Daily union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1865-1866, 1866-06-27
VOLUME XXXIII.
sHIPwRECK OFGENERAESTERLING
PRICES FANILY-A LETTER FROM
MRS. PRICE--THRILLING MARIA
TIVE.

| MNs. PRItI---IhhALLiN Mamma
TIVE.
The subioined letter to Mrs CHLDs, sister
| Of Mrs. STERLING PRICE, resident at Jefler-
son City, has been communicated 10 the PeO-
pies Tribune, and from that Journal we
| transfer il to our columns. The letter por
| trays the hardships endured in the ship
wreck Of the Vera Cruz, on which General
PAGES family were going to Join the Gen
eral in Mexico, and will be of interest. The
relatives Of General PRICE in Jefferson City
are advised Of the safe arrival Of the family
! in Mexico:
New York, April ., lSGG.-MY DEAR
SISTER: This is the first day that have felt
| able to address you since our terrible mis-
fortune on the 18th instant, some account Of
which you have seen in the newspapers.
Truly, as our dear old father used to say,
'Misfortunes come not singly, but in bat
talions." in our case it has assuredly been
verified. And yet ! feel at this moment a
deep debt of gratitude to GOD that our lives
have been spared-yes, miraculously spared.
From the first, hope seemed a vain delu-
sion.
was first alarmed by an awful jar of the
ship, several hours before daylight. For an
instant ! thought it a dream. Soon after
TIT NtS-tl blTutks lllC HllDkG-SLdGkS lCll,
crushing in the bulwarks, and staving in one
Of the life boats, as / afterwards learned.
The flames then burst furiOusly forth, and
the fear Of fire appalled, the bravest hearts.
Fortunately, however the blow-pipes
broke off at the same time, and the rush of
water preserved the boilers from explosion.
CELSIUS sprang to his feet, requesting us ID
dress Immediately but we were so much
paralyzed that we could not obey his first
bidding. | felt that we might as well 90
down in our night-dresses as any other way.
However, he continued to demonstrate, be-
seeching us to be in great haste | then
threw on my dress, but could not get my
arms into the sleeves. So / tied them
around my waist. This left me very long
train. However, marvellous to relate, /
waded through in some way.
When we reached the deck we found all
the ladies there assembled except one, a
Spanish lady. When she made her appear
ance, ] shall never forget the expression of
her countenance. She behaved calmly but
the terror expressed in her face is beyond
conception. She was the wife of Senior
ARAJo envoy from the Imperial Govern
ment to that of the United States-sent two
years ago. Although he was not received by |
this Government, he has remained in New |
1or', until the present, and had started back |
10 Mexico On the Vera Cruz. He seems to |
be more AneriCanized than she. He spoke |
our language very well, but she did not /
They had little daughter, four years old, |
who spoke both languages, often acting as |
interpreter for her mother He had several |
nephews who have been with him during |
his stay here. There were many other verv |
nice Spanish gentlemen-in all about thirty |
also several Cubans | suppose we would |
have gone all the way and not made their |
acquaintance but for the shipwreck.
i will now return TO my first appearance |
on deck, and with pleasure tell you that Ga
SCs far surpassed my expectations in his ef- |
forts to save us. His department won for |
him the respect and confidence of all the |
passengers. As ! before mentioned, we had |
nothing but starlight The ship threw up |
distress signals, which Examinations but |
more plainly revealed to us our perilous sit
uation, making more clear TO our vision the |
terrible pillows of the sea- -.. ............
When the life-boat was in readiness to re- /
ceive the ladies, STELLA was the first to de- |
scend, the second. There were but seven |
ladies and two children. Two life-boats /
were, therefore, sufficient / had no idea |
what was to be done when the life-boat we |
were in moved off TO give place TO the other |
My only hope was in the mercy and protec- |
ton Of an all-wise and all-powerful God; |
and | must say ] felt, if il was His sfill that /
we should perish, it must be right | was
the only lady who raised her voice in1praver
for His protection. The whole company
were more calm than You can imagine. 1t |
might be tried a thousand times and | could
not do as well again. Just think of q help
ess creature like myself swinging downinto
| life-boat, and that tossing in every direc-
ion, seeming TO every appearance that it
must go under. ..
The life-boats were tied TO the ship, she
I'LL remaining firm in her position. sup
pose we were riding the waves round tn
ship two hours, not having any idea what
our next move would be, As the light of
day dnwned upon us, we discovered that
some Of the gentlemen had reached the
shore. That gave us hope, of course. Eve
cry moment seemed an hour. At length
they returned TO our rescue, inquiring who
would first volunteer TO 60 with them to
shore. did not hesitate, seeing that was
our only chance. ... ..
| was the first to get into the boat Stella
next, then two others. .... .. a..
1-suppose we reached the shore about nine
NitNhs We NNAN Aoiu diitfNdEhS lldb the |
passengers on the ship raised quite shout
when they saw that we had reached the
'hore in safety. However, was completely
snveloped in the sea. In the moment of
ny leaving the boat, being the last one to
pet out a wave came dashiug over our heads
which threw me perfectly fat The sailors
leld on to me- which saved ME from being
'arried back into the ocean. Ny feet had
been wet from the time got into the life
'oat but in the end i was completely satu-
ated with sen water from head to foot. |
emained with my wet clothing ON until
iext day, when we reached Roanoke Island; |
lept in them that night, and, strange to sa
lid not take the slightest cold sat with
ny clothes dripping upon the sand, watch
ng the boat returning for those we had left
'ehind 1t would go entirely out of sight |
Lfler mounting the pillows ] can but feel
hat the mercy of our Divine Master alone
aved us all. The next return brought |
lUNW's the next CELSIUS. -s.....
WHO'S HE:
srou tho Tallahassee fFla) Sentinel