Carson daily appeal. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1873-1877, 1873-12-03
Tee Terrible Disaster 10 the Willie
dc Havre.

LONDON, December L.
The rurser of the steamer Vile dt
Havre gives the following account of tn,
disaster: The steamer WAS struck on bel
starboard side and the maiDnast anG
rigging we1e carried away. The long
boat was not crushed on deck, but aftel
being lowered, the mizZenmast falling
upon it killed nearly all its occupants
The main,nast fell after the miZZen, top
pling over on deck and killing many per
sons. In n few minutes the snip began
TO sink amidst great disorder, panic and
| terror The scene was awful! beyond de-
| scription. 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
VI, h companion jumped overbord and
swar, toward the Lachene, then half a
mile dis,,HHnt, and as l left l heard the
shin cracki,,r. and looking around saw
her 60 down 18th one lunge forward.
For a moment tn shrieks were terrible
and then all was s-'lent. 1t was the
silence of death. The captain remained
on the Vile de Havre dung the whole
time and went down with the snip. he
vas picked up all hour afterwa,-'. All
tic officers who were rescued were s.''eu
in similar manner except the El--1
Lieutanant, whom the Captain had sent
to the Lachene to see if she was IN
sinking condition, or if she were able to
receive the passengers Of the Vile de
Havre. | swan half all hour and tinan.,y
reached the Lachene, but Kissed the
ropes thrown to me and remained in the
water for another quarter of al hour, bat
was eventually rescued. Among the pas
sengers on the deck of the Vile de Havre
WAS French gentleman Of remarkable
GOODNESS and presence OF mind. He COM
forted many by his words. A priest
asked, Are you a Roman Catholic:''
Yes" was the answer. Repent then,'
said the priest, land l forgive your
sins" With these last words the priest
sank in the waves. The penitent was
saved The boats crossed and recrossed
the scene of the disaster. searching for
bodies until II a. n. Further efforts
were abandoned as hopeless. The sur
vivors remained on the Lachene until 3
p. NJ, when they were transferred to the
Trimountain.
The following is Captain Urqhart's
narrative: On Saturday morning, Nov.
%, being in latitude Al degrees 90 min
utos; longitude p degrees 20 minutes,
We sighted vessel Oh our weather bow
with her bowsprit gone and her sails
Tagging. We hove to and saw signals
of distress flung out. On coming nearer
the ship proved to be the Lachene, eight
days on: from London to New York.
Coming alongside the Captain asked me
to take the survivors Of the Vile de
Havre. which had been sunk by the
Lachene at two 1. II. that morning.
After consultation it was deemed advis- |
able to transfer Ill the rescued people |
but one French clergyman who had be- !
come deranged Another Of the party |
was left to take care Of him. The sur |
vivors were crowded into the small cabin |
in pitiable state. They were heart |
broken, ill-clad and destitute; but amidst |
their grief they expressed their gratitude |
to the captain and crew of the Lachene |
for saving them from watery death.
supplied them with all the clothing |
which could be spared on my ship, and
with other requisites, but nevertheless |
soTe we're almost naked and others !
badly injured by fragments of the wreck.
After receiving all on board the Tri- |
cruised about the scene of |
the wreck. The search was continued |
until nearly dark that night, but we saw
only two casks floating and the search
was finally rclinquished, and we pro-
ceeded on our voyage to Bristol. 1
wanted to land at Queenstown, but an
available wind enabled us to reach Car
diff. The survivors attach the blame to
he officers Of the Lachene for the catas-
trophe, but say they did everything they
could to prevent a sacrifice Of
life. The Lachene was very badly dam
.ged; her bowsprit was clean gone and a
,reat hole was cut above her water line.
The passengers Of the Vile de Havre
ay that Captain Surmount, during the
many days Of fog, took every precantion