The Union and eastern journal. [volume] (Biddeford [Me.]) 1854-1858, 1854-10-13

boats, which was doae, and Mr.. Gueriay, CHIEF
officer, left the shp in the siarboard boat, and on
lowering the pom boat the captain exclaimed,
" Hoist up that boat again, Mr.. sBaahlan, snd
beckoncd me 10 go TO him. 70 81
On doing 50. be ordered me TO 30 over The bow
and ascertain II possible, what damage had been
done. Ithen' found The hole above lnenioned--
Upon informing him Of the fact, be gave ordcr TO
get the -ails up from below, and endeayond TO
place them tverthc bow, 80 rs 10 Stop the ienE,
which was promptly done, but with no advantage !;
so much OF The bows and iron which had been
broken from the other steamer adhereing 10 the
Arctic aud projecting cyond her planh'ng, That
the sails could not be brought close against The
vessels sides.
The carpenter was then lowered over the side,
and pillows and mattresses passed down To him to
TRY, II possible 10 close the holes with ihtrn Dui
the leak was found TO he 80 far below The water
line that they could not he got nj, and every eNer'
ton 10 stop ihe leak proved unavailing. Capt.
Luce then ordered the ships hcadtc be Kept To
the land, which lay northwest by west.
BY this lime he had lost sight Of the chief OH.
GERS boa, and the other steamer, which we sup.
posed had sunk We had not been on our course
more Than four or five minutes bcf'c We ran over
Y boat aud crew belonging 10 the other vessel, all
Of whom persisted, with the exception OF one who
caught hold Of a rope hanging o,er the bow As
soon rs the boat was scrn, orders were gwen W
stop the engine, which The chief engineer said
could not be DONE rs The ship was fast sinking.
IN about 30 minutes all the lower fires were
out, aud there was at least six feet of walter IN
the ship fore and ait. BY this time the confusion
amongst the passengers was very great but ihey
used all efforts in assisting the crew IN keeping
the deck pumps going aud in tightening the sh'P
forward for the purpose Of endeayorng TO gel a,
the leak from the inside, which efforts were found
10 be useless, and numbers OF them going INTO lie
1 a III. Ill Lnn t,.s h,. Al
/ In IS minutes after the collision, came up from
the fore.hold and informed Captain Luce hat
the water was on level with the lower-dccR
u,.-, -i .i, 10 in nD,>ihlr for them In Drt
| al the leak, and then asked him what lie though'
would be likely To be the fate Of the slip, when
he stated his belief To me, thai there was no nope
for saving her. He then told me to see 10 my
boats.
| la going 10 those on the pom side, lonnd lheih
conp,cfey filed with men and women, una no
possibility Of getting near them. Immediately
wen, TO the siarboard side and ordered Two oil The
c,cw To lower the guard boat, aHd asked !he cap
tam Via, his instructions we've, who replied ih"
"The ships fate should be his" ! Then sssed
him il he would not allow his sou ~ go with Us
"a intended to take boat; bur he returned me
the answer that abe should share his iale.'
II was soon discover d, however, that there wa'
llule hone of saving the Arctic, and Tue lady
daughter and sen Of Mr.. h. II. Collins, WIN sever
al ladies, were put on board boat, ~ the nci
lowering which, one Of The tackles gave away
and all except one lady, who chung TO sailor
holding fast 10 the boat were PrecIpllalea INTO th'
sea AMI iost.
\ then iurnpcd into a boat, and was ordered b,
the canaan 10 cut away the tacklc.ials aud droI
as,ern did SO, OF which time about 20 persons
as I supposed Jumped Overboaid, Of whom IL %
is were pickcd up Fell in with another boat
uh,eh had been lowered from the other side, aIt
: Heightened her Of part Of her compliment, leaving
10 in her and 20 Ia my own boat.
The last sight We had of the ship, her guards
wcr. level with the water, and the surface Of The
sea s,rewn with human beings, who had jumpe,
or fallen overheard, to whom, however, II was i'm
IposslIe 10 render any assistance, and we soon los
siph, of nl Ms the fog continued 10 he very dense
I then asked the boats crews IL they were vii
ling to be governed by me, which they unanimous
lis Ssscned 10, and was put IN complete CON
/. nand of both boats. We were then about "
miles S. +. Of Cape Race. Deenlng II my duiy
for the safety Of ALL to take the nearest course io
iLe land after pulling at the oars for AZ hours,will
nobng 10 guide us but the run Of The sea, whcl
7 ,ool; 10 be. hcaving from the southwark and IN
thick log which lasted oil the time, we reached
BROAD Cove, some IL miles north OF Cape Race.
We then proceeded by land 10 Reviews, which
; we reached on Friday lat. then obtained an'
took charge of a small schooner which was Iirc'
by tnp paSscllpeTs uHu "u' ~
me,a,ely in search of the wreck or her hoais.-
:. We sailed round in strong gale o. Wind from TN
northeast, but could find no trace Of the ship
boats | sent word To Capt Leiich, ofthc CITY
Philadelphia acquainling him with the catastrophe
/. and he, am informed. sent of two vessels whic
he had employed about his own ship, as she la
stranded. .-l.
I Mr.. Allan Goodridge Of Reviews, also sent ava.
a vessel on Saturday evening, but she has not ye
returned II Is with the greatest regret have u
report that no trace Of the Arctic or her othe
boats could be found, but as there were yer!
many vessels in the neigbborhood where The dis
aster occurred, il is not at all inproDaDle INA
/, maly lives may have been saved. No donbl now
ever,is lel on my mind as TO the loss Of The steam
/, ship Arctic.
The whole number Of souls on board the Arc'i'
was about I2j. The number saved Is not ye
known The Arctic was fine steamer, sirongi!
built, and has always been commanded by Capt.
Luce, who wen, down 10 her. lie bore hlgl
reputation as skIul commander. The propelle
) which came iu contact with the Arctic was
French vessel from ST. Peters, with 800 men OF
board. This was gathered from one OF The ere"
who chung TO the Arctic.