The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1855-08-07
ful Scene.
OUR PHILADELPHIA CORRESPONDENCE.


OUR PHILADELPHIA coRRssPoNDENcE.
PHILADELPHIA, Aug. s, 1855.
In the HERALD, o few days since, appeared an arti
Gle In relation to correspondents and
In that connection mention made Of the CORES
pondents of the HERALD being In all of the out OIL
The WY places Of the country, bat always in sne
vsy when items Of news are to be gathered. That
article and its tendencies strongly presented TO
ma last night when the disaster to the steamer Gene
-, Mcdonald occurred; and although for the moment
antioipating an exit from the busy, bustng world,
aneeAly. could not help exclaimng /" How lucky it
"a that am here - with feeling probably akin to
che culprits who were about to be hanged, who ST.
milarIv expressed themselves when bull dashed in
among the crowd at the foot of the gallows Excuse
The DEPRESSION. | am still excited and feel wander
ingiy.
The steamer General Mcdonald was chartered by
Mr.. Jarrett of Baltimore, for on excursion to Cape
MAY on Saturday night. to leave here at O'Clock,
and return from the Cape at the same hour tonight
Arrangements had also been made to take excur-
sionists from Washington and Baltimore. The num-
her OF tickets was limited, the share for Philadel
mia being $50. This number was on board when
we left the wharf. The night was pitch dark, and
the rain fell In torrents glided slowly into the
stream. A more dismal pleasure party never con-
gregated together; wet blanket seemed to envelope
every one Of my wretched travelling companions, and
all appeared in unereal frames Of mind, more than in
dulging in bright antcipations of brighter day to-
morrow, and joyous, inyigorating visit to Old
Ocean. We had been on board about an hour--the
heavy pattering Of the rain had measure ceased
to be 80 monotonously annoying, and we were busy
in seeking means to pass the time pleasantly as
arvvnit xa,ha ~t1ol
BY piercing cry halo followed almost instantly
by terrific crash, which made our boat tremble oil
over like leaf. For my part, was completely up
SET over stool upon which was sitting, and came
up as the sailors say. I'LL standing, against stan
cteou. The greatest confusion instantly ensued
among the one hundred and fifty passengers on
board and it was impossible, Ior time to ascertain
the cause OF the alarm, or tho nature OF the damage
When order was in measure restored, 1t appeared
that we had come in COLI ion with o schooner laying
at anchor the Lazaretto and that we had struck
her on her larboard side and carried away our lar
board rooms, and large portion OF the wheel house,
and the heavy timbels that side OF the boat The
crash and the carrying away OF the timbcrs made
the boat careen over to the starboard, and enabled
her to free herself from the schooner and float of
into the stream She soon ighted and after drifting
with the tide for about five minutes, the anchors
were let 60 and we had chance to examine our
dition more thoroughly. 1t was found that the
hull Of the boat was uninjured, and that those on
danger as long ~ they remained quiet An exami-
nation into the extent of our injury brought with it
the melancholy announcement that the collision had
been attended by fearful loss OF life Some ten or
twelve persons were in the BARRIERS shop at the time
Of the accident, and were swept overheard with the
broken boards and tmbers. Two persons were picked
up subsequently; but whether they belonged to the
party in the BARRIERS shop 1t is impossible to BAY. II
quite possible that those in that room were COM
pleely cruhsed in the wreck of the wood work. The
nightwas too dark to render any assistance TO any
who might have been in the water.
We lay at anchor at this of death about four
hours, when the steamboat Sun came alongside, and
brought US TO this city, where we arrived about
o'clock this morning.
The schooner with which We came in collision is
the A. G. Pease, from some Eastern port. She sus
tanned but little damage.
lam not prepared 10 lay the blame anywhere, al
though l am convinced that proper care WAS not
used by somebody. The schooner had a light dis
played but she was not discovered until the boat
cose upon her that a collision was inevitable. The
only excuse that have heard for the accident is,
that the schOonsrs lis bit dim the pilot thought
Il was two or three miles off, But the affair will be
thoroughly investigated and have no disposition to
forestall public opinion could not learn the names
OF the persons missing. s.