The Davenport daily gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1856-1869, 1857-09-25
THE GREAT WRECk.


AZ |. O'Clock went down stars /; was
there hardly an hnur when word was given
To- get all the huck.tS ready, Capt. Badger
giving the order. Al . O'clock all hand
commenced bailing. At this time ON. al
the 'IiginsS-that an the atarlaard si.e-
stopped. owing To the fire in it, furnace 90
ing out. Al . o'clock the fire ia the fur
nae" "n tie larbuard side went unt, and tina,
engine which had been working but slowly,
also stopped. The reason was that they
could not get coal. on account 81 the water
winch had rome in. After the fires went
ont the steamer went into the trough of the
sea. There were two lines III bucket. form |
ed from the lower well -l,olc, near the cabin,
Ia the deck about 50 men in each line. be-
side 81 men forward, who were bailing
from the wcll-hole on the stecragc side III
the steamer. We worked assiduously and
laborou-ly, and succeeded in preventing the
water from increasing upon as by the rapid
Use 81 the buckets. Until dark the water
IN the hold was not 80 deep but that we
could &c" the pig iron in the bottom, which
wa carried there for ballast. Near dark it
commenced ginning on MS considerably, aud
continued pgain until she sank. Thcpumi-
alt ON deck were entirely ont Of order. AID
would not draw the water. Men, however,
worked them all night. During Friday AZ
terioon they succeeded in getting up steam
again FOR a short time.
sept. l., Saturday morning, I worked
six hours, only resting once or twice, hut
attcrward We discovered that no water had
been drawn up by them, and that our labor
accordingly lost. III. di.charging pipe 1T
the puinlr j. on the side. below the deck
atnl out ~ sight hence their ignorance I'll
the fufility 81 their labors. first took
hold aud worked three hours. but finding
that We were not gaming on the water, we
bad them repaired. We then went Ia work
again. In about two az three hours one uf
those who repaired them came Ia ms and
SAID that they did not work Ia effect, n he
had discovered on examination that they
brought up no water. We then went To-
work t. haul u rope which was attached tn
barrels, which were passed up and down
taronrh the skylight. The mau who tried
To repair the pumps said they were all out
81 order. The ba,iers We're nj work also all
ID the proceeding night, and they worked
faithfully consisting I'll passengers, fore and
all. u" not think any one slept that night
except some icw who laid down fran rx-
iiau-tion. ] lid not sleep a moment from
Thursday night until ! got on Loard the
bark Ellen on Sunday morning, when ] i'm
fn,siiaiciy fell asleep, being completely worn
.ut and exhausted. About z o'cluck on
saturday "A sail hove ia sight. We fired n
sun aud placed o,ir flag at half mast. u
proved IL be- the bark Minia,, of Boston.
She earn. near and we told her omr condition,
and w scnt the ladies and children ~ three
mall beats 60 the bark.
The engineer, George T.. Ashl,, assumed
the sole charge Of the last ls,at and ~ seine
tIlr.saeh"d, cndeayorlng to get IN, le drew
his knife aud threatened to stab amy other
.,ii,' who should attempt IL get into the
Loaf, there being four ar live already in her
hut waiting hIs opportunity at a convenient
moment, he jumped into the boat and push
IL oil ia "A cowarlly manner. Among the
r~f.ss1itsl passengers there D, but un. opinion.
aini that -. that the l.~s uf the steamer i.
- u" attributed H. hun ia letting the lire
20 out. The ports 81 The Gh,ral .fAeffra |
.'auld mt bs 81" al very tightly ia the low
- cabin, AMI the vessel leaked very la.iiv
II the shaft, -, much that the engineer had
previously asked inr blankets To- stop the
Onr ii our snail boats was washed
way on Friday, and two werc stove IN
launching. About DARK q schooner hove in
light, and passed ns on the starbosrd side f;
he was told our position bs the captain
Her captain replied that he would lie by
hut on the contrary, they passed on, and
saw nothing II them. She passed 80
thai We could not ascertain her
name. Sl,. Wa rather small. and clipper
built, hut of sufficient ~lae Ia have contain
81 NJ all. At that time the storm not very
severe. W. then lad bat me sail an our
.naiDma-t. The brig Hpias wa, fast iisap-
gearing. She wonid have probably taken
IN board mare passengers, but she wa lii
aided IN her sailing gear. So she could not
her motions, and had To run before
wind. We non perceived NO hope ii
aiiosat much longer. aud nearly all
prepared ior the worst by procuring the
and floating materials. Three
rockets were discharged and just after a
ieavy sea broke nearly over her, carr, my
TWO or three hundred souls with u A. il re-
'eied into the ocean, III which number !
one. The lile-pTcs.rycis were mostly
old. and Mere therefore not of much SER
ice, a. a slight dent from coming in contact
with n solid substance would destroy them.
But lev cork preser,crs were N beard.
had, previously a. our 1cii,g struck hy
he sea. gone on the hurricane deck, and
taAing the square cover IT, a hatciiNay tied
IulT, assinui II and carried il a. the star
s,arj wheel ltnu~.', to hc ready Tor u,e when
'ifs sunk. ! hal larsll, got there Wien
la, wave carried mc into the occan had
tlsn a cork life pre-.rv.r IN, and held tight
: Ia one of tie rope, | had fastened to the
iatclIwat. went down and renamed un-
ii ] was ncarl, >tiangle.i. The sea was n
ligt, then n al An, time, hut il was less
s,ndy. !,
hen ! came aud had freed my eye, from
- ~ e. ln,h around, the steamer had
disappeared. The SEA was literally covered
With human beings aud Heating o~lyeets. A
Iearfnl cry almost "A yell -shricked IN my
,ars which seemed la ARISE iran all Of them
~ once. J succeeded Ia getting ~ a piece
~ The hurricane deck, wher. | Wa soon
loined by a companion MIR. John u.
Dement,, ~ s,r,gun Iity.
This was aioui \ o'eiuek IN the evening
" 9 remained there all night, tossing about.
The clouds had Dispersed and II mas star
light. TN the morning Of SUNDAY W. saw a
sail, and succeeded in attracting attention.
II : O'clock W. aerc picked up hy III. Ner-
Asgian bark Filler, We having been III IL.
twelve hours.
tmE Ni1nI On Tnr wA,ns.
Not the least interesting ieature in the
81 this terrible catastrophe, b the
u III" night passed ,n I'll, boeuin
th. wave, 10y tllosc Who werr ultimatei,
rescued by the bark EH.u. Mr.. t.,orrc.
intelligent passenger, LA. given a lno-i
thrilling account IL IA. fearful scene. He
one II the hundreds Who had s,ptl,cl
themselves with lille pf.scrsers, ,a.ces II
flank, Ac, and preferred 70 wait the ships
down Ia lcaping overheard in antieipa.
hon II her fate. When she Went down.
tern foremost, after giving three lurcles
hat made every timber %qnivcr, and which
% every quakinr heart - the thr.s-
hat instantly preceded her dissolution. be-
dragged, with the rest on lpard of L.~f,
'"ne twenty ar twenty live feet beneath the
,ifface. lie Heard 10 shrek. fthing hut
s%ectfling rush and hiss ~ waters that
'lo~ad above her a she hurried, almost with
he speed a All arrow, a. her uean bed.
Wight had closed IN t~.sore the vessel xank
md he VIA sucked la by the wLirlpol
aussd by her swift descent, IL d depth that
Is seeming WAS unfatholnablc, and into a /,
arknOss Nv had never dreamed "A. tom .
AIRED with Il, the blacklist night, without .
OF star, was A. tho bread ,soDlay.
IL wss rather stunned than stitied, and Ma >
ensafions ON comminv In the surfne. u.ere y