The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1857-09-23
DAILY DISPATCH
WEDNESDAY MORNING. SEPTEMBER "a. 1857
II,
further Accounts Of the Loss Of the
Central America.
HEROIC CONDUCT OF THE LADIES.
Bags of Gold Divided In the Cabin

SOhtFai america.
HEROIC CONDUCT OF THE LADIES,
Bags of Gold Divided in the Cabin
The passengers by the Empire Citv who
were rescued from the Central America. arrived !,
Ne" York on Sunday, and the papers Of that citv
contain 'some interesting Statements made by
'hem. The accounts given by the ladies aro
eraphic and OF absorbing interest. The first il
the 10
STATEMENT OF MRS wx mCyEII1
no" THE LADIES RECEIVED TUE NEWS OF THEIR n .yerp
4. was hrst known by us women that tbe Con,
a' america mad sprung u leak, on Friday Son
tehper II, at p. NJ. We were all in he'd saa.
ca,,Sa "Tu as nad not been up for three days be-
"'c VI our sea-sickDess, caused hy the bcayv 60,
III our fright we got up and entirely forco, -
10 sckhess- The gentlemen got pals and told n
S were going TO put Goals on the fire. hnt IL W.
Wn 60, was 10 Dale out the water from The hold
y, ~ soon learned something about our rnaI aa,',
i'e sea was feaTfully high and Tho shi, ~ 80;
II" IN great Violence by the temnest h,t M,
""'S'thdlng that the women showed grcat .o,'s
~, of :, , cotaposHre-not tear was shed L,-
s u tiehi-there was the caImness of tb,, -,
ahphg them. The men told ms tn I - ~ - ',' I
tn"t ~ II would soon be all right; indeed t,h'',I,
no, I, 81 ourselves in imminent peril we did
TIM, thn' 'ne inil extent Of it. The men did All
u I'M they could to keep that knowIad,o e. ,',' an az
We remained quietly in the Cabin. y,a a.,ii "a'
eih on one side Of the boat becsnse - ~
""I.; S we had h go into the gentiemen's cni"s
"N' '''ef' we remained all the afternoon,
THE STORM
We heard the water rolIino ona a..
'', " 'luGs "I the ship, thinking it was M, a. ~.
'iue When IN reality it was in tho caI;r ~ "ut
10" US. In that condition we remained OH So, y.
t'e se" running very high, and occasionally breaI
~ orti ., US tne wind blowing perfect hurricane
the ahIf rolling aud beating ahont .ya,,tti' ~
making most fearful noise the rgginy All @
cfAchlhS ana groaning. the dishes iaIong So
'uie- &c smashing and crashing tooatLr III 80 ~
~ ""Iui h'ShC' but the women still endured !,
without tears or means oa ii
III" N17'L' Or Itls bhLiNH-Tow THE PASSENGERS AMI
CREW WORKED.
At first they had gained on the water NV nur,r,
ing nut on the Inorningof Saturday Sent Is tho,
found the water had gained on them considarohI, -
Lhey theh commenced 70 bail ont with barrels
lhey told us they were gaining on the wafer ar.ir
put on the contrary, the wafer was still gainiui
on them, though We did not know it, The men
especially the first cabin passengers had work.
hard all night long; their strength was fast f,l
lns. Sometimes they had TO give mp, and lay dowI
Nat on the deck for moment. with half recoycro,
breath again to rise to battle for lif, and deatl
against the encruaChiug waters Many of the mel
had been previously quite sea sick. and had no
eaten anything for three days, but the peril recall
Ell their strength and aviiity and thcv or at leas
many oi them. did all that human power could d
I" save the ship. The storm continued thus al
day saturday, and the men thus worked all tia
day; the women being still calm az death and t,
death resigned and many others had made u
our minds that there no hope of being saved
Ne expected 20 die We were ready for death: y,
were prepared for it; were reconciled to IT, /
was iound on Saturday, that the water had bcel
coming in through the port holes for some time an
Efforts were made to stop it.
shL. "A SAIL -REYULSI0S OF FEELING AND IN
TENSE EXCITEMENT.
shortly tbe
SAIL was IN sight ran through the steamship an
thIe eW us all into the greatest excitement. Such
sudden hope, where nothing but death had staret
US IN the face, at once overcome our self control
there was shrieklng, crying, weeping; agonies O
joy, where late nothing bnt agonies of death
lhe severe calmness that had sat on each cheek
making it pale rs lead but stern as steel was dis
placed by the flush of excitement, profuse tears
aud the embrace Of friends, mothers and children
husbands and wives. The excitement pervadet
the whole ship, but when its first heat had uas
away, grave doubts and fears again arose Some
the women could hot believe that the intelligeIc,
was true 1t ls too good said they ito b,
true; and when the sail could be seen distinct,
| II Was not known whether the craft would hol,
| twelve or lIVe hundred. The sea was so nigh thai
| 1t was not certain whether the barlne Marine o
Boston TOR such she proved to be- could lie board
| ed or not
| The Central America hoisted the fag of distress
the bark Marine answered it and sailed towards us
passing fCe steamer about a mile distant. The Ma
me was also badly damaged by the Storm but Iii,
! not leak more than what the pumps would reIiey,
| her from. cur men had not eaten any thing since
| FRIDAY morning, because nothing could he cooked:
! My husband worked all the time he would not si
down to eat aul said he did not feel hungry. but
! could work forty-cight hours longer if it was ne
! tessdry; but as soon : the brig Marine hove i!
| sight he was willing enough t. eat lie came I,
me ana Ciapped his hands 10 encourage me- -ayinl
| there was vessel very near and we would all b,
taved; he wanted ME to take some money with me
| AS we might be put IN separate boats.
BAGS or GOLD OPENED FoR cox40N USE
| Many Of the ladies' hal a great deal of none,
that they dld not give to the purscr of The steamer
two ot these went into their state-ruom4 and tool
"ut bags of gosd-S2O gold pieces. Sil.nGU In all
aud threw them down in the cabin. 80 that tn,
! persons WHO wanted money could take what the,
| pleased. The two ladies had inst returned from
| California. and said weeping that :. That none,
| WAS all they had made there, aml they were re
! turning home to ENJOY it." None of the ladie,
| could take more than two S2p gold pieces witt
| them. We had to strip of all our clothes an,
skirts except our outside dress, in order to kec,
| our clothes from sinkiHgus. We tthc woncnl the ;
commenced putting on life Ireservers; tie men .tiI
Femd'Hed "orh79, saying htey r0oH'd raB,oiH tc1re
IN dg9iher shin d,rtrcd as tie Marine c,,td mot tiL,
| Hicm all an jG3r6.
CONDUCT OF TEE CHIEF ENGINEER AND CREW.
| The captain told several men to help aid h.
! would try to make Il raft TO some of them on
| believe they made one, but don't know. The
captain, Mr.. Herndon, seemed to feel very bad in
deed. lie said he would not save himself was not
going to try to. bat would go down with the shin
Nevertheless, he did ali that lay in his power !,
save others. lie very kind. generous gen
tiemanly man. and if he had any fault it was that
| he was not severe enough to his hands They did
not do their duty to him too well. The chief engi
Hccr. Ashhy, deserted him in Il most cuwariIy man
ner dill his boy.
SKIPPING or TIE LADIES.
Ahont o'clock the captains boy came down r
the can and said, The captain says all the lades
must 90 on deck" We all went on deck The wa
ter dashed over us We were wet through aimos,
III aH instant.
never would have gone on deck but remained
with my husband unless he had assured ME that
he would go with me to the Marine. / believed
| ihat he was going with me till was in the bout
or never would have left him | saved %l1 .0G0 in
money, chiefly in drafts: All nv diamonds and
J~We.ry: but il had not thought my husband was
going with E1c would not be here now. He said
after got in the boat shat he rad secured my
safety and he could easily look out fo; himself
one Of the boats had hean dashed in and another
had been lost; three four let down to take
us to The Marine. We were let down int the boats
iy Kind OF rope chair; Moose passed rOuud
Uur feet and dress; there was nothing to support
onr backs. hnt we seized rope which came down
in front, with our ladts. The boat could only ap-
proach the stea ner between the waves we had
70 remain suspended sometimes while the wave
passed. These waves could also drive under the
side of the steamer: the cook was hurt CunSidera-
bly, that way she died on the home passage but
i guess it was from fear, no bruises. We were
placed iii the bottom of the boats and rowed TO the
Marine. the spray siashing us all the time;
they were excellent boats and excellent oarsmen.
or we wonid never have reached the brig. Thirty
women, twenty-six children and number of men
were thus conveyed ON board the Marine. The first
passengers got on board Of her at halfpast O'Clock
i. VI. Saturday, September IL: the last at o'clock
in the evening. The last person who got on board
from the Central Ameri1a fireman; he said
the steamer was gone down and every soul on
board Of her" This statement was false. hut il
terrified US swfully we shrieked and hoIloaed AT
the loss of our husbands most of whom. alas. we
will see more. Among that number is my hus
band
on BOARD THE MARINE.
The captain of the Marine was very kind to US
lie had no accommodations except for his seven