Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1856-04-02
DISASTER AT SEA.

the 10th of January last, the packet-ship John
Rutledge, Capt. Kelly, of New York, left Liv-
erpool for New York, having on board one
| hundred and twenty passengers, and crew Of
officers and men numbering sixtcen-makine
in all I36-all of whom perished excepting
| one, Thomas w. Nye, of New Bedford. Do
! ring her passage she encountered severe wes-
/ ther. On the 18th of February, she passed
| several icebergs, and on the 10Th she entered
field of ice, from which she couh not re-
lease herself. At about 10 O'Clock on the
10th, the John Rutledge struck an iccburg,
and at about o'clock she went down There
were five boats on board in which one hun
dred and thirty four persons were to be saved
two having already pershed. Four boats
pushed off before the one in which Mr.. Sye
was. The last boat contained only l3 persons,
Of which four were women, and one iittts
girl. Mr.. Atkinson, the mate, put his wife in
TO this boat and while he and the carpenter
went to sound the pumps, heavy sea struck
the boat, which broke her from her moorings
and drifted her from the ship, which was rap
idly sinking, leaving the mate, carpenter and
from so to 35 passengers on board. The dis
tress and suffering of those in the boat is dcs-
cribed as most heart-rending. Cast upon the
open seas without q compass. among the foss
and mists of the banks of New Foundland,
surrounded by drift and berg ice, their pros
poets were gloomy indeed. Day after day
passed with springing hopes, which the drea-
ry nights turned to bitterness and despair
On the third day one man died-then woman
both were dropped into the sea. The fourth
day came and no ray Of hope, but the
angry sea- the same lcaden sky--no water, but
small quantity Of food, aud the cold so i'll
day their despair was Increased whom brig,
which hove in sight, disappeared again with
out having seen them. A burning thirst soon
fell upon all, and needless of young Nye's ap-
peals, they fell TO drinking salt water-wild
delirium ensued. They grew mad and madder
and besought each other to kill them then
they dreamed of sitting at sumptuous fcasts
and spoke Of the rare dainties which Knocked
their grasp; of the delicious beverages which
they in vain essayei to quaff.
At length worn out with the intensity CT
their physical and mental sufferings, they grew
more subdued, their baggard faces became
rigid: their wild eyes assumed CLASSY look,
and their shrunken forms seemed gradually to
subside-the next lurch of the boat tumbled
them offthe seats, dead Such were the sights
which young Nyc witnessed daily. AS they
died, he threw their bodies into the sea as
long as his strength lasted. On the sixth day
there were only himself; small woman wrap
ped up in two blankets, and the little girl alive
in the boat. Before sunset the child died, and
on the day following the woman breathsd her
last. He had strength enough to throw the
body of the child overheard but that of tho
woman, together with the bodies of three 9TH
ers, was so coied mp under the thwarts that
be was unable to extricate them. Feeling
strong sense of drowsiness creeping over him.
he fastened 4 red shirt and white shirt to an
par, and hoisting it TO attract any passing YES
,el, he coiled himself mp in the stern of the
boat and dozed away the hours, dreaming Of
being at home in New Bedford with his family
Fearing that be too might be delirious, he
ought against these influences, and kept him
elf awake by various means. On the 2elh of
ship hove in sight the lonely boy.
lie says that he siw her before those on board
discovered him, and he was sure from the first
hat they would pick him up. That vessel
'as the packet ship Germania, Capt. Wood,
rom Havre, bound 10 New York. When Capt.
ood deserted the solitary boat, he ordered
ne of his own quarter-boats to be lowered,
nd sent an officer to see what it contained.
Is they approached him poor Nye groaned
or Jesus Christ's sake, take me out of this
oat." They did take him out, with womanly
and with the boat and its fearful
bad in tow, rowed back TO the ship. The
oung sailor was quickly transferred to the
omfortable cabin of the Germania, and his
Ite companions, already far gone in decompo-
tion, were thrswn into the sea. The boat
as half full of water, and the bodies washing
hanf in 1 had cnrcred the seafa md sfdnG Eith