The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1873-02-11

The London Times OF January 25th pub
fishes details Of the terrible disaster to the
ship Noithilcet, from which it appears that at
iiaii-past l0o'clock at night the captain and
Others were alarmed by cry from the officer
OF the watch, "A steamer is right into U.s."
The captain and pilot rushed on deck, but
before they got there the steamer had run
Into the vessel, ~
| STRIKING HER AMlDsHIPs,
ard cutting her below the water-.nark. The
carpenter reported her nearly half full OF
water. The pumps were started. promptly
and tho crew worked hard ut them for some
minutes, but when it vas found that the
| water was rapidly gaining, panic seemed to
| seize both crew and passengers and the OH
GERS could not keep the latter in check. a
crowd of men and women had rushed up
from their berlus,
| MANY ONLY HALr-eLOTHED.
| The passengers bud mostly retired but few
! we've undrcS:cd. The noise of the collision
is Iikencd by enc Of them to peal of thun-
der, and such WAS the violence Of the shock
| that those Standing were knocked down.
It appears that tho steamer rebounded and
| came q second time in collision with the
| Nortllllcct; water bf'gan to pour in, and in
a very short time the passengers quarters
were Swamrcd. The women were slower
to rush Gu deck than the men, and many
were not in Il condition to go till the water
rose thrcatenngly around them. No one on
| board the steamer was heard to speak, al
though loud and eager shouts from the
| Nurthtlcct must have made her crew aware
OF the terrible danger that existed. She
| backed for two or three minutes, and then
steamed rapidly away and was soon out of
sight. For half an hour the scene on the
deck Of the NoTtltlcct was appalling.
| WOMEN sHRIEEED, MEN CURSED
and swore and fought their way toward the
boats, whilst the captain and first matcroareG
out commands to keep back ard allow the
women to get to the side of the vessel, but
apparently without success. Rockets were
| tired ard blue lights burned. The gun was
| loaded. but the screw Of the ramrod became
detached from the handle, and the piece
could not lie discharged. Signals of distress
were seen by several vessels, but appear to
| have been regarded rs signals for
pilot for 10 assistance was rendered.
| Meanwhile the scene on deck batiipd descrir-
lion. The captain, finding the men deter
mined to leave til" vessel, went below, armed
himself with revolver, and, ascending the
poop, declared his determination
| III SHUT TIE flkSl Nan
who tried to leave The vessel before the wo-
men were saved. The first boat launched
was lowered by Il number of passengers by
cutting Tie ropes. There being no ladder at
l.and, The only way of getting into it was
| by leHping or dropping some twelve or hi-
teen feet. As there was q terrible rush to-
ward the boat the scene Was one OF dis
| trvS>iusc confusion, and mau and boy fell
i;.to the water and were drowned. The
officers did all they could to force the men
wbo first got into the boat to leave it that
the women might lie saved, but to no pur-
posi-. Even firing with Il blank cartridge il
it is supposed, 1T iirst was unavalling. About
thirty persons having got into it, the boal
WIS pulled oil with not one of the crew in 1t.
| ANOTHER LlFE.DoAT WAS LAUNCHED,
when Il ulan got into it and was ordered to
leave. He refused, and the captain shot him
in the cali OF the leg. Captain Knowles
placed his Wife III the boat and said to the
boalswHin, WHO had already got in, ''Here
is charge fer you; take care Of her and the
rest, aud God bless YOU" Wriuging his
wilt's hand, ne babe her goodbye, saying
=" l shall never see you ;sain!' Ii is i'm
possible 10 describe the panic that ragged all
the time. llGut-rcndiDg scenes were wit
| messed on all sides. One Of the passengers
seeing the Captains wife in the boat threw
his own Wife in, tossed the baby to her. and
entered tie boat himself. s little girl was
thrown into the boat by her father, who
tried to save the rest of his family, but the
Secthing, maddcned crowd pressing towards
the side of the vessel prevented, and with
bis wife and two other children lie went
down with the Inflated vessel.
| THE FATE OF TIE ENGINEER.
The engineer, who made frantic efforts to
save his wife and children, was ilmlncd be-
tween the cook-liouse and gllnwale, receiving
such dreadful injuries that, though AFTER
wards rescued, lie is still in Il precarious
state. Only two Of the seven boats aboard
were launched, owing, no doubt, to the
panic, and one was seriously injured, as the
tackle was cut and the boat fell into the sea.
| When the second boat had got Off it seemed
to become question OF moments. The
quarterback was still crowded by men,
women, and children, some crying, swearing,
and praying. The captain and pilot were TO-
gcthcr, and the latter was lelrd saying, "If
| you want to save yourselves make for the
top-mt>t," To which many people rushed. In
q quarter Of an hour tug picked up the
second boat with Thirty occupants, and then
steamed tor some time round the spot,
where, about thrce-quartcrs Of all hour after
| being struck,
THE NoETnFLEET WENT DOWN,
head first, with awful suddcnness, with 227
souls on board. At that moment the first
boat WAS one hundred yards and the second
only twenty or thirty from the vessel The
first boat after landing the women, put out
to the scelc OF the wreck and saved five men
who were trying to swim TO shore 4 lug
Ger took oil the occupants Of the second
boat-34 passengers and pilot. The cutter
rescued a pilot and ten men, who, having
gone down with the vessel, rose to the sur
face and chung to the maintopmaSt rigging.
The vessel lies in eleven fathoms of water.
The survivors say the captain displayed
the greatest beroisln, maintained his pre-
sence Of mind to the last, strove hard to put
an end to the panic, and did his duty brayely
to the end. He was ut the last moment
going across the deck in the hope Of cna bling
some Of the crowd crushing round the boats
on that side to get away from the ship. The
survivors say other boats got adrift
| WHEN TIE SHIP SUNK.
and express the belief that if the passengers
had allowed them to be lowered properly ut
least one hundred more lives could have been
saved. Unfortunately, the women could not
climb the mustS, although we did all in our
power to help them; consequently all the
women and children, with the exception OF
the captains wife and another, and two chill
dren, were drowned.
TIE wFE1ESD OF THE FAMILY" IN THE
GREELEY WILL-CoNTEST SMOKED OUT.-Mr.
| Williams was Volunteer cOIlnSol for