Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1866-10-24
DISASTER AT SEA.

the ill-fared steamship Evening Star, gives
the following statement of the terrible suf-
fering and loss of life. He says:
The Evening Star, Capt. Knapp, sailed
from New York, Sept 29th, for New Or
leans. On the morning of the I'd of Octo-
Der i began to blow pretty hard, and con-
tinued until the morning of the Sd, when it
blew perfect hurricane At this time we
were $50 miles east of Tyber Island. After
weathering the storm for fourteen hours, she
foundered at daylight on the morning of the
Sd, with two hundred and seventytve souls
on board, only sixteen of whom were saved.
About o clock on the morning of the I'd
1t began to blow very hard | stood in the
doorway OF what was called the social hail.
which Is little saloon at tie head of the
stairway leading to the main saloon. This
saloon was filled with ladies at this time.
At o clock the vessel commenced to ship
such heavy seas that the floor of the hall
was covered with water, and made it very
disagreeable for the ladies to remain there
At | 30 clock all hands were called on
deck to bail water out of the engine room,
the seas having washed down over the YES
sci and into the room. A party of men
went forward and succeeded in getting the
water all out of there.
We had some trouble with the Frenchmen
OF the Opera troupe, in consequence of their
not being able to understand English How
ever, they did their best, and worked will
| lingly when they understood what to do At
o clock the men were all tired with hard
work, and, as the water continued to gain
upon us, we gave up all as lost The water
at this time was six feet deep in the hold
and the ship was rolling about in the tenn
| n no braa har
in quick succession. However, all was done
that could be done, and as darkness came
on, most of the passengers went below. At
| 5 clock next morning | went on deck, and
the sight that there met my gaze can never
| be erased from my memory At daylight;
on looking around, | found the ship, sure
enough, total wreck, and the sight one to
make the stoutest heart quail The whole
i of the paddle boxes had been carried away,
nothing but the fans being left. The pilot
house was gone, and the guards also The
sea was running mountains high, the spray
blowing about like rain, and the wind rush
ing through the rigging and about the dis
mantled ship. The hurricane was now at
its hight. | forgot to mention that the en-
gine stopped working at clock in the
| morning, IN consequence of the breaking of
the steampfpe, and the fires being put out
|
less. At daylight the captain told the wo-
men that nothing more could be done. and
| that if any of them wanted. to get into the
boats they could do so.
Mr.. Allen, the purser, then came with the
ladies out Of the cabin. All those who
could get life -preservers had them, and they
were very few. He placed them in boat,
but she no sooner touched the water than
she capsized, and all were washed away
The ship all this time was filling fast |
stood by some matches, intending to hold on
to them along with several women, when we
| shipped heavy sea forward of the wheel
house on the starboard side, and went down
In an instant the sea swept me clear of the
starbOard 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 spars and drift wood Men and wo-
men were floating all about, ,clinging to any,
thing they could lay hold of All shouts for
aid were drowned by the fury of the hurri-
cane. | got hold of piece of the fragments
OF the saloon, upon which pulled myself,
but was thrown off again and again by the
violence OF the waves, in each new effort to
regain my position. lacerating my hands and
limbs on the nails and splinters in 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
me. | saw the hurricane deck, two hun
dred feet along, crowded with human beings,
herded together. Some of these were stand
ing, and some sitting, all helpless and de-
spairing | now drifted nsar life boat.
keel up, for which | abandoned my piece of
wreck and swan. Others were clinging to
1t, whom | assisted to right it. When |
succeeded In getting in with the others re-
cognized the purser, Mr.. Allen. There were
now ten of us, but after this we were fire.
quently upset, each time losing one or more
of our number, again adding to them by
picking up Others Helpless to manage the
boat, which was filed with water and drift
ing at the mercy of the sea, we passed and
repassed the wreck during the day. To-
wards evening we lost sight of it. We had
been sitting in water all day long, and when
night came on we began to feel the want of
food and water, but we had neither. Just
after dark | picked up turnip, Of which
we each took a bite. and this was ali we ate
during the day. We were now so dry that
some drank sea water, which made them
very fiighty, while others drank their own
urine, which answered better. The morn
| ing OF the 4th was very fine, so we deter
mined to get the water out OF our boat
At daylight we came up to one of the
wrecked, who was floating on piece OF the
| cabin, and had an oar with which to guide
his craft. We got alongside and put some
of the men on 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 rugged two
masts out of pieces of the wreck, and made
sails out of the covering of the life preser-
vers. We then headed east northeast At