The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1856-11-18
Loss OF THE STEAMER LYoNNAIS.
ADDITIONAL PARTICULARS.
STEAMER sENTIN SEARCH.

/ SIEAMEk. SENT IN SEARCH.
| The New York papers Of Sunday contain further
accounts of the terrible calamity at sea, by which
the steamer Lyonnais, with over one hundred lives,
wasiost. A fuller account of the catastrophe than
| we published yesterday, is contained in the
| STATEMENT TO THE FRENCH CONSUL,
made by the second officer of the Lyonnais He
| says:
eleven knots, under sail and steam and displavino
lights according to regulation the man on the ioot
cut callod "A ship to the starboard bearing down
on us under full sail' The whistle which lad been
pus on BOARD at New York, and which can be heard
ten miles of, was Immediately sounded The helm
was put hard port on the instant; but neverthe.
less, three masted vessel struck the Lyonnais
across the companion-way. amidships The bow.
spirit OF the ship broke with the concussion and
stove In the side of our vessel from the companion.
way ~ far a. the shrouds seriously damaging the
two starboard boats, one of them an English life
boat. The collision broke away the iron plates of
the coal bunkers, letting In the water We con
tinued on our course during about ten minutes.
but the water almost Immediately extineuished
the fires. The unknown vessel in clearing away
from us, left on the deck of the Lycnnais part OF
her fgurehead. representing q black dragon, with
gilt mane red eyes, open mouth, with gilt dart
in it.
At the moment of collision, Captain Deyaulx
rushed to the wheel; the first lieutenant MIR Gus.
tavus Matthieu, was on his watch and deponent
was at his post on deck. As as the engines
stopped Mr.. Gigneux, the chief engineer, came up
from below and declared that water was pouring
In at the coal bunkers and the ship was sinking
The pumps were Immediately set going but float.
iug cnders choked up the valves and thew be.
came useless We then had recourse to buckets and
formed q chain, whilst part of the crew and some
of the passengers went below to shift the cargo
from starboard to port, but the water continued
to rise the captain ordered the cargo to be thrown
| nnrip Tia limo IS o.,
gers-anongst them two old sea captains-a few
Of the officers and a number of sailors were busy
covering the side Of the ship with large studding
sail, whilst the carpenters from the inside were
endeavoring to stop the leak with mattresses,
quilts, &e. The opening in the side of the ship
was at the water line and appeared to be two
feet square Our exertions were all of no avail
as the sea was growing rough and we were unable
to careen the steamer. Although over a dozen
mattresses and similar articles were propped
against the hole, it became impossible to withstand
the pressure of water. We commenced sheathin0
the ship outside with large awning, which seemed
to stop the leak for time. During all this the
bailing never ceased, but we found the water
increased rapidly, the conviction was forced upon
us that q second hole existed beneath the water
line. Notwithstanding throwing overheard the
cargo and the continued bailing out, the snip
sinking rapidly by the stern. Two large casks
were then used to bail the water, the captain and
officers lending helping hand with the tackle -
For moment we thought the water was decreas.
ing, but it soon overpowered US. The bailing had
lasted from A. M, to P. NJ, and the men were
exhausted with fatigue
The captain then lowered the boats and en-
barked the passengers ard crew. In order to be pre-
pared for the worst, raft had been built during
the day, of top masts, spars cabin doors, boards
chicken coops &c &c, and on it were placed two
barrels of wine two puncheons of water and va.
rious kinds of eatables, sufficient to last the fifty
persons placed upon it, at least q month. In the
| first cutter were some twenty-five persons
hou y0ra ftrst md M,
neers, the steward his nephew, all the cabin ser.
wants (ten in number) this boat was under the
command of the chief officer, Mr. Rousseu This
boat had on board compass charts, chronom eters,
| sextant, and provisions for two weeks with
complete set of sails. A second boat, same
size of the former, took off twenty five persons;
she had the same amount of food, nautical instru
ments and nsw sails the first cutter, ard was
| under the command of the two captains. A
| life boat, containing about twenty persons, and
| having, like the other complete set of sails
provisions ard in ustruments was placed under the
| orders of Mr.. Dnblot, third Lieutenant Another
life boat, containing eighteen persons, with pro-
visions for two weeks, was placed under the com
| mard of deponent. The various boats, once equip
3D. were KEEP. dul in the light The eghe orhood
| of the wreck the Captain remaining on board the
latter with the first Lieutenant, four petty officers
| stewardess and M0ssrs Clarin and Bonestac. the
| Doctor and Purser. Two yawls, which might
| each hold six persons, were moored to the wreck
| During the night the life boat commanded by Mr.
| Du blot which had been damaged at the moment
of the collision, was carried by the waves against
| the raft and Immediately sunk; those in her were
rescued by the raft
| Att O'Clock, A. M on Tuesday, the 4th instant,
| the Captain perceiving that the ship could no
| longer float, and was likely to sink every mo-
| ment ordered those on board to embark in the
yawls; he himself was the last to quit the ship
Before the officers took to the boats under their
| respective commands, the Captain called them
| into the deck house of the steamer, and pointed
4 It. ~.
! were, and explained to them the direction
| they must follow in order to reach the nearest
| land At 8 o'clock, A M D., the three boats made
| headway towards northwest in company. On
quitting the wreck, the captain was seen with his
men in one yawl and first officer with purser in
| the other near the raft. The captain declared
his inten ton of remaining by the wreck until the
Lyonnais sunk. The raft was moored to the hull
| with a ten fathom hawser. and man stood ready
| with an axe to cut loose when she sunk
STATEMENT OF FEMALE PASSENGER.
Flora Solomon, residing in New York, had been
| on a visit to her friends in France and was on
beard the i'll fated Lyonnias. She relates the &C.
currences in substance as follows:
"On the night of the wreck had retired, when
| about IL o'clock was awakened by great noiee
and the cries of passengers from all parts of.c.e
vessel / at once got up, and the passengers were
running about in great confusion and alarm. They
said the vessel had struck another one, and they
were afraid they should all be drowned. The Sc
cohd mate said he thought the otner Vessei went
down as soon as she struck, because he heard
screams and noise that sounded like the sinking
| of ship, but 1t was so fcggy we could not see.
"The water came into the vessel In great quaint.
ties and we were all in constant fear of going to
the bottom. We stsid here q day and half, when
about eighteen sailors and passengers got into one
of the life boats, and / among the rest We had
no dread or water, and no place to lie down, and
expected every minute would be the last. The
| only food we had was some meat and preserves
| the biscuits which had were all spoiled, aad
we suffered much from thirst that we could not
relish what had TO eat. One of the poor sailors
| died from thirst fatigue and cold, and his body
was thrown into the sea, and in a little while Que
of the passengers, man did not know, died also
| from the same causes. We were on this boat six
days. without comfort rest and in constant fear
of drowning; though some of US get stupid from
our sufferings that we did not care how soon we
| went down.
81 was well aud strong. and endured the suffer-
| Ing to which were exposed much better than
many others; but when we were finally taken up
| | hardly knew any thing for some time, aud my
feet are now so swo oen and sore that can scarce
| ly walk
| The New York Express says:
The mate Laeuiere states that there is doubt in
his mind that the vessel which into lie Lyopnais
was q very large American clipper The figure hssa
was a dragsn's head eilt, with red eses and open
mouth from which projected large dart This hgu
go f.l unon of La Lyouns and rStnsin,