American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1873-12-13
The Loss OF the vile du Hayrc.

The telegraph has briefly described the
loss of the Exench steamship Vile du
Havre, and two hundred and twenty six
of her passengers and crew in mid-0ctsn
in consequence of Il C>llision with the
British ship Locherne. The vessel was
formerly calico he Napoleon III. She
was, with the exception Of the Great
Eastern, the largest vessel aiioat. Her
dimensions were $50 feet by IS feet, and her
carrying capacity was 1000 tons freight
and measurement. She was elegantly up
holstcred and appointed, had urbane and
accomplished officers, and was dcservcdlv
Il favorite with those Wko had occasion to
cross the Atlantic.
The Vile du uavre left New York on
the 18th of November, under charge OF
Captain SurmOnt. With the exception OF
foggy weather and light variable winds,
nothing occurred worthy of note until
the morning of November %, when
being in latitude 1921, and Ion
gitude 35.41, the steamer was struck
amidships by the British ship Lochcrne
and sunk in twelve minutes aitcrward.
The Vile du Havre went with two hun
dred and twenty-siX of her passengers
and crew to the bottom. Only nincty-two
souls We're saved out of that multitude
which left New York so gayly only a
week before.
The purser of the Vile du Havrc gives
the following account.of the disaster:
The steamer was struck on the star
board side, and the mainwast and rigging
were carried away. The long boat was
not crushed on deck, but after being low
cred, the miZZenmast falling upon il, ard
killing nearly all its occupants. The
mainmast fell after the mizZen, topping
over on the deck, and killing many per-
sons. In few minutes the ship began to
sink, amidst great disorder and panic and
terror. The air was rent with shrieks,
but some were heard saying calmly: LAS
we must die, let us die nobly" The
water rushed into the hold with incredi-
BILE velocity 1 undressed myself, and
with a companion jumped overheard and
SWAN toward the Locherne, then half a
mile distant. AS left l heard the slip
cracking, and looking back saw her go
down with one plunge forward. For a
moment the shrieks were terrible, then
all was silent; it was the silence of death.
The captain remained on the bridge of the
Vile du Havre during the whole time,
and went down with the ship. He was
picked up an hour afterward. All the
officers who were rescued were saved in
similar manner except the first lieuten-
ant, whom the captain sent to the Lo-
cherne to see if she were able TO receive
the passengers of tie Vile du Havre. l
swan half an hour and finally reached
the Locherne, but missed the ropes thrown
to me. / remained in the water another
quarter of an hour, but was eventually
rescued by the Locherne.
Among the passengers on the deck OF
the Vile du Havre was a French gentle.
man of remarkable GOODNESS and presence
of mind. He comforted many by his
words. \ priest asked: "Are you a Ro
man Catholic:" Yes" was the answer
Repent, then" said the priest, land l for.
give your sins" With these last words the
priest sank in the waves. The peniten,
was saved.
The boats crossed and recrossed the
scene of the disaster, searching for sur
vivors, until ten o'clock a. m. Further
efforts were then abandoned as hopeless
The survivors remained on the Locherne
until three O'Clock p. m, when they were
transferred to the Trimontain.
Among the lost were Judge r. w. Peck
ham, of the New York Court of Appeals
and the four children of II. G. SpatloTd
Esq, of Chicago. Eleven of the victims
resided in the latter city.