The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-10-08
SINKING OF THE DANIEL WEBSTER"

SINKING OF THE DANIEL WEBSTER"
On the morning of the 9th utimo the steamship
Ddniet We6ster sailed from New York, bound for
MoU,le with a general cargo. she also carried
men, including the officers On the 1st Of October
there slrOng breeze, which soon increased into
q gale, and shortly after midnight hurricane burst
upon The steamer with O heavy sea, The hurricane
continued throughout the following day, the steamer
meanwhile breastlng 1t CALAMITY, until about z. M
when she was struck by heavy sea, which carried
away the fOrecastle hatch and swept her forward
decks.
height and the hurricane continued to increase until
every bmDer IN the steamer shook beneath the
weight of its violence. Throughout the whole night
she rolled heavily, but still continued to keep ner
course; but at O'clock on the following morning
the engineer reported that she was making water
rapidly. AS soon as this intelligence was impaired
the crew was set TO work the pumps and by the
strenuous eXertlons of the men she was kept ahoat
the whole day. towards darS the bIige injection
gave out, ana the wa'er continued to increase, all
of The hands and the passengers were set 10 work
baillng her out.
The crew and passengers worked with all the
energy of men struggling for their lives. But the
elements against them and az 10 OcIock in the
night the had gaIued SO far as to put out the
fire and the last hope OF saving the ship gone.
The situation was now appalling ana the danger of
finding a watery grave confronted every soul on
board the Illtated steamer. The wind was still
blowing O hurricane; the night was of pitcny
darkness only broken at intervals by ttu flashes of
gn Dlng Altogether the hope OF surviving throughN
out the night was scarcely cherished, although the
captain encouraged the crew ana passengers and
before the boats had all heen lowered the eyes of
the half despairlng passengers and crew were glad.
dened by tne sight OF steamship which then hove
into sight Luckily she perceived the signal of DIS
tress flying from the mast oil the LaHiet Wooster and
instantly bore down in the direction OF her. On
arriving within halng distance she was discovered
10 be the George Cr0mICeH from n New Orleans bound
to New York The passengers and crew of the
sinking vessel were promptly taken on board, and
their lives thus proviGentially saved; for 1T would
have been almost impossible Tor open boats have
foated on the ocean many hours, so high ana
hOiS
All unite in pralsng the conduct of Captain Boil
ger OF the Daniel Webster Throughout the trying
contend he renamed calm and energetic; and when
compelled by sheer necessity to lower the boats, he
first saw that every passenger was placed aboard
before he gave Thought for his ETY.. Indeed,
when the CrOm1OeU bore down upon them he was
still on board the sinking ship, winch he did not
leave until ne had seen every one of the we'll
as spassengers safely taken on board. The boat
which took him off had scarcely cared the wreck
when che steamer sank stern foremost, and was
in few minutes lost to sight beneath the raging
waters. ...g .... ...-... ... .
DISASTER TO THE SANTIAGO DE CUBA"
The steamship Santiago de Cuba put into New
York yesterday in disabled condition.
From an inspection of the log of the Santiago de
Cuba and the statement OF Lieutenant w K. Panca,
a passenger aboard, the following particulars are
gwen Of the most severe storms off the coast
of Florida which has occurred Tor some time, ana
which has caused more marine disasters, many not
yet known, than have taken place for some time
back.
The steamship Santiago de Cuba sailed from New
York saturday, September 20. at noon, bound
for Greytown, en- route tor san Francisco. She had
board five hundred passengers as well as large
ana well-assorted cargo of general merchandise
About O'Clock in the afternoon heavy easerY gale
came on with constant rain, the passengers as usual
becoming sea-sck. On Sunday, september 30, the
heavy southeast gales continued, accompanied by a
heavy ram Towards noon the weather clouded up
little
The vessel was at this time about one hundred
and ninety seven miles from New York. On Mon
day, October /, during the forenoon, there was
light breeze, but very heavy mead swell prevailed
indicating past or coming storm. On TUESDAY
violent southeast gales with heavy seas commenced
In the afternoon the gales increased almost to hur
ncane. During the night the ship was thrown from
side to side with terrible violence. Many OF The
passengers were thrown from their berths On
Wednesday morning the storm had become ter
rifle hurricane. The seas described being
awful IN the extreme. Old seamen, who had Iol-
lowed their avocation tor thirty years andupwards
said they had never witnessed anything SO fearful
Off the rudder.head, thus leaving the vessel at the
mercy OF the waves, rendering useless all the other
steering apparatus. Shorty after this misfortune,
a tremendous was shipped, by which tue cut
water was wrenched away clear down to the Keel,
the ioreyard was broken, the forward cabins were
car led away, and in fine, everything forward of
the foremast was swept overheard.
This sea carried to watery grave Cornelius Car
son, the steerage steward, and Henry Brown,
waiter; also two steerage passengers, whose names
we have not learned. The porters room with all
the Oil, both starboard water-closets and all the
wood work on the starboard paddle-boX were
washed overheard. AT this time the ship commenced
to leak badly, the water running down to the fires
in the eng1ne-room, where 1t took but few mo-
ments TO become scalding hot The hremen COLI
hnued to work almost knee deep in the scaldng
water.
The agitation of the passengers at this juncture
was heartrend1g' there seeming no possible hope
of saving single life. The bulwarks forward went
with terrible crash, which made some OF the women
At times the heavy seas rose high above the top.
mast. 1he excellent sailing qualities OF the ship,
however proved equal to the occasion. few en-
cOurag1ng words from the captain quieted the fears
of the passengers, some OF whom had gone SO lar as
TO cast away their clothes and provide themselves
with hte-preservers IN case the vessel went down.
at this time the captain being fearful that the
| saloon and state rooms on deck would be washed
way, ordered all the passengers between decks. a
command which was quietly oDeYed, the ladies' De'
| having with the utmost tortitude. shortly alter
this the leak increasing the passengers were called
| to give a helping hand, and they worked at the
| pumps with will. Many of The ladies assisted in
| bailng out the water as II was pumped up,
| At noon the hurricane was rrble; indeed,
nothing could be seen tweQty feet in any direction
from the sides of the snip for the spray and sea-
The cabin sky-lghts were carried away, letting
| great deal of water into the between decks"
| On Thursday tine heavy gales continued with q
terained Of ever reaching land. At daylight tenn.
| pOrary tIer was rgged, and by noon the ship was
| again capable of being steered Az L. Nj; tue
temporary tiler was torn away and the vessel was
| drifting about as unmanaRea0le as before. Two OF
| the passengers, ship carpenters, now SEE to work
ard cut away the wood between decks round the
rudder, and made hole for the insertion OF new
| tiller to work with relieving TACKLE. This work
was accomplished by L. M, ana the snip now
being manageable, her course was shaped Tor Nor
fork
During the day every effort was made to stop the
leak Sheets, bllows, beds, etc, We're stuffed into
the fore peak and these aided much in stopping the
rush OF water. sail was also got over the bows
with CRATE bars attached to SINK it, aud bound fast
with ropes. In this way good portion of water
was prevented from coming In. During this last
mentioned operation, the second oihcer, Mr., Mikes
badly bruised Notwithstanding which, like brave
fellow, he continued at his post until the shiT
arrived in port.