The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1859-09-29
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THURSDAY MORNING. .. SEPT. 30 1889
0hrilIing Account Scenes on
Board-.Greaf Strength of the Ship, &c.

IVhrilling Account--.T Terrible Scenes on
| Board-.Greaf Strength of the Ship, &c.
| The Great Eastern Is now announced to
| sail for this country on the Goth of October,
her voyage being delayed till then for the re-
| pair OF damages ustained by the recent
| plosion on board. A letter in the London
| News, written by passenger on the monster
| ship, gives thrilling description of the acci-
dent. 1t says;
About a dozen gentlemen remained in the
| dining groom conyersing with one of the di-
| rectors n health had been proposed. and each
| glass was held aIoft to do honor to the toast,
| when suddenly an indescribable report burst
| npon their ears, and showers of broken glass
| and fragments of wood and iron came crash
| ing the skylight. There was first pause,
| then mutual caution against panic, and
| finally asinultaneous a rush TO the staircase.
| The whole atmosphere at this place was filled
| with steam, through which we all assembled,
| half snflocated, to the deck. The ship was
| stIll pressing onward, like horse that ntd
| lost its rider. and at either end all was still
and deserted, while in the centre all was
| smoke, fire, vapor, and confusion. The great
| funnel, eight tons weight, had been shot up as
if from n mortar. many feet in the air, and
| had returned broken in two pieces on the deck,
| whose immense strength had been sutflcient
to arrest its further downward progress
| The whole centre of the ship seemed to be
! only one vast chasIn, and from it was belch-
| ing up steam, dust and something that looked
| ominously like incipient conf!agration.
| Captain Harrison had now a noble oppor-
| tunity OF showing his qualifications AS COM
| mander. and nobiy he improved it. He had
been standing on the bridge overhead looking
| into the bnnacle and the moment he heard
| the report, and whilst the destructive shower
was still falling fast he jumped upon the
deck and ordered an immediate descent to the
| ladies' saloon, in the firm conviction that they
We're all there AS on the previous evening"
| But many of the men We're panic stricken,
| and had already shrunk away from the eX-
! pIosion. A foolish passenger had raised the
| cry of "the boats,'' and, assisted by some of
| the sailors, was madly attempting to let them
| down. In one moment all would have been
| lost, for the rush to the boats would have been
| universal, and hnpdreds would have been
| drowned, whilst the noble ship would have
| been left 10 certain destruction.
| But the voice of the captain was heard like
| n trumpet, calling out "Men to your duty, otfi-
| GERS to your posts; give me rope, and let six
| men follow me- The effect of this short ad
| dress was electric. In an instant he had slid
| down the rope into the saloon, followed by
| his brave boatswain Hawkins, and six volun-
| teers Were not long wanted for the fOrlorn
| hope. One after another he dashed open the
| gilded panels, but the splendid apartments
| had, strange to say, only two inhabitants, his
| own little daughter Edith, and her pet dog
| Ii was the reward of his gallantry that his
| own child should be thus the one to be so
providentally saved. But even then he did
not for q moment lose his self-command.
| Snatchingu up the child, and with one glance
seeing she was unharmed, he exclaimed
''Pass her along to the deck; there are more
rooms to be searched" In this way did he
| move about rapidly, bnt coolly, and did not
again return to the deck until he had satisfied
| himself that not single woman was in the
| burning, Steaming suffOcating chamber. To
| return to the deck and resume the command
| was with the captain the work of n moment,
| but that moment had been sufficient to test
| the metal and self-possession of The two
men who were as brave and reliable as him.
| self.
| Mr.. Atkinson, the pilot q little, unpretend-
| ing man, stood at his post on the bridge, and,
| undiSmayed by the loud explosion, the de-
| scending fragments, the suiiocating chasm, or
| the yaWning gulf Immediately beneath him.
| and in the firm conviction that all the boilers
| would go in succession, onflnued to direct the
| movements of the ship as calmly us if he were
| only turning her ixto a harbor. Some fright
| ened fool shouted, "Atkinson, come down and
save yourself;'' but the gallant veteran replied
| with grave nonchalance, I'm no engineer,
| I'm pilot. I've charge of the ship, and I'll
| stick to her. The officer, Mr.. SeweIl who
| held the wheel under Mr.. Atkinson's direc-
| tions, was equally self possessed. l saw his
| tall figure through the smoke, working and
turning the wheel with the regularity OF
clock work, and thought of the Roman senti-
| mel whose skeleton was found upright at his
post in the excavations al Pompeii.
To the panic caused by the explosion was
also added another panic, by the cry of "A
man overheard and this was the first inkling
we got of the dreadful work that was going on
below. A poor fellow, one of the 1iremen,
probably one of the first who had become en-
| Ieloped in the scalding vapor of the explosion
| rushed to an open port-hoie in his agony, and
| was seen by his comrades TO jump madly into
| the water. "a man overboarde' y "a man over
! board - was repeated by a hundred voices and
| every one rushed to the stern. The men at the
wheel hesitated for a moment, as if about to
| rush like the rest to the rescue, but Il third
| brave fiicer, l think his name is Kit or Kett
| was here in command. and his shout of Don't
| stir from the Wheel soon restored them 10
| their selt-possession.
| No man could be seen-life buoys plauks,
! handspikes, We're madly thrown over until at
| last, nothing being visible in the water "A cry
| of "talSe alarm sent every one back to his
| post. But, unhappily, it was no false alarm.
| The poor fellow, maddened with agony, and
| having been literally fiayed alive, had rushed
into the water, and had no doubt been ground
to pieces in one or two revolutions of the enor-
| nous paddle wheel. The captain was stand
| ing over the chasm, his face black, his hand
| bleeding, and his eyes almost blinded with the
| smoke, but already he had fifty men busy with
| the hose, pouring tons of water into the hold;
and now found out that the two elements
had combined for our destruction; for the ex-
| piosion, whilst IL sent perfect torrents OF
| steam out on every side had also thrown open
| the doors of the furnaces, and from them long
| tongues of flame were beginning to pierce
| their way through the heap of fragments on
| the ships floor There We're powerful fire en-
| gines ready, and, of course abundance of Wa
| ter, and in a moment all the apprehension of
| fire was removed.
| Order had now been somewhat restored the
4 men under the captains orders had drenched
| away all aprehensons of fire, and Mr.. Scott
| Russell had been down in the engine room
| quite indifferent 10 his own safety reducing
the pressure in all the boilers, encouraging the
| engineers and men, ascertaining by actual in
| spectlon the real cause of the mischief at the
| same time taking every human precaution
| against its repetition. The engines, which had
| never stopped for a moment, either screw or
paddle, We're now working at steady although
| slackened speed, and confidence was beginning
| gradually to be restored. OF the passengers
| only two had received any injury.
| Unfortunately q sad ahd different story has
| TO be told of the poor fellows down in the en-
| gine room. When the funnel blew up it tore
| away every ything-decks. cabins, and below
| them, again, steam gearing of every kind
| The scaiding steam filled the place. and the
| furnace doors being burst open fire poured
| out like burning lava, and burnt the doomed
| men on one side, whilst the death vapor scald-
1 ed them on the other. 1t was, in short re-
| alization of hell in the worst form in which
| the place of punishment had ever pictured
itself to the consclence-s stricken fanatic. How
any one was left to tell the tale, is only one of
those mysteries or eccentricities which ALWAYS
| distinguish great accidents. The only way TO
save them was to drench them, almost to
| drowning, with water and as soon as il had
made the place approachable, to remove them
| from their scalding, fiery, living tomb.
There were hundreds ofvolunteers amongst
the men ready for the rescue of their comrades
and-what a scene. as they were brought sue
cessively to the deck! People stood round.
sickened but spell bound, each disfigured
mass Of tortured humanity was brought slow
ly and tenderly into view l saw one poor
fellow, whose face had evidently received
blast from the furnace. No feature was dis
cernable, but it seemed as if mask of raw
beefsteak had been placed over his countenance.
low moan was all that could be heard from
him, but You could read a tale of unutterabls
agony in the dreadful peculiar motion Of his
arms. Another thought himself so little hurt
that when near the deck, he insisted upon go