Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1872-09-13
The Wreck or the Steamer Metis--
HeartrendlRg Incideats.

Post.
The Wreck OF the Steamer Metis--
HeartrendIRg Incideats.
NEW YoRK, September l..
The following are additional details of
the disaster to the steamer Metis, on
Long Island Sound;
Among the missing Is the wife of VIII.
liam L. Sheridan, of the Globe Theater,
Boston. Sheridan, who is at the Ocean
House, Watch Hill, says: "I knew moth
ing of the disaster which had overtaken
the vessel until there was great rumpus
outside my stateroom. / rushed out to
find the steamer sinking, and hurried my
wife into the life-boat. There were too
many of us in the boat. We proceeded
nearly to the land, when rough sea
caused our boat to tip over, and we were
all thrown into the water. 1t was terri
BILE moment There we're few of us who
could swim, and only eight or ten sue.
ceeded in laying hold of the boat. My
poorwife was not among them" Sheridan
here became very much affected, and hid
his face in his hands. In moment he
resumed, in a broken voice: "I have no
physical trouble; my grief is elsewhere.
to learn if my poor girl YVES among those
taken there by the cutter Among the
pathetic incidents of the disaster re-
member well the death of two little chill
dren. All the evening they played about
the saloon, prattling gayly with the pas
sengers, and seemingly wrapt up in each
other. When bedtime came one of them
said: Tiss me, mamma tiss me, for |
am going to Sleep and | saw them no
more alive. This morning their bodies
were washed ashore on the beach, clasped
in each others arms. They were beauti-
ful as life, and their cOuntenances bore a
placid smile as if death was painless.
Our boat capsized close by the shore, and
it was sad sight to us who had gained
our lives when we witnessed the struggles
of those who were unable TO withstand
the terrible undertow and were drowned
in our sight. Their upturned faces and
despairing looks will haunt me to my
dying day" Mr. Sheridan is much
prostrated by the shock he has received
But the saddest thing of all was in the sa-
loon ofthe Narragansctt, where satayouDg
woman, poorly but neatly dressed, weep
ing silently near the spot where the dead
body of her husband lay She was asleep
when the collision occurred, but was
band to get up and see what was the mat.
ter. He did So and soon returned, say
ing that the Captain had told him there
was no danger. He got into bed again, but
his wife could not sleep, and was soon
again alarmed by the sound of many feet
running TO and fro. A moment later the
steward, a brave man, of whom they all
speak well, rushed into the staterOOm,
and told them to put on life preservers, as
the ship was sinking. This was ter
rible shock, but they hastened to obey
the order. Two children of the Young
couple lay asleep-one baby, six weeks old,
the other boy of three. The father
took the biggest child in his arms, the
mother clung to the infant, and the two
struggled to the deck. The saloon was
knee deep in water by this time, and in
less than five minutes man and wife were
in the water. The waves ran high, and
soon husband and wife were swept apart.
The former lost strength, relaxed his hold
on the child, and both were drowned.
The mother held her babe above the
hungry waters until her strength, too,
was exhausted, and then wave larger
than the rest dashed it from her arms, and
she saw it sink slowly to the depths be
low. just as she was exhausted, and af-
ter the lite.preserver slipped from beneath
her arms, the Moccasin came up, and she
was recalled to life which, for the pres
ent, at least, is bitter indeed 81 have
my husband here" she said, "but they
can never find my babies in so large a
sea-" The poor woman goes to Philadel-
phia this afternoon, where her parents
live, and where her husband will be
buried.
Captain Ritchie, Of the revenue cutter
Moccasin, which saved forty-one lives
and took them, together with seventeen
bodies picked up near the wreck, to Ston
ington late last night, states: "The scene
was awful and heartrending TO these
engaged in saving the perishing, and can
only be realized BY experience. Fathers
looking for their children, husbands for
their wives, mother for her child, son
for his father, and sister for brother.
1t beggars description"
Some days, perhaps weeks, must elapse
before correct list of the dead can be
made out. All the papers were lost with
theship. Already anxious friends are be-
ginning to visit the officers of the com
pany, asking whether such or such a one
sailed in the Inflated steamer; but to all
such inquiries unsatisfactory answers are
returned.
The following statement is made by the
officials of the Neptune Steamship Com
pany: A full list OF the passengers, Off
cials and crew of the steamer Mets shows
163 persons on board, 141 of whom are
alive. The bodies of the other twenty
two have been found. Many have been
reported to-day, from various sources,
who were thought to be lost.
The deck hands seem to believe the
l.,
with saii.Cloth had the carpenter been set
to work before the water made such head.
way, and all agree that the vessel might
easily have been run ashore in time to
prevent loss of life. 1t is reported that
the vessel had already begun 10 lurch and
settle from the quantity of water in her
hold when the fireman first gave the alarm,
and 1t is almost certain that the water
reached the fires a very few minutes after
ward. There seems to be an impression
that this awful calamity would have been
averted had the captain, when the COLI
sion first occurred, taken the trouble to
go below and personally examine the
damage done.
THE Louisville papers tell a curious
story about a negro woman who was bit
ten by dog thirty years ago, and has
been subject to convulsive fits about twice
a month ever since She is perfectly
harmless, but when the fit is on she lies
on the floor doubled up like a hoop, and
barls for twenty minutes together. Her
bark cannot be distinguished from that of
a dog
In a recent debate a member of the
California Legislature exclaimed "The
honorable gentleman from Calaveras
County is undoubtedly person of great
abilities-a man of talent-a natural born
genius but there is one thing defy him
to do and that is, bite the bottom out Of a
frying pan Uidt9H smatting his nose"