Juniata sentinel. [volume] (Mifflintown, Pa.) 1846-1873, 1872-05-29
Az APPALLING DISASTER.

FRIGHrFUL NEWS FROM THE SEAL FISH
rRIss-Loss OF FORTY FIVE MEN
THREE STEAMERS AND SEVENTEEN
SAILING VESSELS WRECKED.
ST. JOHNS, N. F., May "a.
The steamer NimroG has brought us
tidings of disaster from the ice-felds
She reports the loss Of the sailing vessel
Huntsman. commanded by Captain Rob
ert Dave. of Bay Roberts. on the 2sth
of April, near Cape Charles, on the coast
of Labrador.
1t appears that on that day the Hunts
man, in company with three other YES
sells, found herself in a most perilous
position, bsset in drifting pack of
heavy ice. the savage shore of Labrador
close under her lee, and furious north
easter driving the ice foes upon the shore
For time she battled bravely with the
floating ice mountains but about nine
clock P. NJ tremendous sea struck
the vessel, and flung her bodily with a
fearful crash upon Fish Rock, where she
Immediately began to break up. just
before she struck, and as the black face
of the rock doomed 10 leeward, three of
the crew jumped over the weather side
with the hope of escaping; but no sooner
had they cleared the side than they were
struck by huge foe and killed. The
remaining fifty-nine men took to the rig
ging as the sea was breaking over the
ship.
They had been but few minutes
there when both masts went overheard,
hurling them all into the sea amid terri
bic ice masses. Forty-two of the unfor-
tunate men were either drowned or crush
ed to death by the floating ice. Seven
teen managed to scramble upon the ice.
only three of the whole being uninjured,
the rest having arms, legs or ribs broken
Could the imagination picture a more
awful condition in which it is possible
for human beings to be placed ?
Drenched with the freezing spray that
dashed over them every moment, writh-
ing with the agony of broken limbs,
pierced by the bitter cold, deafened by
the noise of the ice foe around, blow
from one of which might consign them
any moment to the dcep-thus the poor
fellows spent the long weary hours Of
that terrible night, almost envying the
fate of their comrades who were now at
rest beneath the waves. Still life was
sweet to the sufferers; and the thoug hit
of weeping wives and children at home
nerved them to make an effort.
They knew that not far off was YES
sci bearing the auspicious name of the
Rescue, commanded, too. by brother of
their captain, who had gone down with
his men. With the first CLEAN of day
light they were able to make out the
ship; and the fo,lorn group. helping one
another as they could-those with only
an arm or rib broken aiding the more un-
fortunate sufferers from broken legs. the
Three suunu men le..Ii..o L~..I III
around-,hey all managed to crawl nearly
mile over the broken ice, and at length
reached the rescue
After such frightful sufferings the re-
covery of many is still doubtful. -Four
days afterwaard, one poor fellow, who
had managed to scramble on a rock, was
taken off alive by the crew of the steam
ship Wolf. He is still living, though
terribly manned and frost bitten
One very sad feature in this case is
that all the men who were lost belonged
to one small fishing village, Bay Roberts,
on the north side of Conception bay, and
more than thirty of them were married
men. 1t is said there are thirty three
widows and more than a hundred or
phans by this catastrophe. Hardly a
family in the little village but has lost
some member or dear relative, so that it
is scene of mourning, desoIation and
woe"
Loss OF TWO STEAMERS
In the same terrible gale in which the
Huntsman met her doom, the steamers
Bloodhound and Retriever were crushed
by an enormous iceberg and sank. The
Bloodhound was the first to meet her
fate, striking heavily on an iceberg at
midnight. By desperate exertiona the
crew managed to keep her aaoat until
daylight. when they had to abandon her