Southern sentinel. [volume] (Plaquemine, Parish of Iberville [La.]) 1848-1858, 1856-08-23
THE AWFUL DIsAsTIR Ar
LAST ISLAND.
TnIerestImg Incidents,

About half an hour after the article on our
first page giving an account of the awful ca
tastrophe on Last Island, was issued in an Ex-
ira on Saturday, the B}ue Hammock arrived at
Dardenne's Landing on the Bayou, with the
survivors of the dreadful storm. The com~
mander of this boat deemed it expedient to
return Immediately, as many Of the saved who
took advantage of his boat, were in a very cri~
teal situation, which another day, deprived of
the care of a physician and the comforts of a
home, might prove fatal.
In a short time after the boat landed, car
riages were coming into town containing all
who lived in our town and parish that were
saved. They had truly a dark, haggard, ema-
ciated appearance, which claimed and received
the sympathies Of all. 1t was sad and mournful
enough to look upon this remnant Of happy
and prosperous families from our town and
parish, who had sought Last Island as a home
of pleasure and of health-the survivors of a
calamity and a scene the most terrible that the
MUD OF man can paint in the Hottest flights of
his imagination-before which the records of
romance pail and which the pen feels its inabis
lily to portray-bnt oh! how truly narrowing
must have been The feelings of the mother who,
as she hooked into the carriage containing fair
and familiar faces that had been saved, ex-
claimad from the depths of her bosom, "Where
is my daughter ?-oh why did you not bring
my daughter pa daughter who had been
reared with every care, and amidst every COM
fort and happiness which wealth could Pur-
chase or idolizing parents suggest. And such
a daughteri Her goodness and her amiability
and accomplishments, lad well rewarded those
in whose charge nature had placed her. Her
mind was the embodiement of sweetness, in-
diligence and refinement, while her face and
figure were as the budding lilly, which as
yet displayed but a few only of its beautiful
petals. 1t is not yet two years when. in the
presence of a holy priest of her church, We
saw her pledge her faith and her love to one
equally fortunate in the worlds chances, equal
ly idolized by parents, and equally worthy of
their peerless love and ill-concealed pride,
wis Ia ACCClFSA tIG GSlSSW VI Ill VINO huG"
him, or heard in debate the iBtonations of his
manly voice. AS W. gazed upon the happy
pair, we ~inwardly prayed that no flaws should
arise in the golden path which heaven had
vouchsafed them-gratitude andrespect would
have alone prompted such a feeling. But alas!
where are they now--that pair, blooming in
health bat a few days back, with SO much of
the hope and happiness Of life, and blessed too
with a pledge Of their affection? Dropping
heads and wa:ery tears were the only answer
to the wild appeal of the distracted mother
in that mute but ominous reply she read the
awful destiny of her b~eIoved-and tot!ering,
would have fallen beneath the wheels but for a
friendly arm. In the d;mness of her falling
sight, as the blood rushed back 10 the heart, |
she must have seen her fair child
Alone in the dark, alone on the wave,
To buffet the storm alone
To struggle aghast at her watery grave,
To struggle and feel there is none to save
God shield thee, helpless one!
der young limbs yield, for their strength is past,
Her trembling hands on the deep are cast,
Her white brow CLEANS a moment more,
%HSA S'o"ly SHihS-tne struggle is oNeTt |
The statements and incidents which follow,
We obtained principally from two OF three in
this vicinity who were saved. These accounts
we give in plain style, without any embellish-
ment, and aiming to get as near at the truth
as it is possible to arrive. They are mainly
interesting to the citizens of our parish, and
persons at a distance acquainted with those
whose names are mentioned.
Mr.. LOUIS DEsoBRY, sr., had some nine-
teen or twenty in bis family, the lives Of all of
whom he was most fortunate in preserving.-
In the early part Of the morning, he and others
went TO bracing up their houses, in a~nticipa-
ton of a gale. They were not wrong in their
belief. It gradually increased in violence. "A.
bout 2, P. H., bis back gallery was torn from
the house and whirled over the roof, amidst
the Whizzing Of shingles that were flying about
in every direction. The roof followed next-
then thesouth gable and upper floor. It was
now impossible for one family to tell what was
happening to his neighbors'. Sand, chips,
shingles, the pelting rain, and the wreck Of
houses, darkened the air, and made il impossi.
BILE to see any distance. The house was torn
gradually to pieces, q portion of the wreck
lodging against the cistern, which served to
prevent the whole from being Aoated away-
By keeping huddled together under some
standing timbers, the family was partially pre-