New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1860-05-15

We have not the heext, seys the Charleston Gou~
rier, to ofier comments and reflections On the
memorable and melancholy calamity By which
nearly the whole town Or Camden. and many Iami-
lies iii its vicinity have been placed inmouFning.
The Courier publishes tie following Letter
Camden, s. e., Nay eve are In The madst o.
one Of the most awful and mysterious pxovideAces
L. he annals q ny ss sgas sas Pa
full Of life. and twenty five Cf the number have met
with watery grave All Of them quite young the
eldest being about thirty Of thlrtysayes Such z.
never see another such. have not had ~ hQnr'a
sleep since Friday night, and am almost brgken
down with fatigue and excitement, You viii pro.
only add that IN one family there fonr and in
another five victims. We took them e TIER re-
spectve homes last night and Oh, such waiting and
ssgsa aed u Pi Mss ca III IL Ss j ssal
into their hearts. &asts|
/ merely write 10 lst you know that am pres
served and kent ~ she goodness ard mercy ef
that we may lay il 10 heart Oh, God, 30 teach ps
4 to number our days. that we may be prepared ut
any moment for the fell destEoyer .ss ~
From the Sumter Is. G., Watehman We extract
The following particulars Of this Distressing afairs
On Saturday morning, The 9Th inst, "A NEST
spRs Children and parsn 0S hs s homes
| in Camden for day of pleasure and amusement
| at Boykn's Mil Pond, about ten miles from that
place and upon the line Of the railroad. These wer6.
| party of considerable size.
Aiiatboat had been placed upon the pond for
purposes of pleasure. The company embarked
the pond. These consisted chiefly Of young ladies,
there being but sufficient number Of gentlemen,
as was supposed, to manage the boat
They had been ont some time, and were near
the center Of the pond, when the boat ran on .
snag This excited little or no fears, as II was sup
posed that speedy extrication would be elected
/ Soon it was perceived that the great pressure Of
| the boat upon the snag Tin consequences Of the
| number it eontained) was puncturing its bottom,
/ and that the water was making It's way inside.
4 Momentarily the danger became greater, nnd mo-
mentarly the excitement Of those on board, as
4 well as those on shore, became more intense. II
seems that deliverancc would have come, and that
/ the boat would have probably been pushed of and
run near enough to the shore for many e not oil to
escape had it not been that those who stood at
| each end, "a white man and q negro) with their
poles laboring with ali their power, showed each
| in the same direction, thug mutually deatroying
the effects of their Efforts Soon abe began to
sink. When this was seen, and the fact that she
/ could not be moved became 10 apparent, the ScaRe
| became frightfal indeed. The widest excitement
and fear seemed seize every heart, and bnt few Il
any were sufficiently collected to enable them To
employ their efforts for rescue adyantaGeously. In
/ q few moments she sank, when the scene mag be
/ better imagined than described. Piersing cries
and shrieks, and calls for help, both from those on
shore and those on The boat, filled The Cir. g.
/ The boat seems to have committed them to The
bosom Of the water, hnddled together, mainly, Ia
mass; The water 2 supposed ~ have BEEN about
twenty feet in depth. Thus thrown togethsr, one
clingng to the other with that grasp which belongs
only to those in d drowning condition. there was
little opportunity for the males in the company TO-
rescue the ladies, or even save themselves.
But few 1--WE have not been appraised Of the
exact number) were saved Of those upon the boat
One act of daring, manly and gallant, rescue. de-
mands especial notice. Mr.. Jones. fireman upon
the Camden train, rushed to the spot, and by
almost superhuman efforts, coupled with NEST cool
i and manly courage brought three Of the drowning
persons to the shore. We have not learned the
i names of these.
Mr.. Richburg, with noble desotion, lost his life
i attempting to save another These, with two me-
! groes, complete the melancholy list.
/ Efforts to secure the bodies of the unfortunate.
! drowned were Immediately employed. Some were
| taken from the water. Others could not be found
The flood gates of the pond were soon hoisted but
the body Of water was great and could not be
soon run of.
At halfpast three yesterday eight bodies were
at the Methodist Church, where funeral cerenao-
MES were being performed, IN the presence Of q
large congregation. Almost every eye was moist.
ened by the tear Of sympathy or bereavement