The weekly North-Carolina standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 186?-1869, 1866-02-14
A DETAILED ACCOUNT.
rFrom the London Times. 1stb. /
No. III 81 D s-F'lIfli = III

"A !
hafgs d1Us Hafif 1877 n9slszti li9is 10
From the London Times, 18TH \, ~
A profound sensation was created among
all classes yesterday morning upon receipt OF
the sad intelligence that Messrs. Money Wig
ram and Sons auxiliary screw Steamship, the
London, had foundered in the Bay Of Biscay
wifh upwards Of 300 souls on board s..,as
/ 1t was at 10 o'clock on the morning of that
fatal Thtrday that Captain Martin had the
terrible task of making known to the 300
passengers that the ship was sinking, and
THAT they must prepare for the worst. She
was then as low in the. water as the main
chains The whole of the passengers and
crew gathered, as with one consent, in the
Chief saloon, and having been calmly told by
Captain Martin that there was no hope left,
a remarkable and unanimous spirit OF resig-
| nation came over them at once. There was
| no screaming or shrieking by women or men,
no rushing on deck, or frantic cries. All
calmly resorted to the saloon, where the Rev.
Mr. Draper, one of the passengers prayed
aloud, and exhorted the unhappy creatures
| by whom he was surrounded. Dismay was
present to every heart, but disorder to none.
Mothers were weeping sadly over the little
ones about with them to be engulphed, and
the children, ignorant of their coming death,
were pitifully inquiring the cause of so much
| woe. Friends were taking leave Of friends
as if preparing for a long journey; Others
were crouched down with Bibles in their
hands. endeavoring to snatch consolation from
| passages long known or long neglected. In
credible, we are told, was the composure
/ II, Dir for
around. Captain Martin stationed himself
in the poop going occasionally forward or
| into the saloon; but to none could he offer a
word of comfort by telling them that their
safety was even probable. He joined now
| and then for a few moments in the public de-
votions, but his place to the last was on deck
| About O'Clock in the afternoon. the water
gaining fast on the ship and no signs of the
storm subsiding being apparent, a small band
| of men determined to trust themselves to the
mercy of the waves in boat rather than 90
/ down without struggle. Leaving the sa-
loon, therefore, they got out and lowered
| away the port cutter, into which sixteen of
| the crew and three of the passengers sue
ceeded in getting in and launching her clear
| of the ship These nineteen men shouted for
| the captain to come with them, but with
that heroic courage which was his chief char
acteristic, he declined to 60 with them, say
ing; No, l viii go down with the passen-
| gers but wish you God speed and safe to
land" The boat then pulled away, tossing
about helplessly on the crests of the gigan-
! tic waves. Scarcely had they gone eighty
yards, or been iveminutes off the deck, when
the fine steamer went down stern foremost
with her crowd of human beings, from whom
| aryy Of farr nd
! all was silent forever.
| From the London Times, Jan. 10Th.
To the narrowing narrative of the loss of
the Australian pas senger steamer, London, we
have now the good fortune of being able to
add multitude of interesting details of the
most melancholy event, taken from the lips
| of several of the survivors during their pas
sage by train from Falmouth to London on
| Wednesday. Very considerable establishment
has been expressed that no effort was made
during the two days that the ship was in
imminent danger of going down to prepare
RATS and use similar means to give an adj
ditional chance for the safety of the 2S9 souls
on board. The testimony, however, of both
the passengers and the rescued crew goes to
show that Captain j. B. Martin-of whose
skill as manifested during the storm they
speak in terms Of the highest commentator
did not order the construction of RATS be-
cause the wind blew with such severity, and
the waves leapt over the steamer in such
quick succession and tremendous force, that
no men could have worked on the deck, and
even they had succeeded in building a raft
there could be no hope of any of the unfortu-
nate people being enabled to cling to it alive
for many minutes in such sea. So soon as
lnL,, - l,,,, l. H..
plenty of assistance was at hand to effect the
launching, but the passengers and crew, who
had beheld the starboard lifeboat washed
away on the preceding day, were Mortified at
observing their only remaining lifeboat slip
through the stern davit, break into two parts,
and, of course, become utterly useless. TWAS
then resolved that the iron pinnace, capable
of carrying so persons, should be launched,
and by the aid of the donkey engine the pin
mace was raised and hung over the leeward
rail. When let go, however, she foundered,
one man, a Dutchman, being drowned, and
three other, who were rescued, being cast into
the serf to leeward Two of the men who
were overheard were John King, the able
seaman to whose marvellous skill as steersman
the survivors all entirely and with gratitude
attribute their preservation, and Mr.. Munro,
passenger, who hung in the davit until
| brought in by Edward Gardner, the steward.
| King had one of his sides bruised and his
thigh dislocated by being beaten against the
steamer, and Gardner received injuries in his
back. Nothing then remained on board the
ship but an ordinary six-oared captains gig
and still smaller boat on top of the euddy
or cook-house. After considerable hesitation
it was agreed that boat should be launched
for the second time and an opportunity was
| presented for passengers to embark in her,
but only three passengers and Is of the crew
availed themselves of it, and if they had de-
layed three minutes longer than they did,
they would have persisted in the ship. The
! precaution was taken that only three or four
| of the 16 of the crew who &C mmitted them
selves to the boat should be allowed to jump
into her while she was being lowered, and by
this means she reached, the water without
mishap, and the rest We're enabled to folio W
The crowd on board were afraid to leave the
ship, having naturally been frightened by the
sinking of the iron boat, and those who put
off in the second boat were shouted at not to
make the attempt, as their chance was hope
less. Some heroic sacrifices were made. One
of the passengers in the boat, John Wilson, a
native of Montrose, went down into the cabin
and endeayored to persuade a friend, Mr.
John Hickman, from Ballarat, and brother
to Mr.. Hickman, solicitor, of Southampton,
to attempt to save his life by going into the
boat, but, after being entreated, he said
"No, I promised my wife and children to
stay by them, and will do So" The water
| was then a oOnsi6oro h1a do,,th On tho loo ci1o