The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1872-09-03

| could reach the scene the curtains had fallen
and the drama was ended. The East Beach,
40 called from half o mile from the light
| house, was st.ewn for miles with the frag-
ments of the wreck, heavy timbers, pieces OF
the Metis's masts, which were unstepped eEd
] carried away when she %foundered, her light
| and fancy work, scores of bales Of cotton and
| barrels were washed ashore on every sea.
| The loss of life by this terrible disaster Is un.
| precedented on the New England coast. The
| Metis had on board one hundred and flfty.fve
souls. Of these only elghty-three have been
| saved. though one of the propeller's life-boats
has not yet been heard from. The passenger
list
WENT DOWN WITH THE SHIP,
and 1t is at present, and perhaps ever may be,
impossible to know the full extent of the SAD
calamity.
The Awful Scene as Described by a Pas
senger.
Mr.. G. T. Guild. who resides In Brooklyn,
gives the fol. owing statement OF the disaster:
We left New York shortly after I'VE r. NJ.
Thursday. and nothing OF special note occur
red mill the evening had far advanced, when
| a violent gale came up. and every person was
| forc.d 10 leave the deck. In O few minutes
rain began TO fall and the vessel rocked 30
heavily thai nearly oil the passengers became
sick. By midnight 1t was almost lmposslle
for any person 10 stand up, and even tnea
MANY who were nervous had presenttmenls OF
danger. It was very late when 1 retired. and
it appeared but a short time after when l was
suddenly Weakened by the halt Of the steamer.
NV frat thought was that we were aground,
and felt certain, Judging from the state OF the
the weather when ] retired from the deck,
that our position was very precarlous, and
immediately made preparations to DEVISE
some means to save myself. When reacnea
lani- + hoorH mn h0H nn1inp6 with
q schooner, and though looked In all direc-
lions for the vesselI failed to:see 1t.
THE SCENE ON BOARD
nj this time was heartrending. Women with
| children cllngIng to their night-dres'es stood
| paralyzed with fear n were scarcely able 10
| move: others who were on deck sWooned
away and remained where they had fallen.
while many OF the remaining women and
children ran around the deck screaming aud
crying. Husbands were looking Tor their
| wives, while little children, who, In the excite
ment. had become separated from their pa
rents, ran from room TO room 10 searcn o!
them, and crying as though their hearts would
break, It would be Impossible Tor me to dc.
scribe the minute details Of that lew minutes;
but, for my part, as long as / live / shall never
forget 1t. A number of persons on board, and
who, I am sorry to say, call themselves men,
were not only greedy but hearIless'
Needless of the women and children,
who were already panic.stricken, they
thought only of themselves, and took
possession Of two aud three liie.pre-
servers, together with many other articles
which would help save their lives. The re-
suit was, that scarcely any Of the females on
board were left any means to keep mem ron
being lost. In less than TWO minutes alter the
Ecollision the main deck was crowded, and
some of the passengers who Imagined thai
the steamer was sinking, We're preparing 70
lump overheard. preferrlng to risk their lives
lin this way than walt until the vessel Was
going dowp. The captain, however, did con-
Esidefable to allay the panic by assuring the
people that no Injury was done to the steam.
er, and directed the pilot TO go In search OF
the schooner. This was at fifteen minutes
mast four A.. NJ. We sailed around In a circle
Ifor fully fifteen minutes, but could see notll-
ing that resembled a schooner. just men Inc
| StoDington passed US, but receiving assn,
RANGES that We we're all Right they continued
on their way.
Scarcely had they left us than the cry was rails
ed that we were filling with water, and almost
simultaneously with the report the fires were
| extingulshed. This intelligence tended to de-
| morallze all on board, and a repetition OF the
| first scenes were re-enacted, but IN o more
Etrightlul and terrible manner. The women
Iaud many of the men appeared to have no
ICOULIOl OfGE luSlk WOfSuAChto ~ W.
make any effort to save themselves except oy
tcrowdiug on the hurricane deck. Immediate.
ly three boats were lowered from the daVlts,
but BY som accident one was swamped. To
be candid, I would not venture my lie IN any
OF the boats, and it was 8 miracle that all were
Enot sunk as soon as they touched the water,
for when the second report Of our sinking was
announced q very heavy sea was running,
which threatened destruction even TO
q vessel. Strange as 1t now occurs to
me, I never, during the whole time, lost
my presence of mind, and to this fact
alone do 1 ascribe my escape. Not being able
to procure q life-preserver, I stood ready to
launch q bale of cotton, to which l intended
to hang until I was picked up. Every minute
| showed that the vessel was sinking lower and
lower, and those on board stood speechless
awslting their late. The poor women, who
huddled together on the hurricane deck,
scarcely uttered a word, while their children
stood by their side seemingly incapable OF
viewing the situation In its true light, conf
dent that no harm would befall them while
their mothers were by their side. Slowly but
surely the steamer kept settling down, aud,
when within a few inches of the main deck,
bale after bale Of cotton was flung overheard,
followed by two and three men who chung to
each of them. All of a sudden the vessel
made
A FINAL PLUNGE,
q cry of agony rent the air, and the hull sank
to the bottom, leaving the hurricane deck on
1.-THE surface. How the two portions Of the
vessel became detached 1t Is Impossible to tell;
but one thing Is certain, 1t was the only
means which saved the lives of any who were
Ion board. AS near as | can remember l was
about one hour and a half In the water, and
made many efforts to guide my bale In the
direction of the hurricane deck, which was
riding the waves like OR old whale boat.
i While I was conJecluring on my chances of
escape the deck suddenly neared me, and /
lcrled for help. One OF the men threw me o
Erope, which I caught, and was pulled. aboard
lIn a perfectly exhausted condition. The raft
Fat the time Of Its separation from the hull
was some five miles from shore, but the tide
keot running it into the beach. We could see
the people lined along the shore, and ielt con-
Ifdent that what remained OF our party were
lsayed. This belief was greatly strengthened
Jas we noticed that the people who were IN the
Itwo boats were rescued. When within q short
Edistance OF shore we could see
THE E BREAKERS
which were rolling towards the beach, but
gave it but q passing thought, thinking that
| when we had survived the sea of o Jew hours
previous no possible accident could befall us
| when so near shore. Scarcely had we reach
ed the first swell than the frail raft was sud-
denly pitched edgewise and broken into frag-
ments. Women and children were forcllly
thrown into the sea, and Immediately sank. lie
was at this time aud place tina. The female
portion OF the passengers were lost, as we'll as
la majority of the men. The spliBters OF the
Edeck fell In oil directions, and large pieces OF
lumber were hurled with terrible force In all