Daily Iowa State Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1856-1859, 1857-10-06
DAVENPORT. ...OCTOBEH q
THE GREAT WRECK.
Sueer,nos Of tie Rescued on Board
tie Brig Marine.

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Mr.. Marvin and Mrs. kittridge, two
of the lady passengers Of the steamer
Central America, give the following
account Of the five days spent by them
on board the brig Marine:
BRIG MAnISE-socraL LIFE UPON HER.
When we got to the Marine the
water was washing and dashing over
her guards, ard We we're handed right
into the water. Thirty women and
twenty six children were slowed into
the little cabin by setting them down
Oh the floor as closely as they could
sit. The only seats in the cabin were
two or three trunks and as mauy stools.
There were only seven berths in the
brig. Shortly after getting on board,
tea was passed round among us. We
had not eaten anything since Friday
morning; SO it was the best tea ]
ever tasted. There were only five
cups for us all to drink out Of. Some
hard crackers were also passed round
The cabin was about eight feet
square, the captain and mates rooms
together, making up nearly as much
more room, were given us. The cap
tain and crew appropriated all their
spare clothing to our use. The berths
were mostly occupied by children
Mrs. A. Ellis, of Waterford, Washing
ton county, Ohio, was very sick, and
had four children under her charge
We managed TO get them all into one
berth, and ever afterwards that berth
was known as the "bird's nest The
rest Of MS sat around on the floor on
anything We could find, or upon moth.
my. sat down right by the cabin
door, through which the water was
rushing IN all night. set all night
NJ to my waist III water The storm
was very high, the see broke over us
and the ship tossed to and fro like
feather in gale. shall never forget
that night; had to hold on to the
door with all my strength when the
vessel lurchcd. Thus sa, all night,
everything on or about me being per
iectly wet. Mrs. Marvin sat in a cup
board, with a pair Of gcntlcncn's white
pants on and n gentleman's coat on,
looking Just like man.
Mrs. Marvin--O, don't put that in.
Mrs. kittridgc-All the ladies who
got on board at Inst put on gentle
mems cloths.
Mrs. Marvin put on mcn'a clothes
to help them work, because | thought
if ! had them on they would let me
work and think was boy.
Mrs. Kittridgc-Mrs. Jlowley had
on n pair of ccnteman's white drawers
aud socks, and blanket having hole
cut in it, through which she put her
head, wearing 1t a Ia -Veeicona, that
constituted her dress for three days
Mis-. Hadgcr got tue captains under
shirt, his boots and socks; this, with
large blanket wound round her, con
stltutcd her drc:s, she wore the Cap
talns undcrshiri till she got into Balti.
more. Miss Alice Lockwood. Mrs.
Birch, Mrs. Thomas and others, wore
mems clothes. AS we had no bonncts,
our heads were covered with anything
old hats with the rims of, pieces Of
sails, Sc.
Mrs. Marvin tore oil llo,mce OF
my dress and made bonnet for Mrs.
Thaycr,
Mrs. kittridge-Mrs. Eastou wore
the Captains old hat all the way
Mrs Travis entered Norfolk in her
stocking feet; she could not get her
shoes on, or haG lost them. | never
had my shoes OF Tor week. lay
with them on all the time.
About . o'clock on Saturday night,
a man came ON board the Marine and
said "thc steamer has sunk; SAW it 20
down, and every soul on board has
cone to Davy Jones' locker Such
shrek as rose from our midst hope
never to hear again. Shortly after,
Mrs. Badger sprang forward to the
cabin door and said, 81 hear my hus.
bands voice. She stood there look
ing out some time. At length we sue.
cccdcd in recovering her from the sort
of hysterick fit into which she had
fallen.
The air in the cabin was very sti-
fling. The vessel was filed with mo-
lasscs and sugar The hogsheads of
molasscs had burst, run loose in the
hold, and made an excessively noxious
smell. The pumps brought up more
molasses than water. did not sleep
any on Saturday night. did not
sleep any for a whole week. Nv eyes
became as it were set, and could not
close them. On Sunday morning, MIR.
Theodore Payne came down stairs, and
said we ladies must all go on deck, the
smell was SO bad below. We had be-
come accustomed to the air and did
not want 10 80 up, but did SO. Dur
ing the day the rigging Of the ship
was filed full Of our wet clothes, to
dry them. Sunday morning we break
tasted ON hard crackers, and the same
good tea in the same five cups. After
wards, our fare was changed to cruel.
At fist we drank our soup and Cruel
out of soup plates, but at length we got
quite aristocratic and eat them out of
wooden spoons. Mr.. Jones made four
wooden spoons-one for Mrs. Marvin,
one for Mrs. Easton, one for Mrs. Nc
Neil, and ono for myself. Sometimes
We passed these spoons around; We
would take them right out of our
mouths and pass them to the appli-
cants, who would immediately use
them with gusto. The last dsy we
were out the captain Of the Marine
came to me and borrowed mine. At
night we used the life prcservers for