The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1870-05-25
THE ONEIDA.
SKETCH OF THE DESCENT OF
ADIvER TO THE ILL-FATED VESSEL.

ADIvER TO THE ILL-FATED VESSEL.
A few days since, says the Sacrament
to Union, the "borrowed" steamer Ar
oostook, with Charles aud j. s. Lou
gee, practical and experienced divers
from an Francisco. went to where the
Oneida lies, in 1913 feet of water. At
ter the usual preparations had been
| concluded, and by sounding, it had
been ascertained that the deck If the
Oneida was lob feet beneath the sur
face OF the bay; after every caution had
been given to eight strong sailors to
keep the air pumps in constant mo-
ton, and allow not an instant of stop
page to occur, as thereby de ended
the lite of the bold diver; after Charles
Lougee had been llelmeted, and shut
from air except that supplied through
the slender tube IF coiled rubber, with
a line around the body and leaden
clogs to his feet. with Good bye" and
"God bless YOU from all aboard, he
was dropped over the side and slowly
disappeared in the blue waves, while
a nervous tremor shot through our
frame as realized the fearful risk un-
dertakeil by TINT man who was seeking
| for truth in over one hundred ieet of
| water. Away to the leeward, borne by
tide and wind, came floating bubbles to
the surface life signals from below.
The men at the pump labDred manful
ly, but becoming fatigued. attempted
t" change for fresh hands, and there
was il STOP. C'Great God You will
murder my brother Qnick, for Hea-
ven's sake, quick!" And as the men
NOW commenced tile revolutions of the
air-pump, the elder LOugee, with
blanched face and trembling lip, gave
a sigual on the life line below. For an
instant there was no response, and the
face of that brother seemed tn turn to
marble; hut then we saw two quick
motions from the submarine station,
and knew the welcome signal of tall
right" and then Lougee turned to the
men at the wheel, who came So near
sending death below, and simply said
"my only brothers life depends upon
your etfnrts in keeping constantly in
m"tion-stop again at your peril"
The calm face and passionate eye
told those men not to stop again, and
with Lieut.. Tanner close by they kept
at work until slapped by orders from
Lnugee. Meantime, while we were on
! the deck Of that d-pan," counting
the tedious moments which heightened
to half an hour, Charley Longee was
searching the Oneida! at the tremendous
depth mentioned. At last came the
signal for surface" and instantly the
life line was put in motions; slowly
came the coiling hemp and rubber on
deck. at last, away in the deep blue
waves came in sight the driver, sllrond-
ed and panoplied in weird garments.
As he came to the surface he reached
Minister De Long a sword and lac
qnered box, and then was his helmcd
loosed, and our party crowed around
to hear of the gallant ship. Among
our party were many of the survivors
| of the Oneida; among them were Will
liam CrownipgShield, Capt. Clark, Mas
ter Yates, and Dr.. james Suddered.
who were intensely excited to learn the
| tidings. atH 2 h. ~.
Said the diver: The water for the
| first 20 feet was quite clear, as the sun
gave excellent light. and although my
supply of air was once choked for an
instant, reached the deck of the ship
| just asteln of the mizzen- mast and close
by the mess room hatch the tide was
ebbing quite strong, and was com
PEELED to hold to lines from the rigging
to keep from being swept forward.
list examined the side OF the ship she
WAS cut from the mizzen rigging lat al
angle of about 40 degrees) across the
| ,,,b.,1a ctnrr e tho shin. hnr FIN, 1,nrS
far below the water line, being crushed
and broken; the captains cabin cut in
two; the wheel aud steering gear all
carried away; and, in fact, the whole
side aud end of the ship stove in or cut
away. The ship is heading Sonthwes,
and it's upright tn the bottom, and il
making sand slowly. laid dawn or
:he deck and peeIed over the broken
end into the cabin, but did not dare
trnst my airline in contact with the
Jagged flinders. The guns and arma.
lnent except one, are all in place ait
but | did not go forward, as / wa;
afraid of entanglement in the rigging
| Turning to Crnwningshield, he said
"Yonr evidence, which / read, described
almost exactly the injury, except that She
was cut deeper than you could have
! known"
Longee expressed the belief that it will
he impracticable to raise the ship. bn
that the splendid battery. personal effects
etc can be saved if the Government sees
proper.
BY this survey the testimony of the liv
ing is verified and the memory of the deat
without stain, for the position of tn,
ship as found. aud the positions of bott
the Oneida and Bombay, as testified to b!
the navigating officers, shows that it wa
impossible for the captain Of the Bomba.
to have ever seen the red light of th'
Oneida and that the order of "port you
helm,' by Captain Eyre, was wrong, ant
the 'starboaId, hard starboard" of, Mas
ter Yates was right.
Here we bid adieu to the Oneida ant
her attendant train of saddened memories
BY the same ship which bears this letter
ler surviving men and officers will so tt
San Francisco; their loved companion
and shipmates lie deep in the Businesses o
the Japan sea
A Coop SUGGESTION = a wrtrr in tn
West Point Herald makes suggestion fu
building factories in the South that i
worthy of consideration 1t is f,r tn
| Il fol Farm, th l,,o