The Cleveland leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1865-1865, 1865-08-18
SINKING OF THE PERARIO.
Graphic Account by n Passenger.
Romantic Adsenture--PrOtest and
Statement of the PeHabic's Omeers.

Statement of the PeHabic's Omeers.
A correspondent of the Hamilton, C. ".
Tines, who was 9 passenger on the Pewa-
bic, furnishes that paper a thrilling &C
count of the disaster, from which We CLEAN
q few new facts. Just after the steamers
struck he says:
Iresolved to try to jump on the Meteor, |
which had backed out Immediately after
striking indeed the engine was reversed
about ten seconds before the collision, and
kept her more alongside of US till we went
down. To do this, 1 thought it necessary |
to 70 to the stern Of the boat, never think |
ing for q moment of the hurricane deck, |
from which the msjoritY of those who were
saved Jumped into the Meteor. When 1
reached the stern, and g out of the
cabin, the vessel was already sinking, bows
first. I attempted to reach the railing, SO
as to Jump out, but the i.clination Of the
deck was too much for me, and in a moment
of time 1 was in the water. The crashing
of timber, the whistling of the air, and the
rush Of the water, produced sn awful COM
bination of terrible sounds The last
thing 1 noticed before going down was 8
woman and two children rushing into the
cabin. They were lost. 1 was sucked down
q considerable distance in the wake of the
boat. perhaps som fifteen or twenty feet;
il seemed an immense distance at the time.
l then began to ascend and to feel pieces of
timber above me all around. began to fear
that 1 should come under q piece of the
deck and End it difficult to com to the sur
face, but, owing, l suppose, to my having a
life preserver in my hand, l came up
more rapidly than the wreck and found
myselfo on the top Of the water with a large
piece of the hurricane deck under me, not q
- r.. A., HT,No.- mko-,
man on the same piece of the wreck, but
quite close TO the Meteor. He seized a rope
that was hanging DOWN and climbed up,
when q sailor threw me q rope which l
made fast round my body and was hauled
up, very thankful for my escape.
Previously l had not had time TO realize
the horror of the scene. But now when L
looked out on the mass of broken timbers
which marked the spot where the Pewabic
had been but q few minutes before, and
heard the dreadful shrieks and groans, and
the piteous cry for aid of those who had
come up among the wreck, my heart sank
within me. The Inflated steamer had zone
down in something like three minutes after
the accident, and doubtless many had been
carried down 10 q watery grave before they
knew what was the matter. Very probably
the majority of those who were in the cabin
when she sank we're killed and not drown
| ed. ltT Bu6 went uOWu bO IhpluLI budb bAo
cabin could not a filled, but must have
been crushed in BY the pressure of the
water on the sides and roof, a view which
the appearance of wreck the next morn
ing fully confirmed.
The boats of the Meteor were Immediate
ly launched and picked up all they could
find floating on the wreck. In shout an
hour after the accident a fog came up, and
the boats returned to the Meteor for fear of
1 u TAN 80 ao-AA nGna Nhaa
but probably there was no one ahoat to be-
sRved. Three schooners passed by at the
time, and it is just barely possible that they
saved q few of those now numbered among
She lost. The officers of the Pewabic all
saved themselves by jumping on board the
Meteor, but did all they could after the IN
fortunate occurrence. Mr.. Cleveland, the
first mate, had nearly succeeded in cutting
loose the life boat when he was obliged to
look out for himself. Mr.. Mack, the clerk
of the PeWabic, got the first boat out from
the Meteor and with Mr.. Cleveland was
particularly active in saving life.
ROMANTIC INCIDENT.
In connection with the above we note an
incident which had quite & romantic end
ing, as published in one of the Detroit pa
pers. We wonder if Mr.. Fitzgerald is a
single man, and if Miss Foote'S hand and
heart were free before the adventure, and,
if faye, whether a correspondence was struck
up between the parties.
Here is the extract:
An achievements of a deck passenger,
named Thomas Fitzgerald, on the occasion
of the sinking of the Pewabic, is one of the
most remarkable in all the annals pertain
ing to shipWreck. When the collision os-
Cured, he was on the bows of the Inflated
steamer, but ran eft in the hope that the
Meteor would swing around in such q man
ner as to enable him TO get aboard of her /;
but this plan failing him, he ran forward
aseR moEaa z 4tbF5sG%g himself on the lower
he was struck on the back by a piece of
timber and knocked into the water. He
passed under the Meteor, and came
to the surface on the opposite side.
Owing to the shock he received, and tho
excitement of the occasion, he swallowed
enormous quantities of water, but being q
capital swimmer he bore up well and final
ly managed to get hold of a fragment of the
wreck. At this stage of his adventures he
deserted what seemed to be a hand, which
was clssping q frail and uncertain support,
in the shape of a piece of timber, and at
the same moment he heard a female voice
crying out, imploringly: "Is there no one
to save me? ?" He Immediately SWAN to the
spot whence the voice proceeded, and re-
piled that he was himself disabled, but
would do all he could to save her. He
pushed his support towards the lady, to
which she chung. He then managed to get
possession of a large stick, and in order the
more etiectually to provide for the safety of
his charge, he placed his knee upon the
timber and thus secured a resting place for
her head. In this condition both were for
tunately picked up by the Meteor. The
one thus saved by the heroic exertions of
Fitzgerald proved to be young lady named
Miss Mary Foote, of Phlladelphia, as ap-
pears by her card, which she handed to her
preserver. After this almost miraculous
escape the lady abandoned her intended
route of travel, and left for Montreal.
PROTEST OF PEwABIG OFFICERS.
We learn from the Detroit Tribune, of the
18th inst, hat the following officers of the
PeWabic, Captain George P. Mckay, Mr..
George F. Cleveland, Mate, C. A. Mack.
Clerk, John Lynch, Steward, John Mckay,
Lookout, John Mooney, Porter, and VIM.
Kennedy, I'd Engineer, have united in the
preparation of q protest before a Notary
Public, in the usual form, for the purpose
of securing the insurance on the Pewabic,
which is distributed in seven different
companies. The testimony thus far given
is under oath, and furnish s their version
of the particulars of the collision and the
events Immediately following. We take
from the Tribune the protest of the Captain
and Clerk, in the form in which it appears
in the official document;
That August 9th, the said master, Capt.
George P. Mckay, with said propeller Pc
wabic, set sail for the Port of Bayfield,,
bound to Cleveland, touching at interme-
diate ports. Before the collision she was
loaded with about 267 tons of copper, and
about 179 tons of iron ore the copper
taken on board at Ontonagon, Eagle Har-
Dor and Hancock, and the iron at Marquette,
and other miscellaneous cargo. That said
propeller proceeded on her voyage without
accident and in safety, and about eight
O'Clock ON the evening Of August 9th passed
Thunder Bay Island light about one quar-
ter before eight O'Clock, and seen two or
three miles distant, and took our course Q S.
by E y East. The weather was cloudy
with a light breeze from the southwark
nd eastward, which, before the collision
hereinafter mentioned, csuted (veered) to
the southwark and westward. Our signal
lights were put up at dark, and were all
rightly burning Whan We naaaad the