The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1872-05-28
FEARFUL LOSS OF LIFE
HORRIBLE TALE OF SUFFERING
LOSS BY THE TUG EXPLOSION
THE METHODIST BOOK CONCERN

wholesale Disaster and Fearful Loss of Life
Only rs, out of 1900 Souls Accounted
| For, .r. sa4
Neo York, May 27.--The following
are the names of vessels engaged in the
seal fisheries, known TO be lost off the
coasts Of Labrador and Newfoundland
during the Spring season, as ascertained
by the New York Times The "Maid of
JUDAH" 81 men; 'sSpark, J" lo2 "Blood-
heund," steamship, 1875; ECLIPSE" 90;
''Rover," 80; Retriever" steamship,
100; (men saved; "R. G. w." 1000 men,
(all hands perished); "Aurora," IA;
'Laplander," so ;"Witch of the Waves"
90; Edgar Doran,'' 1O2 "Twin sisters"
50; "Swan," 81; "Terranove," l15;
"Flash." lol; "Leonora." e2; "First
Fruit" II; "Land of the Isles," 75;
"Esqumaux," lo4; "Austcr," 81;
"Margarita, 40; Hawk" steamship,
1l5; "Emily Ames," lls; "Meteor, }" 70;
"Ironsides," 1l5 Lucknow" 9s "Wil-
liam and Mary" 81 "Pride of the Sea-"
III (all known to be lost; '.Hector,"
100; Brothers," 90; "Iceland,'' steam
ship, 1872; "IIero," A Nightingale, /" 65;
(men all known to be lost; "Balaklava,o -
70; "Eglantine," 80; "Herbert Luby,"
So; "Queen ofthe Isle," o6; Hunter" so,
(men all known to have perished); "Mary
Jane" 43; ''Redman," 65; "Home of
the North, !" 1872.
Others have not yet been heard from, but
all those recounted above have been totally
wrecked and their crews have not been ac-
counted for, except in very few instances.
The few who were saved could not give any
definate intelligence of those they had left
behind them. Out of 1000 souls, only Is
have been accounted for.
Most of these vessels were dashed to
pieces on icebergs and fields of ice during
terrific gale. Many of them are insured in
American companies, and merchants in
this city and Massachusetts were largely
interested in the fleet.
The wholesale disaster spreads poverty
and ruin throughout Newfoundland where
the victims nearly all belonged, as well as
the vessels generally.
During the night of the disaster, the
steamship "Retriever' and l6 sail vessels
were hemmed in by high boulder and
bergs of ice, over which tremendous seas
dashed high and wild. While this fleet
hove to as last effort to survive the hur-
ricane, many tossing crafts cut down each
other, and one fearful instance is recorded,
wherein vessel driven on an iceberg by
huge sea, fell back with mighty crash up
on the brig twin Sisters" which lay be-
meath the berg, crushing a large number of
men to death and literally bursting the
"Twin Sister" in two. The survivors of
the crew, only Is out of 9s, clung to broken
spars and were by chance picked up by the
crew of the "Retriever."
The day after the storm the ice opened |
and the Retriever made land, en- reaching
which she sunk and keeled over, but her
crew succeeded in escaping to the shore.
She was the only vessel that reached shore
out of the fleet of sixteen vessels in her
vicinity during the hurricane.
Hundreds of the feet are still to be heard
from and their fate may be even as gloomy
as that Of the forty-one vessels of which the
above account is. given by the Times. The
disaster occurred on the night of the llth of
April. The ruin Of the seal fishery is COM
plete.