Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1857-09-21

They were placed on the boat by Mr.. Ashby and
the boat showed Oh, but before II could clear the
stern steerage passenger sprang from the deck
Of the ship into the boat, distance of twenty five
feet The chief engineer then hastily lowered
himself into the boat to prevent the passenger.
from crowding In and swapping it, He had
scarcely got into the boat before another steerage
passenger jumped from the deck and fell upon
the engineers back. He seized him by the throat
and drew dirk knife, not, In my opinion for the
intention OF using II upon the passenger, but for
the purpose Of deterrng others who crowded the
de cks from following his example. I was then
lowered into the boat, and bid the captain s'good
bye" The boat was now pushed of again, when
a third steerage passenger swung off the deck
and tumbled into the boat at the same time DROP
ping from his pocket into the ocean a package
containing 80 900 in gold dust. Chas. McCarty,
chief engineer Of the steamer {" Golden Gate, -
but a passenger on the Central America, also got
aboard the boat We were then rowed in safety
to the brig Mr.. Ashby, agreeably to the request
of Captain Herndon, asked Captain Burt, OF the
brig, for the briggs boat and crew The reply
was that he had no boat to spare, and that II
would not live five minutes in such 4 sea.
" The passengers rescued by the brig Marine,
Of Boston, one hundred in number, speak in the
highest terms Of Captain Burt and his crew, who
made every sacrifice i'm their power for their
| comfort and relief. Her disabled condition rem
dered ii impossible for her to keep closer to the
| steamer, which, from its great weight and being
filled with water, foated slowly with the wind
| moment widening the distance between them.
| "The Marine was heavily laden with sugar
and molasses, and the cabin being small, was
| unable TO accommodate more than half dozen
| with the small children. The balance, ninety i'm
number, were compelled to remain on deck,
| night and day, for five days and nights, exposed
to the storm and the heavy spray which was n
stantly dashinS over them. In addition to this
provisions were short, with the exception of
| sugar and molasses. on which they mainly SUBJ
sisted. When the fact that Of the one hundred
on board, b were females and 81 children is
| taken into consideration, some idea of their suf-
| ferlngs may be conceived. Most OF the ladies
| also had husbands and friends on board the snk K
ing steamer, and were in great distress for their
| safety, which added to the poignancy OF their
| misfortunes. They had seen from the deck of
| the brig the downward rockets, indicating her
| immediate sinking, and when the rockets ceased
| they knew that the steamer was engulphed In
| the tumultuous ocean. and all on board at the
| mercy Of the waves. The uncertainty as to the
| fate OF those on board was settled, however on
reaching Cape Henry, when the pilot brought on
| board list of those saved by the bark Ellen.
bringing to five the glad tidings of the safety OF
| their husbands and friends, but to some fifteen
othe;s confirming the sad forebodings Of bereave-
ment and utter restitution -"
| Mr.. b. T. Brown, passenger from Aspinwall,
states that after working six hours at the pumps,
| on board the Central America, they discovered
| that no water had been drawn up by them they
being out Of order The dischargng pipe of the
| pumps was the side below the deck. and Out
Of Significance their ignorance of the futiIity of
their labors He saws: u
The ports Of the Central America could not
ne closed tightly In the lower cabin, and the
| sci leaked very badly at the shaft-so much that
the engineer had previously asked for blankets to
stop the leak. One of our small boats was washed
away on Friday, and two were stove in launching
About dusk schooner hove in sight, and
passed us on the starboard side; she was told our
condition by the captain. Her captain replied
that he would lie by;' but, on the contrary, they
passed on, and we saw nothing more Of them.
n2SSpd Sn nieG Luz hat,
tain her name. She was rather small and clip
per built, but of sufficient size to have contained
us all. At that time the storm was not very Sc
we're. We then had but one sail on our majninast
The brig Marine was fast disappearing She
would probably have taken on board more pas
sengers, but she was disabled in her sailing gear
so she could not control her motions, and had to
run before the wind. We now perceived no hope
OF keeping aioat much longer and nearly all pre-
pared for the worst by procuring life preservers
and foating materials. Three rockets were dis
charged, and ust after, heavy SEA broke nearly
over her, carrying two or three hundred souls
with 1t as II receded into the ocean, of which num-
Der was one The life preservers were mostly
all tin, and were therefore not Of much service,
as sllSht dent from coming in contact with a
solid substance would destroy them But few
cork preserveTS were on board.
81 had, previously 10 our being struck by the
| sea, gone on the hurricane deck, and taking the
square cover to a tchway, tied ropes around IT,
aid carried it to the sarboard wheelhouse to be
ready for use when she sunk. l had hardly got
4 tneIc when tnlS wave carried me into the ocean.
| had also cork life preserver on, and held on
tightly to one of the ropes had fastened to the
hatchway. ] went down, and remained until
nearly straDgled. The sea was as high then as at
any time, but II was less windy. When came
| mp, and had freed my eyes from water so as to
| look around the steamer had disappeared The
sea was literally covered with human beings and
floating objects. A fearful cry-almost a veil
shrieked in my ears, which seemed to arise from
all OF them at once. / succeeded I'm getting on a
piece Of the hurricane deck, where was soon
Joined by companion-Mr. John ID. Dement,, of
| Oregon City,
Temittances TO those mostly in middling circum-
stances were in the possession of the passengers
OF the Cent al America and with the loss of that
vessel all trace of Identification is likewise Lost
This will bring still greater desolation and cause
unheard OF affection to those who were expecting
remittances.
The Central America was very deep in the
hold and very broad in the beam-built to carry
crowd OF passengers; and the great surface
she would present to the sea, broadside on nm
doubtedly neutralZed the efforts Of her officers to
keep her afioat. Nautical history has accounts of
| several remarkable hurricanes in which the
| power OF the wind is eremplfed in a marveo
manner. One Of these hurricanes occurred in
| 1850, in the West Indies, when twenty Thousand
| lives were lost, and rocks were taken from out
| OF the sea In seven fathoms OF water and cast
| upon shore. Since ISL there have been eleven
hurricanes OF this character, but they have gen.
orally extended as far northward as the coast of
Maine.
1t would appear that this gale commenced at
the eastward, near Nassau, and did not extend
north OF the chesapeake Capes, nor south of
| Charleston. The elliptic or parabolic course of
| the winds Is not singularity; the whirlwind
however, appears to have been unexampled in
violence and In the length of time which it con
tinued. Nautical men are frequently unable to
struggle with such hurricanes. They come almost
without warning an act in an entirely different
way from ordinary gales.
INCIDENTS.
AS Theodore Payne, Esq, Of San Francisco,
was leaving the steamer to 90 to the bark Marine
Captain Herndon gave him his watch, with the
request that he would deliver 1t to Mrs Herndon
should he fortunately be saved.
IL is said that owing to the violence Of the storm
there was considerable suffering among the pas
sengers on the steamer from sea sickness but as
soon as the danger became imminent all svmp.
toms OF sea sickness disappeared. This was pro-
duced, probably, by being overpowered by the
position.
al p,l.