Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1873-04-10
THE ATLANTIC WRECh-SCENES AT
MEAGHER'S ROCK-DOHN AMONG
THE DEAD MEN
of the New York Herald

Notwithstanding the weather has been clear
and calm ever since the eventful disaster, the
monster ship with all her strength has slow
! ly and constantly drfted to pieces. Divers,
though, have worked their best and have re.
covered hundreds of the bodies of the unfor-
Itunate victims. To look upon the position
of the sunken hull it becomes more ard more
incomprehensible how it was possible for the
vessel to have been driven in where she now
lies. 1t is the opinion Of the fishermen Of the
locality that she struck on the Grampus Reef
about half q mile east of the scene, and ran
along the reefs until she brought up against
the fatal rock. She is lying on her port side,
well under water from midships; the
hull is almost abreast of the reef and forms
sort of breakwater between it and the shore
of the island, which appears only about forty
| feet of. All that portion of the hull from the
forward hatch is severed as completely as if
it had been cut with some piece of machinery.
The sea has caused it to forge ahead thirty
feet or so, leaving gap or passage way,
where the small boats are continually running
in and out and carrying curiosity seekers from
the shore to the wreck and back.
| THE FATAL ROCK
looks close enough for one to leap on to it
from the forward part of the hull. 1t is a
small rock, or rather that portion of it which
was above water, scarcely thirty square feet,
beings stood for Two or three hours, until res
cued by boats from the main land. Volumes
and volumes of narrowing incidents might be
written Of heroism as well as of cruelty and
inhumanity but no pen can ever convey the
faintest idea of the CHASTITY spectacle which at
this very moment exists on the shore at the
scene of the awful disaster. This afternoon
and yesterday several of the fishermen, who
have been engaged in the sad business, car
lvtod thn hOAt he hon md laid hoy,
on the grassy knoll where the other bodies
had been laying The visitors crowded
around and gazed mournfully upon the sad
sight. Many could not stand it and turned
4 away from the place which has appro
a priately been called
1.-THE HILL OF DEATH"
Others lift their hats, and with reverential
4 awe step lightly along as if afraid to awake
ct those who are sleeping their last sleep. The
5 bodies were those Of Storage passengers
and most Of them were females. One young
woman was particularly handsome, and looked
ID as natural as if she had died peacefully ant
D. calm. She was fine featured young woman
. beautiful, no doubt, in life. Her name was
~ Bennett and she had a through ticket fol
p Boston. Her scapuars and beads were left
r on her neck when her name was entered in
:. a book by Squire Ryan. On the body of one
:" man thirty-sx sovereigns were found, and up
9, on that of another twenty. All the men and
y many of the women had valuables, such as
gold rings, brooches, money and watches.
> The magistrate and those who were assisting
8 him in searching the remains said that the
J. bodies found yesterday had more property on
. them than all the rest who had been buried,
except the body Of Mrs. Davidson, which was
e recovered on Saturday evening. One of
t The ROMANTIC INCIDENTS
. of this terrible calamity has been the dscov-
o cry that one of the men, common sailor, and
one whose life was sacrificed in efforts to save
others, was young woman of about twenty
e or twenty five years of age. Her sex was no,
7 known until the body was washed ashore ant
tho rude clothing removed preparatory fol
e burial. She had served as common sailor
for three voyages and was favorite shipraat,
20 with all She is described as having fewer o
the vices incident to a sailors life than is us
Vi ual, but she was, nevertheless as jolly an OLE
De tar as any of them. One of the survivors o
is the crew in speaking Of her remarked, &C.
:, didn't know Bill was woman. He used t.
ia take his liquor as regular as any of us, ant
d. was always begging and stealing tobacco. Fl,
r. was good fellow, though, and anu sorry HI
- was woman" The most singular part o
III the whole story is that the woman was ar
le American, and was about the only one of tina
re- nationality belonging to the crew. Who sh,
j., was and where she came from, and her mo-
~ tive for leading such life of hardship, never
al was and never will be fully known.
4. All along the coast, a few rods back from
"A the shore, are hundreds Of rude, plain, un.
Z" painted collins, piled up in a hideous, conglom
o. Grated mass. In front are long lines of dead
IN men, women and children, in all the various
II, positions which result from sudden death
ia There was woman with her hands clasped
r in prayer and a peaceful expression on hel
8, face; then man who had evidently persisted
IN in terrible agony; then, most heartrending OF
:" all, little girl staring sightless; babe will
its arms clasped about the neck of its mother
Id and the deadswoman clinging to her child SC
y. firmly that they could not be parted, was one
: of the many scenes which make strong mer
q weep.
lie ONE VERY HANDSOME WOMAN,
n with long, flowing dark hair, had died seem.
or ingly in the effort to her beautiful per
to son from rude gaze. Almost her only raimen
W was night wrapper, and that was clutchst
nc about her person Another woman, lyine
1. still and stark, was in the very act of hook
ing her dress when death overlook her. Ar
~ old man had one arm raised, and the Other
Is hand, grasping purse containing fifteen SOW
Is ereigns, had been wrenched from it. The
grasp of the dead almost defied that of the
living.
THE VESSEL UNDER THE WATER
Anxious to obtain a view of the ship below
- the water. the Herald correspondent procured
- diving suit, with the permission and under
- the direction of the wreckers and divers who
,e were at work upon the hull, and descended
into the interior of the wreck. The waters
were clear and every object plainly visible
= around the ship where she lay on the reef. 1t
. was the first time for the correspondent to
seek information beneath the waters, and the
;, sensation is almost Undesirable. The air
y y from above, which is furnished through the
y rubber tube, comes with kissing sound, pro-
ducing strange feeling. l shudder at the
thought of being immersed so deeply, and
J. how slight an accident would insure instant
y destruction. All around the objects looked
wierdlike; the glasses in the casque magnify
ing the already bloated forms into twice their
size. The waters are very cold, and chilly
feeling creeps over me at irst, but as pro.
coed it wears away and l enter upon the task
have undertaken with more nerve than
, fancied possessed. The immense hull lies