, 1870-04-22
THE ONEIDA,
Arrival OF tho Remnant OF IEcr Crew
-Sintcnlcnsh OF Survivors
dents OF the Wrcci6-Hccoycry oil
the Body of the Captain.

Arrival OF tho Remnant OF IEcr Crew
Statements OF Survivors n-1nci-
dents OF the wrcci6-Tccoycry OF
the BODY Of the Captain.
From the San ftuneisco Chronicle, Apra1&.
The steamship America arrived yesterday
morning, having among her passengers forty
nine Of the survivors Of the Oneida crew.
Although circumstances Of the mournfu1 dig
sster have becr 20 much discussed AZ to rem
der them familiar to everybody, We felt thst
the statement OF an eyewitness could not but
he interesting. and therefore interviewed two
Of those actually on the deck Of the Oneida at
tho time OF the collision, who rolAte their e1-
per7cnces as follows:
STATEMENT OF ONE OF THE CREW or TIE LIFE
poAT.
We hsd left Yokohama that evening about
o'clock, chcered by the ships Of wnr in the har
bor. At about half-past 6 We sighted the
| steamer Bombay, bound into Yokohama.
| When saw her ahe was about three miles OF.
| We were under sail-she under steam. The
officer on the forccastle reported her To tue
! officer Of the deck-Mr. Williams: About fl
teen minutes after that Mr. Williams, seeing
that the steamer was about to run into us, had
| tho helm put a-starboard. She WIS running
| right for our starboard lights. She then r1n
into us with q dreadful shock. The ordcz,
t.Al hands shorten SAIL" wns Immediately
men had no idea that tho nhip was sinking,
soon found that tho r.itder had been carried
away, and the chip unrnanageable: The ex-
ecutive officer, Nj. Steward, hailed the Bonn
bay, which At that time wns cioso to us a.
most, you mi ght say, within arms length.
heard no Answer to the hail We then blew
our whistle, and aftezwArl fired three guns:
A fourth charge wss rAmmel III, but it would
not go OF, the water being up to the gun BY
The Captain had been very sick. and was sick
in lis cabin at the time OF the collision; saw
two men carry him out Of his cabin md sup
rort him to the bridge, from which he gnve
the orders: Silence on deck" Man tho rig-
glng," and ''Man the boats" The executive
officer begged him to get into the boat; he
kaid, u III stand By the ship" was saved in
the lle-boat. Tie lfe-boat crew was ordered
into the boat, and seven Others afterwards got
: in, making seventeen in all. saw the slip
SO down. II went down stern first, 70 that
could see the keel ut the bows when she
plunged down. When it went down those on
boarl raised 4 loud yell OF ecream. We after
, ward pulled right nehore, and walked thirty
: miles into Yokohama that night, arriving about
dayhreak. was among tho number Of those
who went out in the Idaho: and aftsrwasd in
the Rustic. to look for the bodies. We found
tisec, the Captain ithc carpenters, and that
| Of n 1rst-class fireman named Thomas 1laddy.
We recognized tho Captains body By ring
bearing his name, aud by his stockings,
which also Ind his name on them. The car
| lSAtta Wao AOAuF uut ll4Atb Ol uOIES,
held together 1y his clothing; all the flesh was
, !, gone; we knew it by the shoes. The bods Of
| tie fireman was avery strange sight. Soma
rarts were quite white aud untouched. while
! though it had been beaten with club. Tie
divers who went down to the wreck Of the
, Orcida saw no bodies. aud they only sent up =
! cl!t!ass and curious box OF two. They were
1frnia to 80 between decks, and wouldn't.
Jnst before wo left Japan two more bodies
! | oF tt,.t.
Brown. The Japanese behaved ~ kindly to
: us as any one could behave when NO landed
! from orr boat
.. Another Of the survivors asys: Ut saw the
Captain leaning on the rail Of the bridge I
heard him give the orders: Lower the fret
cutter: men save yourselves; can do no
more for ron those that cannot save them
selves otherwise 60 up into the rigging The
officers wcFe nearly al standing round him. I
heard Sailing Master Mulroy say to the Cap
him reply, Don't bother me- When got iu-
to the first cutter, tho bridge, which is raised
: about three feet abovo the bulwarks, wna
nearly under water We saved forty-tllreo in
onr boat; When the ship went down the
water rushed With great violence ont Of the
funnel, and The yortox VIE 30 strong that VIC
wele carried right over where the slip had
| BEEN.
Much bitter feeling VAS manifested in the
disaster. of course the English residents Of
Yokohama sided generally with the Captain Of
the Bombay, while the Americans unanimously
! condemned him. The aequittL Of Captain
Eyre, a. the result Of the inquiry III his con-
duct, did not aerye to allay the excitement,
since il was palpah'y unjust to aeauit linn oi
all blame, although tho czten. Of his
culpsbihty might have been matter
Of opinion. Another investigation
, was therefore held by Naval Board, but tho
! rcsnlt Of their Inquiries will not be known
fntil submit ffe3 t,
ties At Washington, whittier they have been
forwarded.
The body Of the 'amented Captain Williams
WAS buried at Yokohama with al the ceremo-
! nics which respect for Lis memory conld die
tate: any the bodies Of tho carpenter and ire
man were also placed near him. Tho coEins
were afterwards removed to another location,
that first chosen being found unsuitable.