Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1868-09-22
COLUMBUS, O., TUESDAY MORNING.

oho, thO AOPO was hObTunuiOu up. dS Idp-
idly nor as. steadily as it ought to have
been, so that we were three times
lowered into the water, which was rush
ing past us. at the rate of eight or ten
knots per hour. managed to get one
of my feet around the rope, and SO
held on very securely, although
I had fears that the rope might shaft
on deck, when I would inevitably have
been drowned They finally hauled us
half way up, let down another line, and
some one of my men catching hold, we
were soon safely landed on deck We
had hardly touched deck ere l. heard a
duh sound, felt the vessel shake, and
knew we were aground all this while
the vessel, was rolling fearfully The
crew of the America was crazy with
liquor, and clamoring for more; in fact,
both vessel and crew were unmanagea-
Bile. The captain had been drowned a
few moments before came on board, and
the first lieutenant could not make his
voice heard above the roar Of the waves
and the wailing and crying Of his crew,
until he finally gave it up in despair, and
wept. Having recovered my breath, l
decended from the poop to the spar-deck
on the starboard. fright hand side) but a
wave sweeping the ship took me first
against the ship bulwarks, barely es-
Gaping a port, then against the cabin
bulk head with such violence that could
hardly stand for some time after. One
of the guns being nearly adrift, my
boats crew secured it, and then with
me repaired to the poop, and
kept we'll together in the mizzen
rigging. She thumped with such vio-
lence and was so often swept by the
waves that l told my men to 60 aloft
and lash themselves in the top. The
ship ives very much canted to port, so
we all crowded together to starboard.
She righted, however, and being steady
for few minutes, I noticed that her rig
ging was wire, and so strong that it
would be sure to hold, SO I had conclud-
ed we had better go below again. As
soon as we had reached the deck the
chief engineer came to me, begging me
to go with some of my men into the fire.
room, as there was one of the engineers
jointed between the boilers, and that the
fires were scattered everywhere around
the fre-room. Much as 1 would have
liked to have done so, it was too dam
gerous and foolhardy for eny one to have
gone below on such an errand, so that l
had to refuse. All this while the ship
was drifting in toward shore.
humping and humping along the
hntfnu-o 1inhf otiI1 hr,r
ing in the ward room, and fearing ex-
plosion, the Chief Engineer asked me to
go down by aropeto putt out. Although
1 did not like the job, especially as
there were quite a number of Peruvian
officers and men around me, still for my
own safety went down, but could not
reach the lamp, as they did not give me
rope enough, and the sea breaking in at
that moment extinguished it. Our lives
were not worth farthing at this time.
The cries of the crew were fearful. The
lights of the Wateree were in sight, and
the yels with which she was hailed by
the drunken crew of the America were
such that even now they ring in my ears,
| filling me with madness, for knew that
they were useless; that all the Wateree's g
boats had been swept away, and even
had she had boats, the seas would have
swallowed them up bes sitm .y'5uzi
: Soon after the foremast went by the
board, and tie main-topmast followed ;
fearing that the mizzen would 60 also,
the boats crew and L huddled together
on the poop deck, holding on to the
backstays. L fortunately fonnd small
piece of rope, what is called rattling
stuff, with which lashed myself to the
royal-backstay. The ship was canted
to starboard, SO we all kept to port. We
were now hard aground, yet the sea con
tinually swept MS fore and aft. I now
began to feel pretty secure, as unless the
sea rose, again, which did not think,
the ship would remain where she was
all right. being an extraordinarily strong
one. Suddenly the sea receded: and we
were left without an inch of water
under US. After discovering that
the sand was hard, all OF
the , boats crew but two left
the ship with me. We formed in two
ranks, grasped hands,, so as to haul up
the stumblers and help the weak, and
then ran for dear life, for the sea was
coming in again, fortunately not with
great velocity, so that we reached dry
land after a run of about half mile.
A tramp of about four miles brought us
to africa, where, on the hills, 1 found
Captains Gibbs and Doty and several
others of our officers who were there
waiting for news of their ships, and
aiding the wounded Mrs. johnson, the
wife of Lieutenant Commander M. l.
Johnson was killed by the first shock
Her death was instantaneous. She was
very much liked by ms, and had intended
to 60 home in month or two. The
next morning, 1 returned to the Wateree,
and found her about five hundred yards
from high water mark, and twelve
feet above the level of the sea. The
tidal wave, by measurement. was
forty-two feet high. Have been
hard at work every day standing watch
kidnapping mules, getting water and
burying the dead. All of the Fredonia's Is
crew are lost, except the Captain, DIR
Paynim, and two of the crew who were
washed ashore alive. I've written this
by the campfire, and have not time to
revise or correct it. The America is
right ahead of us, near the waters edge
The bark Chauarcillo. is complete
wreck. A little off our starboard bow
the Fredonia and another bark have been
so completely broken up that there is
hardly plank left to show where they
were cast ashore. A brig is upright
about halt way between here and africa
Every vessel in the harbor was cast
ashore. l have no idea what they will
do with us. .4'dETrh E5ta. -la
August 22-The Kearsarge and Nyack