Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1857-09-21
The Loss of the Central America.

The details Of this frig htful calamity continue
to pour in from every quarter and it is gratifying
to know that the number of persons saved is
much larger than was at first supposed. The
Marine, The vessel that stood by the Central
America in her peril and in her last moments ar
rived at Norfolk on Saturday, and, instead of
having i6survivors on board, she has 100 namely:
fl men, b women, and 81 children
We find, from good authority, that the number
Of passengers on board the Central America when
she went down, did not exceed i62 She left
Havana with 562 passengers
We learn that the freight list, as reported at
Aspinwdl!, was 81 25J 900, and II is supposed that
there was some S25O, 60 additional in the hands
OF passengers, making total sum Of 81 ,5OO, 900,
which has been lost.
George T.. Ashby, Chief Engineer of the Cen
trail America, denies. in a card, the charges made
against him Of neglect Of his duty and desertion
Of the ship He says that by Captain Herndon,s
direction he went to the brig Marine to obtain
further assistance from that vessel, which the
Captain Of the brig was unable to give and that
he could not get back to the steamer
Mr.. Ashby says that Captain Herndon desired
him to give his particular attention to the trans
fer Of the ladies and children to the boats
Capt: ii. inquired of Mr.. Ashby if he was arm
ed He replied that he was, with knife Capt
III said he would endeavor to obtain pistols one
Tor himself and one for Mr.. A. This was for pro-
lection against any interference while insisting
on precedence to ladies and children Three
boats were got afioat--one put in charge of the
boatswain, and the other two each in charge of a
quartz rmaster. Capt. ii. ordered the engineer
not to suffer single male passenger to leave In
the boats until all the ladies' and children were
transferred, and he believes this order strict
ly carried out.
Captain Badger, Of Virginia, who is among the
saved, states that about five o'clock on Saturday
evening he had conversation with Capt. Hern-
don, who, after consultation, agreed with him
that the shi must 90 down; but il was still ad-
vlsable TO keep 1t up as long possible, and they
did not make known the result of their conversa-
tion, but urged all hands to renewed effort Cap
tain Herndon requested that the second officer
lMr. Frazier) and himself should remain with
him, and expressed his determination not to leave
the ship while there was a soul on board, but
would remain until she sunk from under him
His only regret was his family-and he died like
d brave man.
At 10 minutes of 8 O'Clock, Captain Herndon
TOOK position on the wheel houses with his sec
ond officer and fired rockets dotcn,card, the usual
signal, to the brig and schooner that we were
sinking rapidly. This was fearful moment
and must have been also to the ladies on board
the Marine, who understood the signal, all of
whom had husbands or friends on board
Captain Badger says:
. ] now procured board six feet long and six
inches wide, tearing it Off the front of berth,
ana took my position in front Of taffIail, hold
ing on to the after awning stauncheon. At that
time there were two or three hundred OIL the
quarter deck, breathlessly waiting the final sink
ing Two seas swept over the deck about this
time, the last sweeping nearly all the passen-
gers on the main deck into the sea- The ship
immediately after, at O'Clock on Saturday even
Ing, sank, going down at an angle Of As degrees,
stern foremost. The suction of the ship drew
the passengers under water for some distance,
ana threw them In a mass together. When thew
reached the surface the struggle for life was in
tense, with cries aud shrieks for help, especially
from those unable to swim. MANY unable to
swim chung to those who could, or laid hold of
the larger pieces Of the wreck, and were soon
swamped. In ten minutes not less probably than
three hundred had sunk to rise no more whilst
myself and others who had succeeded in holding
on to some means Of support, were scattered over
the dark and dreaIy ocean, floating of with the
lde There was Large number Of the passen-
gers had bags Of gold dust, and some doubtless
persisted In their efforts to save it, NAV also
here add that from nifty to sixty of the passengers
shut themselves up in their state rooms In des-
pair, and sank with the Ship
Among the saved was VIM Birch, well known
as popular member Of Kunkel's Ethiopian opera
troupe.
Mr.. Theodore Payne, merchant of San Fran.
cisco, says:
~ went from the steamer in boat to the brig
Marine, Immediately before she sunk. am in,
debted to Capt. Herndon for my life, as | was
anxious to remain, and only went Off at his
earnest request. ! was in free uent consultation
with him before went, and he asked ME what
thought Of affairs. said, Thank God, the
women and children are all OF, and we are
strong He replied 'Yes, thank God y and
added you take the next boat This did, but
before went he requested me to 60 into his
omce duu get us goiu Wdtcn ana chain, and, IL
saved, to carry them to his wife. Said he Tell
her, - but his utterance was choked by deep
emotion, and he said no more on that subject.
but changed II by saying he wished me to see the
President of the ship company, Marshal @. Rob-
en, and the agents. and communicate with them
In relation to the disaster. After saving this
much he walked away few steps and sat down
on bench, with his head in his hands appar-
entiy overcome He remained in that position a
few moments, and then arose and resumed giving
orders as the brig Marine returned .
'After she was filed and about leaving the
ship again, II was made known that three steer.
age female passengers Were still on board. i'm