The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-04-04

NEWT
/ Tne sareas Calsnaty-vvho II Responsi-
bio Tor enc loss q she SIG Hundred
victimss s srIs4'ts5 sisa 3efe 4
The story Of the wreck Of the Atlantic has
now passed into history ~ one of the most
heartrending tragedies ever yet written on its
varied pages. The cause and extent OF the
calamity are known TO the world All that
remains to be told are the narrowing details.
the scenes of horror. the individual suffering
and misery that crowded themselves into those
few dreadful minutes with distinctness that
win leave them forever imprinted on the
memory Of all who witnessed them. We are
aware now that the vessel left England with an
insufficient supply of coal; that her comman-
der determined 70 put into Halifax 70 make
good the deficiency; that through some crimi-
nal incapacity or neglect on the part Of the
officers the vessel was run on to the rocks on
the treacherous coast of Nova Scotia;
that she was wreck almost Is soon
as she struck that four hundred
men were saved and that six hundred souls,
including every woman and child ON board,
persisted in the waves. We may learn from
the lips Of the survivors how they themselves
escaped the fearful peril; we may hear Of in
dividual instances Of GOODNESS and bravery
worthy Of admiration; we may gather moi
dent after incident to excite the imagination
| and touch the heart; but we can add nothing
to the terrible facts which have sent thrill Of
horror and dismay through the whole civilized
world. ,as nNsa f ssst
It is not in the power of language to convey
an adequate idea Of the dreadful scene enacted
on the rock-bound coast on that fatal Tuesday
morning. The vessel, with her thousand
passengers, had been for eleven days plough
ing her way westward without accident or
mishap, and the heart Of every soul on board
must have been joyous at the thought that
the end of the journey was SO near.
No person who has crossed the Atlantic can
have failed to mark the change that comes
over the passengers as the vessel approaches
the shore. Confidence and expectation light
up every countenance. They have passed by
what in their independence of the sea and its
dangers appears to them to be the most
perilous portion Of the voyage, when in mid
ocean they lay in their berths listening to the
washing Of the waves against the vessels side,
peering down in imagination into the fathom-
less depths of waters beneath them, and think
ing with shudder of the apparently frail
protection that keeps them from fearful death.
In few hours they will hear the welcome cry
of '.land," and they fondly believe that all
danger is at an end. It was in the enjoyment
of these happy, hopeful feelings that the poor
souls on board the Atlantic laid down to rest on
last Monday night Little did they think that
they were speeding onward to destruction as
surely as if the ill-fated vessel that bore them
had been driven before the wind and tossed
about at the mercy of the waves without rud-
der or compass Even while they slept.
probably while they dreamed of the land they
hoped to reach on the morrow-the dark
shadow Of death fell upon them. In the still
ness of the night loud crash aroused them
from sleep another land as they started up.
terrified at the unseen and unknown danger.
horrible, gurgling sound fell upon their ears.
Barely had they time for the first agonized
| exclamation, 'My God! My Godi' before
IAAu w Woo oSA44cu ot LuolT E1ChTCeiy WAS
an instant left in which to clasp husband, wife
or child to their bosoms before the merciless
waters rushed in upon them, tearing the
dear ones from their arms, drowning
them miserably in the cabins or carrying
them out to sea in shrieking masses
on the sweep of the mighty waves. We
can see the agonizsd faces lifted up in mock
cry, as it were by the heaving waters we
can hear the wild wall that broke from the
cabin for an instant only to be followed by the
stiffness Of death-the moan which sounded
to the terrified foreigner like the moan Of the
SEQ lion, but was in truth the smothered shrek
Of three hundred souls struggling against suffo-
cation in the agony of death. But it is mer-
ciful to draw down the curtain and shut out
the heartrending scene.
In the hour that seems the hour of greatest
security to the inexperienced traveller the
experienced seaman feels that the critical
moment of the voyage has arrived. He knows
the perils of treacherous coast His eye
strains for the evidence Of land along the hori-
zon, for the discovery of the guiding beacons.
His ear listens anxiously for the warning
sound of breakers. When in mid-ocean he
can sleep contentedly amidst the bowling Of
the tempest but when nearing the coast he
studies every variation of the barometer, every
sign in the sky. Carefully and cautiously he
feels his way, now taking soundings,
and now counting the knots as
the log-line runs off the reel. The commander
of an ocean steamer filed with living freight
is bound to adopt every precaution that can
possibly be taken against any conceivable
danger, however remote. He accepts as grave
responsibility a. any human being can incur.