, 1866-10-18
THE EVENING STAR DISAS-
TER.
Further Details Of the Great Ca
1alnity.


From tho New York Times, 18th inst.l
:. Mr.. 9. 3. Harris. merchant residing in Viii
iiamsbnrgh; was PASSENGER on hoArd The Even
III Willtamshnreh, hut Ia In tho habit OF taking
goods Of various kinds to New Orleans for spec,l.
M bdasa maT 9oes e
has made frequent ocean voyages. and was one Of
those who Eenaiucd calm and collected throughout
dered most welcome assistance 10 Captain Knapp
and the officers Of The ship. The following is the
statement Of aiz. Harris, IS made to our reporter
STATEMENT OF 4R v. u. HARRIS.
:. The mail steamship EEenins STAR. Captain
Knapp, sailed from New York September ~, at
,ober 1t Iegan to blow pretty hard, aud continued
to increase gradualy mill the morning Of the Sd,
when + blew perfect HURRICANE. A this simc we
wea,hertng The storm for fourteen hours she
touudeIed al daylight on the morning Of the Sd,
with s5s son'5 On, On board, on,y slxteen q whom
edge. Abont O'Clock on the morning Of the ID
+ began TO eloS very bard stood In ths
hall, which Is little saloon a: the head Of the
stairway S,a Leading a;l t. s main saloon THIS saloon
the yeseel commenced to ship such heavy acaa
that the door OF tho hall was covered with water,
and made 1t sery isaerecatle for the ladies to re-
and Ia,d down. but foaud i1lat tho | wafer I had
come In through The deck and vel ali the
cushions. She Was then leaving over all the deck.
hale water. ont OF The engine-room, tue seas
having washed down 'cs the vessel and into the
room., \ party Of mcn went forward and sue
A break was then discovered In the pantry
or stewards room, and all hands went to
bnpf ths1f A. ,he hc @ ae brkc
damage here WAS speedily tepated. IN q manner
sufficiently strong 10 keep out the wafer for the
M t"sss 95o ne s
Al two O'Clock we commenced cutting hole in
.he deck fes The purpose q ba'lng the water ont
able Us 10 look lii, but found but few inches Of
water. However, Dy The time we were ready 10
hale 4 had gained considerably in depsh. We all
e. T. &e' o1s "Ss az s5d 's 'Ss
They would pass the empty buckets, while
the men CARRIED The full oEes They worked
out 4 mu,mur. We had some t1ouble
With the Frenchmen Of the Opera Troape. ID con.
seque1ce Of 1hcir not being able to understand
worked willingly when they understood what to
| d. At two o'clock tho men were all tired out
with bard work, and, az Tue water continued TO
at ttta time was six feet deep in the hold and The
ship WAS rolling about in The tempest like a log,
the waves b 5Icas.us ose5 heE IN 9qleS M
darkness came On, most Of the passengers went
bclow. At five 9 clock next morning went m deck
The st IT, thai he1 met ny sln
luollng around, I found the slip, sure
cuough, atolal wreck, and The sight one Is max e
The stoaest heart qua,l., The whole q the paddle
fans being len. Tie pilot house was gone, and
tie guards also; The sea was Ennniag mountains
Wind rushing through the rigging and abou: the
| dtsmac'lcd ship. The hurricane was snow at Its
height. i forgot to mention that the engine stop
ped working at o'clock in the morning, III con.
| sennencc Of tho breaking OF the ettaMufpe and
the arcs being put out. fhe, donkey engine was
therefore also useless. A. daylight The Captain
and that 4 any q .hen wanted TO &c, in'o ths m
H. .csis Al,sa ~ 90 1a,1s2 e. ,sss
came Win the ladies ont Of The cabin. All those
who could Eet uje,presersGEs had them, aud they
ns%
iii lime was ding iast; stood by some hatch.
e1al women, when wc shipped = heavy sea for:
wn.d Of tho wheclhouse on the sfarboasd side and
! went down. In au instant the sea swept me cleat
g. asft thoueb Wien III he
found myself in the midst Of the wreck Of the YES
scl, surrounded By floating, epars and dritt,wood'
sey soea ay Bod Sd of
cane. IEeeused pieee q the wreck, with which
p,:ce< Of The dying wreck, which were being hur1
I'd abont IN Ill directions by the wind and the
mens of the saloon, upon yhiek pn5Ied Fl {seii
but was thrown on ngain aud again By The vio1cnct
sitIon, isecssdns ny hands sud limbs On The nails
and spitn,ers In The pieces Of wreck: In this m,
clune to life fol. two or three hours. While
q he 1tceE Su Is It il lay before nc. j saw III
crowded win human beines., he:dea q
ID di nsat a iiie.bost, Ieel ap, tof Which, sson
doned ny piece ct wreck snd sa otheSS hs YET
succeeded il getting in With the others ! recos
nizcd Ms. Allen. There were now ten Of us, ba
osin s one " Of sdin!
age thc boat, which Was allied with water ant
Gfif,nE at lhe mercy Of the sea, We passed ant
estninE We lost sight Of i. We had now beel
shn n he Ws.sf s ai5 Z e1 hs and 1,nt wae,
food nad water, bnt We tad nctthet just aite
DARK picked mp turnip, Of WHICH We each tool
s es rna NV 70 ~ ~ "a, a anR scs
their own nrinc, which answered. betseE. III
mint ns e s.s ,'s sates oat of cur oos daSisn
NC came up to ono Of the wrecked. who was Eoai
| ing on piees q the cabin, and bad an oar Wit
put SONS Il The men on Ii, at.0r which We upse
, our Loaf thus getting The water ont Of it, "
ct II ssaqS and .,,f felt so@na.fSt
. tic want Of food and water. We then siggcd tw
ruasts ont Of pieces Of the wreck, and maize sal!
out Of the covering Of the llc-prcserre!s. "
then headed east northeast ii eight O'Clock v
{ fell In with the thisd mate. with niue men
, another le-boaf. who gave each Of ns bandlf
ct crackers nnt, unfortunately our thzoats Msi n:
! sea water, VIC were unable to sxa!low this foos
| The Two boats then parted company. We taking
| moro nostherly direction than the other. At hI
o'clock on the fifth, We fell In with the No1wegta
t bark Flsctwins, from Ralfze, Honduras S a. &
!, NC reni.tned thi1ty-three lours;
Captain Frank Smith, from New York, for Apal
r chicola, Florsua. This vessel, having Suffered
The gale and ct crippled. she put tnfo s7Eann:
= he CAPTAIN and crew did all in their power to
liore all ouz wants, even at thett own dtscomtol
' While we were Hoaifnr in the llfe-boat. youI
> woman, abont eighteen years o. age, caught no
! With us and hung on for several hours. She ne
. p cpoMing Wig wease1. M Il Isl We were turned o1
. acaiu, and she was lost. We all got very 1nn
Exhausted, and could scarcely bold On to The boz
y Mr. Allen became very weak, and would Ia
8 been lost but for assistance given him We ne
all bruised more Or @ 1ess, and the sa't wafer 9
e Captain Rnapp did his duty faithfully md m:
Is fully throughout doing all In his power 70 s.
= his ship, and when he found there waa no ho]
~ contributed mach 10 preserving order among
en osfsd S Eos sons In
J. struck IN the head By piccc Of h.nbeT a
le Killed. On our arrival at SaTanr. ah. tho purs
Is to make us eomfoHahle{ We Lad lost esesythi