The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1860-05-18
A Terrible CnsnRltY.

kihpt bOlllO
days since, the drowning OF twenty
five persons, mostly young ladies,
Who wcro particip pating in n pic mic
party at Boykin's mill pond, near
Camden, in South Carolina. The
Sumpter ITatchman brings the par
,icuars Of this terribly affecting
affair.
A fiatboat Of considerable size had,
short time previous, been built and
placed upon the pond for purposes
Of pleasure. A goodly number (pro-
badly thirty or lnarc) o! the company
embarked upon this boat, intending
to pass over and around the pond.
These consisted chiefly Of young
ladies', there being but a sufficient
number Of gentlemen, as was sup
posed. to manage the boat, and af.
ford company and protection for the
ladies.
They had been out some time, and
we're near the center of the pond,
when the boat ran on snag. This
excited li,tle or no fears, as it WAS
supposed that 'epeedy extrication
could he effected. All was lie and
spirit--a!l was hope and happiness.
Soon il was perceived that the great
pressure Of the boat upon the snag
Gn consequence OF the number it
contained) was puncturing its bot
] al shat I,n On L.,
its way inside. Now the excitement
began. Now fear began to picture
its sad traces upon thnse iuat now
happy countenauces. Now the ten
der and tiinid ladies called upon
their protectors for that assistance
and delIverance which, painful To
say, they were unable to atiori. -
Momentarilv the danger became
greater, and momentarily the ex
ctemeut Of those ON board. as well
as those on shore, becumu more in
tense. Ii seems that dellverance
would have CO {; C, and that the boat
wonld have probably been pushed uti
and run near enough to the shore for
"any, IL not all, to have escaped.
hal 1t not been that those who stood
NJ each end, ia white man and a
negro with their poles, laboring
with all their ppwer, shovGd each in
the same direction. thus mutually
destroying the effects Of thor etiorts
Soon, IN u few m)lnent|, she brgan
To sink. When t!,is was seen, an 1
the Iact that che could not be moved
became too apparent. the scene be-
came irjghtful inleed. The widest
excitcmen, and fear seemed to seizc
every heart, and but lew, ii any,
were sufficiently collected 10 enable
them to employ their efforts ior res-
cue advantngcously. In a few mo
ments more she sank, when the
scene may be better Imagined than
described.
Piercing erica ond shrieks, and
calls Tor help, from those on shore
and those on the unfortunate boat,
filled the air. Sisters and brothers
parents and children, relatives and
friends, whose hearts were bound
together by the nearest and deares,
OF earthly ties, and animated by the
warmcst and most tender affection
were therc-some on the sinking
, boat anil some on the shore. Oh
, how rudely were those confidins
I hearts torn asunder and ravished
I with wild and aching gliail
The boat seems to have committed
: them to the bosom Of tho water
huddled together mainly in a mass
q The water is supposed to have beer
twenty feet in deptN. Thus thrown
r together, one clinging to the other
J. with that grasp which belong, onl,
to those in a drowning condition
c there was little opportunity for thu
q males in the company to rescue til,
ladies or even to save themselves. -
e But a few--we have not been ap
" prised Of the exact numbcr-wer
u saved, OF those upon the boat.