Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1873-04-10
The Atlantic Disaster.

The special correspondent of the Bos-
ton Ad0erttser telegraphs the following
details from Halifax, under date of
April Sd.
Up to four o'clock this afternoon about
1870 bodies have been recovered and were
lying on the shore at Prospect, and
trenches were being dug to bury them.
A schooner load of wooden collins was
sent down to-day, and also several metal
ic coffins for those bodies that are to be
sent to the States. The captain and Off
GERS who were saved went back to the
wreck to-day. Stories of the dead hav-
ing been plnndered and abused are rife
and are much exaggerated. There is no
doubt, however, that some of the crew,
who were a bad lot, robbed all they
could, but the presence of the fishermen
prevented doing so to any great extent.
Some of the crew were insubordinate
and beyond the control of the officers
during the voyage. Magistrates are in
charge of affairs at Prospect, and the
most perfect order prevails. The for
ward part of the ship has broken up and
a few packages have come ashore. The
bulk, however, remains undisturbed, the
sea being still too rough to allow divers
to work. The steamer Falmouth sailed
tonight for Portland, taking 304 of the
passengers who were saved.
THE SCENE AT PROSPECT THERsDAY MORN
ING-A VISIT TO THE DEAD.
The weather had been gusty all We'd
nesday afternoon, and towards eight
o'clock Wednesday night became quite
stormy, the wind blowing the dead on
shore and according to the local authori-
ties working woe to the wreck. When day
dawned this morning the storm had lull-
ed and the waters of Prospect harbOr
were calm and as smooth as glass. A
boat was speedily engaged to convey the
anxious news-seekers first to the hill of
death, and second to the spot where the
broken and dismembered Atlantic lies.
As the skiff shot round the points and
passed among the numerous islets and
rock masses that stud the coast, there
were glimpses obtained of the wrecking
feet, comprising schooners and tugs
beyond number. Row boats, manned
by hardy fishermen sped quickly to
cove where were already made fast more
than one embarkatiOn whose equipment
of graphing irons, drags and ropes told
plainly the mission on which its crew
was bent. The curiosity of your cor
respondent was now reused to the high
est pitch, and every rock face, every
grass slope, every earth terrace was scan
ned to discover traces of the dead har-
vests of the sea. A slow climb up a
steep declivity marked by projecting
granite masses, a glance at the distant
breakers from the top of the rock, then
a turn around vast block of stone, and
the visitors gasped for breath, for at
their very feet, still and stark and cold,
with CLASSY eyes opened to their widest
extent and gazing up, lay in rows what
not many hours before had been human
beings.
A feeling deeper than reverential awe,
a sensation such as might be experienced
by one standing on the threshold of
death, chilled to the very marrow the
bones af the lookers-on, and it was with
slow step and half-averted glance that
the cleaner of news approached this
dreadful assembly. Then what sight
met the eye! There on the brow of that
rocky island, partly on the stone and
partly on the grassy slope, damp with
last nights rain and cut up by brown
patches of moss, lay the aged and the
young. the strong and the feeble, equal
lied at last by the blow that fell so sud
den on them. Some of the faces bore
peaceful expression others were set res
olutely, as if the last thought of the liv-
ing creature had been duty; and others
again revealed nothing of the final emo
tions that must have crowded the few |
last moments of life. The dead Law in |
all pOsitiOns-half recumbent, stiffened |
and icy cold wildly agitated, as if the
had been long and bitter; easy
and natural, inducing a hope that no
agony was inflicted on the departed de
fensive, as if resisting the buffeting of
the waves. They lay in all stages of
dress, from the well-to-do emigrant,
with his clothes all on, to the weary
sailor, just relieved from his watch, who
had turned in and gladly Invested him
self OF his wet garments; women whose
dresses had been torn to rags by the /
breakers children as they might have
been in their beds, but one and all care
fully and reverentially covered where
mutilations disfigured the form-for the
work OF rescue needs a bold and unscru-
pulous hand, and the floating body must
be grappled as it washes by, and no mat
ter where the sharp hook strikes, whittier
on face neck or body, it cuts and tears
ITlgnIIUlly some OF the races were I
hdeously disfgured and blotched, and
others again were as fair and rosy as In
life.
Leaving these sights and taking the
boat once more, the visitor was landed
on the narrow neck of Marr's Island. /
and traversing rapidly came full in sight
OF the wreck itself. nearly covered by
the breaking seas which washed con-
stantly over it and over Golden Rule
Rock itself, on which the ship struck.
A portion of the bows of the steamer
still showed above the surf. The n5asts
projected from that portion of fine
hull which has apparently slid back from
the rock. Boats innumerable were
round the fallen monster. not
daring, however, to approach too closely
for fear of the rush of the waters The
shore was thickly strewn with debris.
planks, masts, beams, yards, slaves,
boxes, coops, broken boats oars, ropes.
skylights, frames, etc The beach was
crowded by men anXious to secure
share of the huge quantity of lumber
that was being washed up, together With
Swedish and Danish letters, young fruit