Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1857-09-26

on the shoulder from what he supposed to be |
40 iron bar. In the lightning like thought Of
That fearful moment he gave up hope, but |
finally the downward tendency was arrested, |
and he shot up to the surface amidst con-
fused mass Of struggling human beings, mixed
with floating boards, parts Of the hurricane |
deck, loose boards, and other light portions |
OF the ship, which had broken away from the |
hull. tt Is
Mr.. Birch, on his return to the surface,
had inyoluntarily grasped some boards, and
sustained by these, teached the hatchway, on
which there were already three young men.
He secured himself to this with the piece of
rope, and, with his companions, watched for
any sail that might bring relief. When he
first rose to the surface, as far as could be
seen, and everywhere around, were heard the
shouts and cries of the hundreds who were
struggling in the water for lfe Gradually
these subsidized Many, who had secured
nothing to aoat npon, soon sunk forever the
others were separated by the force Of the
waves, and were driven of in groups. All, it
may be presumed, were earnestly watching
for relief, but during many anxious hours,
none appeared. Shouts continued TO re-echo
| from the different parties, who hoped thus TO
attract attention, and these finally brought to
their aid the Norwegian bark Ellen, Capt.
johnson, who, hearing cries Of distress,
rescued those nearest to him, and, learning
from them that others we're still in the water,
continued his search until nine o'clock the
next morning. at which time forty-nine per-
sons had been rescued. He continued cruising
around the vicinity until afternoon on Sunday,
when, no more being seen, the Ellen bore
away for Norfolk, the nearest point The
conduct of Capt. johnson merits the highest
praise. His action in coming to the aid of
the sufferers was prompt and the search con-
tinued as lone as hope remained that nno-
ther life could be saved. His kindness to
the saved was afterwards unceasng.
MR.. MAYLovE's STATEMENT.
Oliver p. Manlove gives the following
statement: Il had provided myself with d
life preserver and piece of a spar, and de-
termined to 60 down with the vessel, with the
great mass of the passengers, all Of whom
stood about bracing themselves upward Sc
curing those articles most available to buoy
them up. The vessel Gually went down stern
foremost i was standing near the smoke
stack at the time, and We were all dragged
under the water with the sinking ship. The
, general supposition is, that We were all drawn
under the surface at least twenty feet, and
when We rose we were nearly stinrd The
rapidity with which ] ,ruS drdpn dozen tore
, the spar from my hands, and the life preSe,re,
from my body; and when | reached the sur.
> face my clothing was almost all stripped of
! Of me. ] however met friend who bad two
+ life preservers, who gave me one; and we
= also seized on pieces ii the wreck, which
/ helped to sustain u.s.
About four hundred of the passengers were
!, struggling about, most Of them hGring los
! their life preserrerS, and others seizing OF
. pieces of the wreck which came up with US
4 The captain had cut away the upper works o
! the vessel so that when the hull sunk they
u would float off; but they were dragged dowr
9 and came up in fragments. Many person!
. were killed, stunned and drowned by being
y struck with pieces Of the wreck, whilst tn,
y y pieces were to others the ultimate means o
= safety. An occasional flash Of ligbtnin!
= showed to each other q sea Of strugglin,
o forms. Each strove 10 encourage his fren'
+, with hopes which he scarce felt himself A
first We werc all together in mass, but sse
q the waves separated us, and at each success
n i've flash Of lightning, we discovered that W
+ were being scattered over wide area an
y soon found ourselves apparently alone on tn
d, bourdless ocean. Abont ten o'clock he wa
n picked up by the boat Ellen, and had the sat
;, isfaction of finding others or board her.
a From the New York Journal OF Corncrccl
r. STEAMSHIP DIsAsTERs.-The appalling los
). of life on the Central America has no parable
o in the annals Of American steamship uavga
. tion. The nearest approach is the dsaste
Y which befel tho steamship Arctic, on the 2It
Of September, 1854, by which something lik
s three hundred and fifty lives were lost. Tn
n steamship San Francisco, belonging to tn
b Pacific Mail Steamship Company, whic
IS foundered in the Atlantic on the 25th G
i. December, 1853, was lost under circumstance
IF similar in many respects to the disaster whic
. thnuUh lp N n n III
Il sacrificed was much less, not varying ia
:. from two hundred, including $50 Unite
d States troops.
e Taking a retrospect, with view to recoun
n the various catastrophes which have befllle
;. ocean steamships owned in or trading wit
. the United States, we find that the following
have been entirely lest: