Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1869-11-08
TERRIBLE DISASTER.
Loss Of the American Vessel ]. P. Whitney
and Thirty Of her Crew.

been totally lost, while on her way
from Calcutta to Mauritius. This YES
sci was, when lost. owned by Messrs
McAllister q Field, of the American
Tudor Ice Company, at Calcutta and
Bombay, but was formerly in the
hands OF Mr.. r. ID. Sumner, of New
Orleans. She was a Maine built ship.
of 1000 tons burden, and about fifteen
wears old. Her owners hold American
policies OF insurance for the full value.
The following is Mr.. Shalder's version
of the disaster, and as il has been re-
Vised by the Captain, it is undoubtedly
an authentic account ofthe shipwreck.
twill benoticed that the second mate,
Mr.. Rainey, and thirty-one Lascar
sailors have been drowned, while the
sufferings OF those who nave had the
good fortune to escape have been very
great. The report says:
After the ship left Calcutta she eX-
perienced light variable winds, with
occasional squalls and heavy seas,
till the sth OF April, when the barom-
eteT indicated a change, and the
whole appearance of the heavens was
that Of an approaching storm. Every
thing was done that a careful and eX-
perienced shipmaster would do under
the circumstances, but the wind in
creased to gale, with heavy seas,
which continued till the following
day, when it blew a hurricane, and
the waves broke frequently over the
sides and fOrecaStle. At in the
morning heavy sea struck the ship
sud carried away the bulwarks on
both sides fore and aft, sweeping the
decks and staving in the fore part Of
#aesa 1asH a arf of
main house. The ship now labOred
very heavily, as there was confused
cross sea, which rendered her almost
unmanageabie, and on the pumps be-
ing sounded il was discovered that
she had sprung leak. All hands
We're immediately employed IN pump
ing ship.
At noon the gale had moderated a
little, but the leak was gaining very
fast. aud there was five feet OF water
In the hold. Orders were now given
TO throw overheard some Of the cargo,
which was Immediately done from
the hatch in the carpenters room, as
il was impossible, owing 10 the water
washing over her decks, TO open her
main hatch. In spite OF all that could
be done, however, the water cOntin-
ued To deepen in the hold, and at
O'Clock at night il was clear that the
ship was rapidly settling, and would
have 10 be abandoned. The night was
very dark. but there was nothing else
90 ba done, so the Captain gave orders
70 have all the boats ready, with water
and provisions, to leave the ship. At
half-paSt 8 the boats We're lowered,
but the sea Was so high that one OF
them was stove in, and Mr.. Ranney,
the second mate, and about twenty OF
the men were drowned. The boat in
which / was contained the Captain,
the chiefmate, myself, and eight sea- }
men.
As nearly a. we can reckon it, the
wreck occurred in latitude Is degrees E
p4 minutes south, longitude Il degrees
- minutes east. Here we were, 100
miles from Rodriguez, the nearest
land, for which the Captain intended
10 steer in the morning. Our boat was
only - feet long, by > feet beam, and,
owing TO the Captains instructions as
to water and necessaries not having
been properly carried out, we had
only three pound tins OF preserved .
meats and four tins of fruit, three
small lOavcs of bread, and about three .
and a half gallons of water. In the
morning the sailors soon got tired Of
rowing, but a small cotton sheet was
found ON board. which was made to .
do service as sail. For several hours
after daylight we kept in the vicinity
of the wreck, in the hope OF finding
come Of the rest Of the crew in the
other boats, After some time We met .
five men on a raft constructed out of
one of the boats, with the Captains
1T. Il Nn8sN
reported that the other two boats had .
gone down, and begged to be taken
on board. This was impossible, how
ever. a. our boat was already loaded .
to the gunWale, and he was very
heavy. Hard a. it seemed to leave .
the poor fellows to their fate, the Cap
tain felt himSeifunable to do anything
else. To have attempted to have
saved them would almost certainly
have resulted in the sacrifice Of all the .
lives imperiled,
From the time We left the ship un-
Isl we made Six Islands period Of
twelve days-Ye suffered terribly from
starvation and exposure to the sun.
The first day the captain very wisely
determined 10 serve out a very small
quantity Of the stores. our meal only
consisted of a small piece of bread and
two spSDniuls VI water; L3ScarS and
Captain were served alike. The next
day-Sunday, the Ilth-the wind
shifted ia the early morning, and it
was clearly impossible 10 s,aer for
Rodriguez. Fortunately the Captain
had preserved his charts, and ON the
wind greatly ireshening the Captain
and the mate came to the conclusion
that they were IN the southeast trades,
and THAI it would he best To try and
make ior Diego Gracia, in the ChagOs
ArckiD aiIgl. This day a tin OF pre-
served meat Was served out, which
gave a spoonful al round; but, uniOr-
5unatpiy. a. We had 60 Eaep before the
wind, the boat shipped heavy sea,
and the remainder OF the bread was
saturated with salt water. Half
gallon OF the limited stock of water,
witch was in an open jug, Nas also
spoiled: but this was only temporarily
a Source OF regret, "a a shower Of rain
fell la the afternoon, and enough
water WAS caught in the sheet sail aud
an uii-skiu coat OF the Captains 10 re-
move aii tear Of running very short.
On Monday We rugged up a lib sail,
Witici helped the boat on little. a
great deal of surprise had been felt at
the wonderful patience with which
the I.ascars seemed to endure the
thlTst. from which we were suffering
gre.itiN; for although there was now
a good deal of water in the boat, IL
was Thought bert To serve il out very
spariugly, a. IL was, of course, impOs-
sibIe 20 tell how long it would be be-
fore land was made. By carefully
watching them, however, Il was dis
covered ina; these mpu had got jar
of sugar, which not only alleviated
their thirst. but also served instead Of
food. The sugar was, Of coarse, taken
away from them and thrown into the
common stock. IA fact, on this day
the only rati0us seFged cat 10 them
were three spD0uiuiS Oi sugar and
three little w0Jdan measures Of water
per man. Ca Tuesday lhe sea was
very heavy, and the waves threatened
10 swamp the boat every moment. Z
Ii commenced with "a long swell, but /
the waves soon got ShOrteras the wind ,
increased, and at last broke over the ,
boat 50 fcariully that We all thought !
our last h0ur was come. II was with
difficulty that the captain could steer,
and the water had 20 bee constantly I
l,.iled gat. Fortunately, the boat was ,
built sharp on both ends, and the Cap /
tain, who held the tiller, being very I
stout. his broad back tOa great extent,
preserved the boat from being filed
and swamped. Tie mast, whicil was !
a good, stout ash one. bent like reed,
and al last the Captain, % tighten the
boat. ordered all the clothes 10 be
thrown overheard, as they were sat
urated with water and very heavy.
Shirts, coats, trOwsers, boots, ali alike
were east into the sea. Though We
now saw it was a fOrlOrn hope, We de- {
termined TO struggle to the last. Stern
despair was stamped on every faee-a I
hook none who shared that terrible
voyage will ever forget. But il is use
less TO describe and detail the daily
miseries we endured through that ter !
iible twelve days voyage. Some days
oar only food ", : a little sugar and I
later, and ali thkNtime we were how
ering between life and death. !
at last, on the 2ist OF April we
sighted the Six Islands, Mr.. L8pierre,
the Administrator, coming out four
miles to meet our boat. Many Of the
men, when they had landed, were so :
weak that they could hardly stand. ,
Mr.. Lapierre treated us with the ut
most kindness, giving us clothing and