The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1858-09-29
BURNING OF THE AUSTRIA

NARRATIVE OF THE OCCURRENCE-DE-
SGRdPTl0N SO Up M OF DE- THE FRIGHTFUL SCENES
ON B0ARD-THE GREAT LOSS OF LIFE
New York, Sept. 2S.-The agent of the Associ-
ated Press at Halifax has obtained from Mr.. Char
tres Brew, the only Englishman among the rescued
the following narrative of the burning of the steam
er Austria and Of the terrible scenes that came un
der his notice.
STATEMENT OF MR.. BREW.
took passage at SOUTHAMPTON on the 4th in the
steamship Austria, Capt Heydtmann. which left
Hamburg on the ID. We sailed at p. NJ. the even
ing being little misty we, in consequence anchor
ed between the Isle of Wight and the main land
sailed again at o'clock on the following morning
In weighing anchor an unfortunate accident occur
red, by which one of the crew lost his life: owing
to some mismanagement the anchor ran out, whiri-
ing the captain round with terrific force, hurting
the men in all directions; two were severely injured
and one thrown overheard; he supposed to
have been instantly killed. as he never to the
surface
From the time the ship was laid on her course we
experienced strong westerly winds. On the 10Th
the weather more favorable, and on the 18th Il
speed of eleven knots had been attained, and all
were in high hopes of reaching New York by the
18th. At little after o'clock, P. NJ, was on
the quarterback; / saw a dense volume of smoke
burst from the after entrance Of the steerage.-
Some women aft, excaiming ''thc ship is on
fire, what will become of u.s. The ship was in
stantly put at half speed, at which she continued
until the magazine exploded, from which infer
the engineers were instantly sutocated. | only
walked from where | was on the quarter deck to
the waist of the ship, when ! the flames break
ing through the lights amidshps. As the ship was
head to the wind the fire Travelled with fearful ra
piditv.
| then went to the man at the wheel, and told him
to put the vessel with her side to the wind. lie
hesitated-probably did not understand me- as he
was a native of Hamburg. | then got a German
gentleman to speak to him. At this time saw
some persons letting down the boat the port side
of the quarter deck. What became of the boat
don't know, but think she was crushed under the
screw. | then went to get boat over from the
sarboa"d side of the quarter deck, but the moment
we laid our hands on the ropes, there so MANY
people who crowded into it that we could not lift
it off the blocks. We therefore left it for few
minutes, until the people got out when we return
ed and launched it the side of the ship, when.
the people all rushing into it again, it descended
with great violence into the water and was instant
ly swamped; all the people being washed out ex-
cepting three, who held on to the sides We then
let down rope and pulled up person who proved
to be the steward Another, in the act of being
hauled up, strangled by the rope.
The fire now came on too iercey to ATTEMPT to
get up any more from the swamped boat. All the
First Cabin passengers were on the poop, with the
exception of Il few gentlemen who must have been
sm0thered in the smoking room. Many of the
Second Cabin passengers were also on the poop,
but number of them got shut into their cabin by
the fire; some of them pulled up through the
ventilator, but the greater number could not be
eXtricated. The last woman who drawn up
perceived that the ship had got her head to the wind
again, so thatthe flames the quarterback.
In consequence of the crowd could not get to the
wheel-house to ascertain the reason, but l was in
formed that the helmsman had deserted his post,
and that the vessel being left to herself headed to
the wind of her accord. At this time the
scene on the quarterback indescribable and
truly heart-rending. Passengers were rushing
rantically to and fro-husbands were seeking their
wives-wives in search of their Observation-Disclosures
looking after reatives-mothers lamenting the loss
of their children, some wholly paralyzed by fear,
others madly crying to be saved, but few perfect
" calm and collected
The flames pressed so closely upon them, that ma
ny jumped into the sea- relatives casped in each 9th
ers' arms leaped over and met watery grave; two
girls, supposed to be sisters jumped over and sunk
kissing each other. missionary and wife leaped
into the together, and the stewardess and assist
ant steward arm in arm followed. One Hungarian
gentleman with seven fine children, four of them
girls, made his wife jump in, then blessed his six
eldest children, made them jump in one after the
other, and followed them with an infant in his
arms. | about this time standing outside the
bulwarks holding on by the davts, leaning out to
avoid the flames, which leaping towards me-
saw swamped boat under me, spinning by a
rope still attached to the ship the were tied
in her thought if / could get to her, would be
enabled to save myself and some others.
let myself down by rope, passing over man
who was clinging to it, but who refused to come
with me. / took out penknife to cut the tackle;
the large blade broke, and then severed it with
the small blade. The ship passed ahead as the
screw approached: | found the boat drawn towards
it. tried to keep the boat off, but the screw caught
and capsiZed her over | dived away from the
ship, and came to the surface boat which
was keel upwards. got on her, and by pressing
on one side, with the assistance of a wave, she
righted, but was still swamped. The oars had been
knocked out by the screw. The only thing could
find in her to paddle with was some lathes nailed
together a sheathing for the sides. When
looked around the ship was quarter of mile