with the exception Of one who caurht
hold OF a rope hanging over the bow
As soon as tie boat was seon ordn rs we're
given TO stop the engine, which the
Chief Engineer said could not be done ,s
the ship WIS fast sinking. In about 10
minutes oil the lower fires we're out and
at least, 5 teet of water in the ship fore
and att. by this time the confusion
among the passengers was very great,
but they used all Efforts 10 assis. the crew
keep tie deck pumps aud in ligh,ur
the shiq forward for the purpose of get
ting at the leak from tia inside which
was found to be useless, anl numbers Of
them going into the boats which wore Sill
hanging 10 dayls. L IS minutes after
he ro'ils'01 came ~ from the fore hold
and informed tie Captain that the water
was on level with the lower deck, /,
was impossible to get at tie leak. | tilen
asked hm wha he thought would he the
Ia'e OF The ship whsD he stated his belief
to me that there was no hope of saving
her. Lie then told me to sec to ~
boats On going to those on the port sid.
found them completely piled with men.
women and children and 40 possibility Of
getting near them. | immqdiately went
to the starboard side and ordered two Of
the crew TO lower tho guard boa, and ask
ed the Captain what were his intentions.
anG he replied that the ships fate should
b" his. then asked him if he would no,
alio" his son 10 go, as | utended 10 take
a 0oat, lie answered that he should
share his fate. As soon as it was disroy.
ered that there was no hopes of saving
the Arctic, the daughter and son of z K.
Collins and several ladies were pu.~1en
board small boat. In thd"ac1t Of low
erIng the boat one OF the 'acklcs gave way
and all except one lady, who clung 70 a
saitor, were lost. | then Jumped into a
boat and was ordered by the Captain to
cut away the tack!e--laI and drop asern
and, at the same time about 20 persons
jump ed overheard, Of whom II or is were
picked up. We fell in with another
boat which had been lowered from the
other side, and lighted her Of part Of her
load, leaving 10 on her and 20 on my
own boat.
The last sight we had Of the ship her
guardswers level with the water, and the
surface Of the sea was coverd with human
beings who had fallen or jumped over
board, to whom it was mpossible to render
assistance, and we soon lost sight of all,
as the fog continued 10 be very dense. I
then aske the boats crews whether thew
were willing to be governed oy me, which
was unanimously assented 10, and | was
put in complete command of both boats.
The two were then 60 miles south of
Cape Race. Deeming it my duty to take
the nearest course for the safety of all,
after pulling for 40 hours with nothing to
guide us but the run of the sea, which 7
tOOk to hn cout h ,vo ri md -, , ,L;.l- e