The Portland daily press., 1871-11-16

dred and Nine Days WltnoM bafad .Of
Water.
The Alta Californ;a gives an account of the
loss of the brig She.ehoG, which sailed from
San Francisco June 22d and Vas struck with
a Cyclone July Sd. Fortunately the steamship
Moses Taylor,on her down trip from San Fran
cisco to Honolulu, encountered heavy weather.
ran off her course for several hundred miles,
and at o'clock on the morning of the 10th OF
October, in the latitude 26 deg. 40 min
north, longitude 14S deg. 80 min. west, tell IN
with and boarded the wreck CT the brig. FOUND
one man, the captain, alive on the foreeastle
deck, in an exhausted condition. All others'
crew and passengers, had died from pri'a''on
The captain. who had been man OF 100
pounds. was found an emaclated skeietoh' ana
when discovered in the forecastle OF MS wreck
ed shin. weighed less than l2O pounds. The
o,s.,;no he endured for over three months
oonnot he told. From the Hawaiian Gazette,
Of Oct. "a we CLEAN the following particulars
Of the disaster, given by o passenger on the
Moses Taylor:
DETAILS OF THE DISASTER.
On Thursday, Oct. 49, at 8 a. M, a sail was
discovered by the wheelman on the steamer
Moses Taylor. The vessel lay directly in the
steamers track, and appeared to be disabled,
having but one mast standing, and only her
lower topsail set, running before fresh south
east wind. On approaching her it proved to
be brig, apparently deserted, no persons ap-
pearing in sight on board. A sail spread over
the torcastle and tent rugged in the foretop
crosstrees showed that the crew had occupied
these places for some time. At every lurcb the
do q olao hroaoh
stem TO stern. To all appearances it was q
wreck which had long been waterlogged, and
her crew taken Oft by some passing vessel Her
stern was taken away, the bulwarks on both
sides gole and her sails flying from the lore
mast in rags. On reaching the wreck the
steamer stopped, and Capt. Bennett sent off a
| boat to ascertain whether any person was on
board, and if none, whether any record could
be found respecting her. The sea being QUITE
rough the brig lurched heavily, and the boat
approached her with some difficulty. She was
boarded, however, py third officer and sea-
man from the steamer, who Immediately went
aloft into the foretop, and finding DO one, went
into the forecastle, where they discovered a
weak, emaciated man, who exclaimed, as he
saw them: "Great God Almighty! am saw
ed?' He vas lifted into the boat and taken to
the steamer, the only article brought with him
being a small canvass bag containing nation
al almanac. and vial inclosing sheet of pa
per, with the date OF the wreck and names of
the crew and passengers.
1t proved to be the American Brig Shelehoff
213 tons register, OF San francisco, bound to
Callao with cargo of lumber. The survivor
was Capt Luder Hopken, the last of twelve
persons on board at the time of the disaster.
The brig was caught in cyclone on the night
of July Sd, the same date of the solar eclipse.
Soon after midnight, when the cyclone was at
its hight she was thrown on her beam-ends
| and found-to be rapidly filling, and in order to
prevent a. total loss of the vessel and her COM
l,a~. ott,fN of UTnG ant md no
righted up. No time was allowed to save any
provisions or clothing from the cabin, and the
crew were obliged to retreat to the fore-top to
prevent being washed overheard, as every wave
made clean breach over her.
The mate, Mr. johnson, died first six days
after the disaster. Two half barrels of salmon,
a half barrel of tongues, and box of China
starch we're fished up out of the hold, but the
drinking water was all found to be brackish
The salmon, tongues, starch, and a few fish
caught with hook from time to time, and &C.
casionaly little rain water caught in sail
and always more or less br ackish from the salt
spray, were all that the ships company had to
subsist on. Capt Hopken's account of the
sutferings of his men and passengers is most
heartre nding one. After the death of the mate
on the 9th OF July, none occurred till Sept 6
when they began to become deliriOus and weak
from hunger and thirst, and several died or
jumped overheard in their delirium. Boils
and disease, induced by hunger and salt water
auu6u TO Lnc lDUeuStty vi tnelr suHeflEgS. Nine
or ten days before the steamer rescued him
| Capt. Hopken states that a bark ran down to
| to the wreck, hove to for few minutes, then
squared away without sending of boat, OF
making any effort to rescue the lives of those
on board, of whom there were eight then Hy.
ing. The bark came so near that persons could
be seen moving about on her deck. Those on
this brig were so weak as to be unable to stand
but got on their knees and waived pieces of
sail cloth, hoping to attract attention. Their
fAal fhaD fhn hauIr
when so near them, may better be imagined
than described. Tneir last hope being gone,
lay down, and one after the other, died or leap,
ed over board.
The bark displayed no flag, and all that
Capt Hopken can recollect of her appearance
was that she bad a new, bright spanker set
Soon after the disaster occurred, Capt. Hop
ken set the toresail and ib (she only sails used)
aud rugged the rudder SO as to steer the wreck
from the foretop. This was accom- plished by
runolpg the rudder ropes through block aft,
and then carrying them forward to the foretop.
10 this way the briggs course was shaped to-
ward these islands toerab]y correct, without
| compass or chart The accident occurred in
III degrees. about 500 miles southwest of Cape
St Lusas. The wreck was fallen in with in
north latitude rs degrees 40 minutes, west
longitude 148Aegrees 81 minutes, about 400
miles northeastern Hawaii: showing that they
had run nearly 1000 miles in 100 days.
The brig sailed from San Francisco June 22d
with 200 600 feet of lumber on board. The
deck load was swept off by heavy sea soon
after she became waterlogged, AID a portion of
the lumber in the hold worked out the stern,
which was carried away. What remains is
probably rendered worthless by the worms
The foremast was loose and will be carried
away in the first gale So that the vessel and
cargo may be set down as total loss. Too
much praise cannot be given to Capt. Bennett,
of the Moses Taylor, for sending boat from
the steamer to examine the wreck, which, to
all appearance, was abandoned, and when nine
out of every ten shipmasters would probably
have Thought it waste of time to stop and ex-
anime her condition. But his humane course
has saved the life of one person. whose graft
tude no words can express. If tho passage of
this steamer has been a long one, caused BY
Constant head winds, compelling her to devia-
ate from her usual course, it is satisfaction to
know that an all wise Providence directed the
winds and guided the helm, and led to the rescue
of human being who had existed for 100 day
literally without bread and water and en-
dured sufferings which few mortals could sur
vive. The facts gi zen in this narrative should
teach sbipmasters never to pass wreck with
out ascertaining, if possible, whether any per-
sons remains on board. 10 conclusion Capt.
Hopken desires to express his heartfelt thanks
to Capt. Bennett, DR.. Tfowbridge and MIR.
BeaIs, who SO kindly nursed him, and to the
passengers on board the Moses Taylor who
have contributed so literally to his>wants.