The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1854-10-21
THE Loss OF THE ARCT:a.
CAETAE- EgCE SAWED.

y
a thrill of JOY ran through thewholc coun-
try at the report Of the safety Of the gallant
Capt. Luce of the Arctic, who stood by his
ship till she sunk beneath his feet. lie ar
rived at Quebec in the bark Cambria, on
Saturday morning last, and Immediately tclc-
graphcd to Mr.. Collins the following dcs-
patch:
Qucbec, Oct. HIP. M-To f. X. Col
| daughter and SON. were not in the boat, but
leave for New York to-day. Yours,
j. {. LUCE.
Statement O. Capt. Knee.
The following is The statement of Captain
Luce, as telcg,aphcd to New York /:
Capt Luce, at the timsSf the collision, was
lie Immediately ran on deck, and saw the i:Gn
steamer under the starboard bow, and passing
astcrih grazing and tearing the guards in her
progrc>s.--'rho bows of the strange vessel
seemed to be literally cut or crushed of for
ten feet, and seeing that she must probably
sink In ten minutes, and taking glance at
our own ship, and believing that we were
com, aratiyoly uniniurcl. the boats were
cleared and The first officer and six men left
with Il boat to board the stranger, and ascer-
tain the extent of her damage.
The engineers were immediately instructed
TO put on the steam pumps, and the four deck
pumps were worked by the passengers and
crew. The ship was at once headed for land
and several Intellectual attempts were made to
stop the leak by getting sails over the bows.
Finding that the leak was gaining on them
very fast, notwithstanding the very powerful
efforts to keep her free, the captain resolved
| to get the boats ready and have as many la-
dies and children placed on them as possible.
No sooner, however, had an attempt ben
made to do this than the iircmcn and others
rashCd into the boats in spite Of all opp0si-
ton. Seeing this state of things | ordered
the beats aStern to be kept in readiness until
order could be restored, when to my dislnay
! | saw them cut the rope i'll the bow and soon
disappear aStcrn i'll the fog.
Another boat was broken down by persons
rushing in at the davits, and many were pre-
c:ptatcd into the sea and drowned. This
occurred while had been cngagcdn getting
the starboavd guard boat ready. | had
placed the second officer in charge, when the
same scene WAS enacted as with the first
boat. then gave orders to the second oIli-
Ger to let go and row after the ship, keeping
near the stern, to be ready to take the women
and children us soon as the fires were out and
the engine should stop.
My attention was then drawn to the other
quarter boat, which found broken down,
but handing by one tackle. A r,,', .',,s made
for her also, and some fifteen got in and cut
the tackle and were soon out OF sight. Not
| q scamen was left on board, or Il carpenter,
and We were without tools to assist us III
building a raft, as cur only hope, and the on
ly officer left us was Mr.. Doran, the third
mate, who worked nohly for the succor Of all.
Many Of the passengers, who deserve great
praise for their coolness and energy, did all
in their power until the latest moment before
the ship sunk. Mr.. Rogers the chief cngi
nccr, with part ofhis assistants, had taken
one of the small deck boats, and before the
ship went down, pulled away with about Is
| persons.
TO form a raft it become necessary to get
the only remaining boat, the life-boat, into
the water. This being accomplished, Mr..
Dorian, the chief officer of the boat, taking
care to keep the oars OH board the steamer, to
prevent those in the boat from leaving the
Ship, proceeded to work, still hoping 10 get
| the women and children on board his boat at
last. They had made considerable progress
in collecting spars, when the alarm was given
that the ship was sinking, and the boat was
showed oil without oars or anything to hold
themselves.
In an instant after, at about quarter past
5 clock, p. NJ, the ship went down, carry
ing every soul on board with her. soon
found myself on the surface, after brief
struggle, with my own helpless child in my
arms, when again found myself impclled
downwards to a great DEPTH and before |
reached the surface a second time had near
ly persisted and lost the hold Of my child as
| struggled upwards.
When got upon the surface of the water
the most awful and heart rending scene pre-
scnted itself to my view. Over two hundred
men, women and children were struggling
together amid pieces of the wreck, calling
upon each other for help, and imploring God
to assist them Such an appalling scene may
God preserve me from witnessing again.
Amid this struggling mass of human beings
| discovered my child and was in the act of
trying to save him when portion of the pad
die box came up edgcwards, just grazing my
head, and falling with all its weight upon the
head of my darling child
l then succeeded i'll getting on top of the
paddle box in company with eleven others.
One, however, soon left for another piece, and
others remained until relieved by death. We
stood in the water up to our knees, the sea
frequently breaking over US. We separated
from our friends of the wreck, and passed the
night, each expecting every hour to be his last.
The morning came, but not a living soul
could be seen, but our own party, consisting
l.