The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-11-28
Perils of the Sea.

| CASE-ELEN En- hEN HASHED tRUM The WRECK
AND DRowSED-MARK TwAIN's ACCOUNT OF
THE RESCUE OF TIE SURVIVORS.
The Cunard steamship Batavia, Captain
| Moulard, arrived at Boston Monday, and re-
ports that Oh the 10th of November, when
in latitude 49 degrees 10 minutes north, lon
gitude Al degrees 27 minutes west, she fell in
with the British bark Charles Ward, Of New.
castle; England; water:ogged and dismasted
| in hurricane on the morning Of the 18th;
| and took of the survivors of fhe bark's com:
| pement of twenty men, the other eleven
having been washed off the wreck.
Mark Twain, who was q passenger on the
| Batavia, addresses q communication to the
Royal Humane Society giving a detailed ac-
count of the wreck, and bestowing the
warnest praise on the officers of the Bata-
via. He says, under date of Wednesday:
On Sunday night strong west wind be-
gan to blow, and not long after midnight it
| Increased to gale. -;
The storm continued during the day and
all night, and also all day Yesterday, but
| with moderated violence. At P. NJ. dis
masted vessel was sighted. Captain Mou-
| lard immediately bore up for the wreck,
| which was making signals of distress, Or
| dered out q life-boat, and called out for VOL
| uuteersi .Te a landsman 1t seemed like de-
| liberate suicide TO 60 put in .siich q storm,
| but our third and fourth officers answered to
| the call with promptness that compelled a
| cheer.
They carried long line with them, several
| life-buoys, and lighted lantern, for the at
moSphcre was murky with the storm, and
sunset was not far off. The wreck, a bark,
was in a pitiful condition. Her mainmast
was naked; her miZzenmast and boWSprit
were gone, and her foreDlast was buta stump
| wreathed and numbered with ruin Of sails
and cortlage from the fallen foretop and fore
top.gallant maStS and yards.
We could see nine men cliDging't TO the
main rigging. The stern Of the vessel was
gone, aid tie sea made clean breach over
| her, pouring in a cataract ont ef the broken
| stern and spouting through the prrted
| blanks of her bows. Our boat pulled three
hundred yards and approached the wreck
on the Iee-side. Then 1t had a hard fight,
| for the waves and the wind beat it constant
| y back.
But al last they got the line and buoy
aboard, and after that we could make out
| nothin" more: Presently we discovered the
boat approaching US, aud found that she had
saved every soul nine Ucn. They had had
to drag these men, one at time, through
the sea to the lile-boat with the line and
buoy, for of course they did not dare TO
touch the plungins vessel with the boat.
| The peril increased now, for every time
| the boat cot close to our lee our ship rolled
over on her and hid her from sight. But
our people managed to haul the party
aboard, one at 4 time, without losing man,
| though J said they would lose every single
| one of them. I am; therefore, but q poor
success as a prophet. =: -.
AS the fury of the squall had not dinlins
| ished, and as the sea was so heavy II was
| feared we might lose some men if we tried
! to hoist the Iifc-boat aboard, so she was
turned adrift by the captains order, poor
| thing, after helping in such gallant deed,
To speak by the log: and to be accurate,
| Euptliii Motllatd gave the order tg. change
our ships course and bear down tCysards the
! wreck at 4;14 P, NJ,
At 81 our ship was under way again with
| those nine poor devils on board; that Is 10
sav, this admirable thing was done in ire
n,cndous SEA, and in the face of hurricane,
in sixty minutes by the watch. The wrecked
bafE tyac the Charles Ward. Captain Bell,
bound from Quebec to scotlaEd, With lol,-
Tha vessel went over on her beain-ends at
O O'Clock Notify morning, and eleven men
were washed overheard and lost. Captt1:::H
ReIl and EIGHT men remained, and these our
| boat saved. They had been in the maln-r1g-
| ginp some thirty -one hours, without food OF
water: and were so frozen and exhausted
that when we got them aboard they coula
hardly speak, and the minds OF seVeral Oh
them were wandering.
! The wreck was out Of the ordinary TRACK
of vessels, and was 1900 miles from land.
Sbn was in the centre of the Atlantic. our
life.boat crew of volunteers consissea OF she
following. D. Gilies, third officer +; b. hyle'
Efourth officer; Nicholas Foley; quarternas,,
ter Henry Foley; quartermaster NathaDlei
Clark. ouartermaster; Thomas HeDry' sea-
] man John Park, seaman Richard Bren1lan;
seaman. After speaking OF the enthusiasm
of the passengers, Mark Twain continues:
As might have heen anticipated, II | nave
| been of any service towards resculng tnese
nine shipWTccked human beings by stanolnS
around the deck in furious storm without
any umbrella, keeping an eye on tnlngs
and seeing that they were done rlsnt,
and yelling whenever cheer seeinea 10 De
the important thing, am glad anG am
satisfied / ask no reward. Wou1a 40 IL
again under the same circumstances. Blu
1 Wuut L uO plCdu lOi Col uCsllS ehN SthN>AS's
| Is that the Royal Humane Society will re-
member our captain and our life-boat crew,
and in so remembering them increase the
high honor and esteem in which the Society
| Is held all over the civilized world. In this
appeal Our passengers all join with hearty
| sincerity.
am, gentlemen, your obedient servant,
| GSigned1 MARX TWAIN
| Hartford, Conn. Samuel L. Clemens).
Here follow the names of all the passen.
gers. among whom were Sidney D. Palmer.
! and MIR. and Mrs. Z. 6. Moss, Of New York.
and James Hall, State Geologist, OF Albany
| Mr.. Clemens was chairman OF the Commit
! tee on Address.
/ This is newly-invented swindle: A
"plnin man " in a car or a crowd suddenly
finds gold ring in the dirt. A oystanaei
looks at the ring, pronoInces the man llehy,
4 a,,5 tlo ,,;,,,r ,ro,th SIN or 515 OF cOllrSe