The south-western. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1852-1870, 1866-10-31
The Evening Star Calamity.



l4ih. We copy from the interesting reports the
following:
STATEMENT or Ns. ", Il. HARRIS
On the morning Of the II Of October it began to
blow pretty hard and continued to increase gradually
until the morning of the Sd, when 1t blew perfect
hurricane. At this time we were l5D miles east Of
Tybee islands After wcahering the STERN fer four
teen hours she fonadered 1T daylight on the morning
of the Sd with two hundred and Seventy-Hve souls on
board only sixteen of whon were saved. VIII Gu
dcavor relate the details Of the calamity as far as
can of my own knowledge. About o'clock on the
morning of the u it began to blow very hard
stood in the doorway OF what called the social
hall which is little saloon at the head of the stair
way leading to the main saloon. Tns saloon was
filed with ladies at this time At o'clock the vessel
commenced to ship such heavy that the floor Of
the ball was covered with water, and made it very
disagreable for the ladies to remain there | went
down into the dning-room and laid down, but found
that the water had in through the deck and wet
all the cushions. She then leaking over all the
deck. At IL O'Clock, all hands called on deck
to bale out of the engine room, the having
washed down over the vessel and into the room. \
party of men went forward ana succeeded in getting
the water all out of there. \ break then discov
cred in the pantry stewards room, aud all hands
went TO bailing there. At thc same time She broke
away her buwarhS on her starboarl side. The damage
here speedily repaired in manner sufficiently
strong keep oRt the water for the time. At
u o'clock the vessel became unmanageabe, from
losing the of the russdcr. At . O'Clock we com
nenccd cutting il hole in the deck for the purpose Of
balng tue ont OF the hold. We took out
sufficient freight to enable look in, but found but
few inches Of water. However, by the time we
ready to bail it had gained considerably in depth
We all set to work b@ing aud worked as long as we
could, the women laboring as hard as tue men. They
would pass the empty buckets, while the men carried
the full ones. They worked quietly i'll all that terrible
! storm without mumur. We had some trouble with
/ FrpurlmpU @ n
of their not being able to understand II alsh How
ever, they did tl4er best and worked willingly when
they understood what 10 DO st , O'Clock tile men
were ali tired out with hard work. and, as the water
continued TO gain upon us, we gave mp all as lost
The water "a this time was six feet deep in the hold,
and the ship rolling about III the tempest like
log the waves breaking over her III quick succession.
However, all done that could be done, and
darkness most ct the passengers went below.
/ At 5 O'Clock next morning went on deck, and the
sight that there met nay gaze never be erased from
my memory. At daylight, on looking around, found
the Ship enough total wreck and the sight
to 9uake the stoueSt heart quail. Tire whole Of the
paddle boxes had been carried away, nothing but the
fans being left. The pilot-hog>c gene, and the
guards also The sea was ruuning mountains high,
the spray blowing about like rain and the wind rush
ing through the rigging and about the disnAnted ship.
The hurricane was at its height. | forgot to
mention that the engine stopped working at two o'clock
in the morning in consequence Of the breaking OF the
.
ginc therefore also useless. At daylight the cap
tain told the that nothing more could be DONE
and that if amy of them wanted get into the boats
they could do He then went away, and did not
see him again Mr. Alien, the purser, then came with
the ladies out of the cabin All those who could get
liteprcservcrs had them, and they were very few
lie placed them in Il boat, but she touched
the water than she capsized, and all were washed
away. The ship all this time was filing fast | stood
y some matches, intending to hold on to them along
! with several women when shipped heavy
forward Of the wheel house on the saIboad side and
welt down In an instant the sea swept me clear of
the deck, and carried me down some twenty five feet
thought. When | came to the surface found myself
in the midst OF the wreck OF the vessel surrounded by
] floating spurS and drift wood. Men and women were
floating all about clnging to ANYTHING they could lay
hold Of. All shouts for aid drowned by the fury
of the hurricane | secured a piece of the wreck
with which to support myself, but had to abandon
this owing to the danger was in of being struck By
pieces OF the flying wreck, which were being hurled
about in all directions by the wind and waves. then
got hold of piece of the fragments of the saloon
upon which pulled myself, hut thrown off again
aud again by the violence Of the in each effort
to regain my position aeeratiug my hands aud limbs
by the nails and SplinerS III the pieces of wreck. In
this way clung to life for two or three hours While
drifting about in this way could see the whole of the
wreck as it lay before saw the hurricane deck
two hundred feet long crowded with human beings
hcrdcd together Some Of these we're standing, and
some sitting, all helpless and dcspairing ! now
driitcd near life-boat keel up for which abandoned
my piece Of wreck and swan. Others were cIinging
to it, whom assisted to right it. When succeeded
in getting in with the others l recognised the purser
Mr.. Allen There ten OF US, but after this
we were frequently upset, each time losing one
more OF our number again adding to them by picking
up others. Helpless to manage the boat, which
filed with water and drifting the mercy Of the sea-
we passed and repaSscd the wreck during the day
Towards evening lost sight Of it. We had now
been sitting in the water all day lGPg, anA when night
came began to feel the want OF food and water,
bpt we had neither Dust after dark | picked up a
tunp, of which each took a bite and this was all
we ate during the day. We were so dry that
some drank sea-WatcF which made them very Eighty,
while others drank their oSn urine, which answered
better. The morning of the fourth was very fine so
we determined to get the water out Of our Geat. At
daylight We came up to Of the wrecked who was
floating piece of the cabin and had an oar with
which to guide his craft. We got alongside and put
some of the men it, after which we upset our boat
thus getting the water out of it. We then got in
again. and felt comparatively comfortable, but still
suffering for the want of food and water. We then
rigged two masts out of pieces of the "rcck, and
made sails out of the covering of the fe-presrrvcrs
We then headed eastn0rtl-cast At s O'Clock we fell
in with the third mate, with nine men in another life
boat, who gave each of US handful of crackers but
unfortunately our threats were so DarChcd with the
thirst, AID by drinking seawater, were unable to
swallow this food. The two boats then parted com
panv, we taking more northerly direction than the
other. At : o'clock on the 9th We fell in with the
Norwegian bark Fectwing from Balize Honduras, for
Liverpool, who took US on board. Here we remained
thrtythree hours. On the 9th spoke schooner j
Waring, Capt. Frank Smith from New York for Apa-
achicola Fla. This vessel having suffered in the gale
and got crippled, she put into Savannah for repairs
While We were on board the Warning, the captain and
crew did all in their power to relieve our wants even
at their own discomfort While were floating in
tue llteboat Young woman, about Is years Of age,
caught hold with Ms, and clung several hours She
held ON while we were capsizcd three tines but kept
growing weaker. At last we we're turned over again,
and she was lost. We all got very much exhausted,
and could scarcely hold on the boat Mr. Allen be-
came very weak, and would have been lost but for
assistance given him. We were all bruised more or
less, and the salt water made OR wounds very painful
Capt. Knapp did lis duty faithfully and manfuv
throu2hout doing all in his power TO save his ship
and when lie found there was no hope contributed
much to preserving order among the passengers and
crew lie ttoated for time but while clingiug to
one of the Hfe-boats lie struck on the head by
piece OF timber and killed. On our arrival ut Slvan
nah, the pUrScr Mr. Allen, did everything that was in
his power to make comfortable. We had lost every