Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-05-28
Loss Of Forty Vessels and Nearly
Four Thousand S0Hls. q e.,
One of the Most Terrible Galami-
ties of the Century--A Tale
Almost Beyond Belief
IcebergS and TOrnadO---A Whole
Fleet Swallowed up, Includ-
ing Four Steamers.

NEW YORK, May 27.-The Times, il
TO morrow's issue, viii publisf
the particulars Of the loss Of the vessels
of the coasts Of Labrador and New
foundland, during the sealing voyage
this spring. Up TO the latest possible
mail date, over forty vessels, including
four steamships, had been heard Of as
total wrecks, having been dashed tC
pieces while among the huge icebergs
and fields of ice during terrific hurri.
cane. On an average each of those YES.
sels carried about one hundred men
who We're employed as seal-hunters, and
out Of the four thousand human soul:
only one hundred and seventy-five have
been accounted for. The large majority
of those unfortunate men have left fam
lies behind them, exclusively dependent
on them for sustenance.
The following is a correct list Of the
ill-fated craft, which has not heretofore
been published:
Vessels known TO be lost: Maid of Ju.
dah, 81 men; Spark, l02; Bloodhound
steamship I25; Eclipse, 80; Raven, IS
Retriever (steanship), $50; savon P. G
y, 100, all hands perished; Aurora, "A
Laplander, 50; Witchof the Waves, 95
Edgar Doran, 9S; Swan, 81; Terra No
Va, us; Flash, los; LeOnora, 81; FRS
Fruit, IS; Lord of the Isle, IS; Esqui.
maux, IO4;g Custer 25; BIargaretta, As
Hawk (ship), rs; Emily Ann, I13;
Meteor, 20; IrOnsides, us; Lucknow, 9S;
William and Mary, 81 Pride Of the Sea,
III: Brothers, 80; Iceland steamship,
p: Hear, %; Nightingale, 65; all known
to he lost. Balaklava, 70; Eglarte, 50;
Herber F. Luby, 50; Queen Of the Island,
50: Hunter, 50; all known to have per
ished. Mary Jane, 43; Red Man, IS;
Home of the North, 1872 Many Others
have not vet been heard from, but all
those recoUnted above have been totally
wrecked and their crews not been ac-
counted for, except in very rare instances,
and the few who We're saved could not
give any definite intelligence Of those
they had left behind them. During
the night Of the loss of the steam
er Retriever, on board Of which
vessel was Captain Allstone, who fur
Hishes the shocking intelligence, six
teen sail Of vessels were hemmed in by
high bOulders and bergs of ice, over
which tremendous seas dashed high and
wild, so that il was impossible at times
lO discern the icy islands, and charge
after charge of the ungOvernable ships
against these mighty barriers soon cleft
some bulwarks asunder, and consigned
many stalwart forms and brave hearts
10 watery graves. While this feet lay
10 As q last effort 20 survive, a wild
northeastern hurricane, that roared and
ruled around them, many tossing crafts
cut down each other, and one fearful in
stance Is recorded, wherein a vessel,
drawn on an iceberg by high sea- fell
rack, with a mighty crash, upon brig,
which lay beneath the berg. A large
were instantly crushed to
death, and the Twin Sisters literally burst
in two. The rest, only fifteen out of
uinety-eight, chung TO the broken spars
and were by chance picked up by the
crew of the Retriever. Toward morning
the hurricane which had ragged ali night
began to subside. The scene which pre-
s,nted itself TO those on board the Re
tri ever, the only survivor of the feet of
ski cen, cannot be described, inasmuch
"a, one who witnessed the sight shrinks
hopelt ssly from the task of describing its
horror and ghastliness. The ice had
wedged into the space between the ves-
sells and the shore, and upon rudely-
heaped boulders and flakes of ice were
strown masts, yards, rigging, clothing,
and broken hulls, in the widest
disorder, worse still were the blood
s meared eorpses crushed to death by the
L, - Of ice closing ON them; some We're
ac, ually cut in two by the powerful jam
ming Of the fiOas, and Others half
,Ir0W ned and exhausted died from the
intense frost. The stitfened bodies lay
strewn around in a most CHASTITY atti-
tude. while many Of them could hardly
Ie recognized, they were 50 mangled. In
OF this wholesale ruin to
ihe seaI-hunting fleet Of New Found
land, it viii stick that country in
poverty and misery from which
il has but recently arisen. The 1reary
news Of so many wrecks and the long
Of dead have spread dessoia-
zion over the Island, mud have visited
4any a home with bitter grief and dis
l5ir. But, says Captain Allston, the
whole has not yet been tol0, hundreds
II the fleet are still 10 be heard from and
iheir fate may be even as glo Pmy as
{ hat Of the fOrty-one vessels Of WHICH
this account is presented.