Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1868-09-21
DAILY DEMOCRAT.
RarsicuIars Of ahe Lose 81 snc
BEippOcasnpus -. ss0se y.
ono Of khc HurTtv0r0.


Parsiculnrs 81 the Loss 81 shc
HkDu poo avnpus %. s0teAMcss "
ono Of tho Survivors,
The following i. the statement OF Charles
Rittenhouse. stewardcf the Hippoeampus
"As soon as we lef, s.; Joseph, Mich, on
Monday evening, Sept 7tE. ! turaed into
my berth and knew nothing oi what trans
pred till ab0u, two ana bali minutes &C.
fc-e ws wen. dom. The listing 81 ms
tot, aad shifting Ct the freight weAe TIE
10. rushed out % the room, having MOTH
ing On but psntaloons, shirt and vest
When cana out Of tie CABIN she WAS go
ing down. stern foremos', partly on her
side. Ice passengers wsre aefef 10 az,
.sOh, mi CD what shall ! dof What
shall | dog Ia this time the calm sad
struck The water and broke Loose from the
boat, 80 l spreng into the water. ! made
for door and went under, but turned up
and caught the door A passenger just
thsn came on my back and caught me by
TIE throat and chokcd me of the door.
SAID, "0h my God. if ycu wca't CHOKE me,
yoa can hayo the door" He 10. me SO and
| wen! down. As | cane up 50. entanse cd
in soma floating tgine, and went oo.h
again, and on coming up caught hold oil the
side OF the cabin, on which was John Bloom,
clerk, and colorei man, named Johnson
crept on to that, and finding it would not
sustain ali Of IL, junped oil and swan to
the hurricane deck, about fifteen feet off,
think there were three on it; ono ofthsm
drew ME On it. had been on the deck but
4 short time when | saw Capt. Brown ard
wheelsnan Morrison on the eide Of the cab
in. They ticr.ed to US, and wo helped
on to cur raft, putting their raft into ours.
Immediately several others got on to our
raft, increasing our numbers. | saw no one
else, but could hear cries for help all around
US. 1t soon became very fsggy. About .
o'clock the fog rsiseds and We saw vessel
about five miles off. We signalled her with
table cloth that tho captain got hold OF
before he came 10 US. We halloocd, and
those who had hats waved them. The
schooner soon got out of sight. The wind
was now blowing hard and the sea rolling
high, 50 that at times we could hardly keep
on the raft. We all felt nearly discouraged.
Captain Brown and Captain Trimball told
Us too cheer up, that there was still hope.
l told them we must have faith, and oil
would come right Captain Brown several
times asked Us how We felt sid ! was
sure that We would bs saved, but some
tn ought we could not. About three or four
o'clock in the afternoon We saw the steamer
Dunbar, which came 30 near to as that We
could distinctly see the people aboard Of
We hoistsd the table spread upon . pole
about feet long, and waved it for ten or hf-
teen minutes, but she did not see Us, and
with that disappointment We gave up all
hopes for that night, and Mr.. Riford, ct the
request Of Captain Brown, Offered up fer.
vent prayer in our behalf To which We all
responded with hearty amen. Darkness
soon set in, and it lightensd. with . slight
rain, until 10 o'clock. said, MY boys,
think We will oil have to put the night thro'
the best W can, and in the morning | think
No will be saved just before dark Bloom
and johnson padded their raft with pieces
Of board to ours, and got on with Us, put
ting their raft into ours. We saw light,
which proved to be on . vessel, which No
hailed, but could not make her hear. About
an hour later we saw another vessel, which
appeared to be coming towards US. We
hailed her. and in few minutes were over
| joyed to find her steering for US. We were
soon picked up and taken to Sangatuck.
The vessel that saved US was the scow
True -