New-York tribune., 1873-12-16
THE WILLIE DU HAVRE.
ADDITIONAL ACCOUNTS OF THE COLLlSioN'
A TROY PAssENGER's sTORY-THE OFFICERS on THE
STEAMER CESsURED.

II.
was one Of the passengers tho iated steamship In
letter TO parents written board tho Trimountan
and printed The Troy ms lac describes the COLLISION
as follows:
will now briefly the calamity which hurried
NewYork the weather lne, the smooth. and all
promised we'll for successful and pleasant voyage. on
and during which time the steamer lost one blade OF her
screw. This accident although 1t did not materially
affect the speed and safety OF the vessel seemed 10 ca
gloom over the passengers and created feeling %,
them whSs sSs s s1 af did
not tend TO relieve remove. Following the storm, Storm
which ceased Tuesday night fog came up, wn,oa nma
starlight, then being 1909 miles from New-iork anu
just about in midocean That night we all went 70 our
how soon or in what great peril lives were 10 pe
placed or how few Of us would live 10 see .he sns VI
About 10 the morning was awakened from Sound
sleep by terrible crash accompanied oy tho shreSs
OF my room was told that we had come into COLLISION
with only small vessel that the steamer was not at a.,
inred ana I, after telling aunty to dress, went up on
deck and found that we had oolded with large IRON
ing very large hole in her side below tho water line:
at that the steamer rapidly sinking, ana
that only hope OF safety in the life.boats;
returned TO aunty aud told her the condition OF tho SNIP
and brought her yp deck as soon rs possible anu
placed her with the ladies' while ] went with son,e e
the ladies' The lack Of discipline we had before
troll tho men; they were only thinking OF saving
their own lives and left the passengers to look ol m
handling the rigging OF Ilscbosts and but few OF to
do anythngi We all worked with desperation TO get
boat into the water Had we had more time we might
have done so; bnt the snip was setting very s,, t
suddenly She went down. bow first with all on 1oard-at
least all the passengers as about half the crew had eoo
III tne boats ana iet US 10 our Iate saw auy J
moment before the ship went down. but was powerle5s
TO her. there being no c-prescryer 10 he Ioun ~
the statcroom or on the deck though made every eor
to Ind one for her. .
moment; but after being drawn down by the suction oi
the snip, came 10 the surface, aud. although inc9l
n.rnH .l,.tn IA
floating SPAR although was pulled under water Twice
by some poor dfoTnng person esd aer mn Te'hg ~ boat
from the ship that had run into Us, completely eA
hausted. more dead than alive was taken 10 tne Loon
Earn with Others which proved to be an English snip
and although herself badly damaged by the collision
was yet able TO keep afloat and save the lew OF
us who are now tell the sad story Alter benG
on board few hours we were transferred 10 tne sup
on. hallng from New-York 10 Bristol Eh-
gland, commanded by Capt Urquhar one of the
nohlest ana kindest.hearted men that ever walked
deck There were only 2 llr'class passengers saver
out OF sJ-ll ladies and II gentlemen, the remaining
saved being steerage passongers Officers, and crew
EIghty-fve IN all, out OF 80 souls, were saved!
Twill try write you any more but Will give you
fuller accounts when get ashore; have l2St al va
and have one cut under my jaw, over oue inch
my lace, body aud limbs. shall to London thence
healed shall start for home, rs know nov anxious
You wiitOe 10 have me safely back.
STATEMENT or ONE OF THE sEAMEN on THE SHIP
WRECKED yEssEL-rHE CAprAlN EXoyEEArED.
ationa Particulars of tue loss Of the Vile du Hlyre
One of the so,en board The weasel gives the follow
ing account:
think it was about 20 minutes to o'clock when I |
felt the shock Of the collision L had been on the SICK
list for days. and then sleeping my berth
The first thing heard after our ship was struck was
call for all hauds to come Oh deck. rushed M the
gdngWay at once. and then / saw NJ once what had |
happened. we-tbat is, myself and some of my mates |
fried 20 get OF the boats ready but the panic
was so great that could do il. The passengers
help" Tncy made rush al the boat. aud |
not even if you had threatened shoot them. Didn'i
We see the Loeb Earn comngi Well. yes, ! believe |
somebody must have seen her. for there were 20 men or
more Heard that the second officer saw ner 10
minutes alore she struck us but OF course can't say
Toe captain came out OF his berth just as hef lD |
boom was comm over our hulwarks. and he Sc; |
He blew the whistle. but /; was too late then sac
was do oSn on with crash like tnunderclap. ana
snythns against ihe captain for had three
days and nights keeping watch ana ony Iald hllnseli
struck the passengers, a5 said, came rushing from
below and began TO n the boats There were about 90
bang on it aud oh shall never forget thai there scene
Some OF them were killed outright; some had tlelr
heads smashed others nad broken their arms and their
legs. The squeanng OF the wOmen-but. there. can't
tell awful IT was the mast struck me across tie
forehead as 1t fell and the poatswaln was eu py my
some of the sailors picked with their legs broken.
ut could do just to move them out OF the way.
poor fellows The nainmast brought down tue inzzc-
mas. down along with it. and that too smashed boat
boat was either killed or injured Could not we have
got some Of the others 9'S the egs' @ h9 Olg;' o
had bean quiet and waited bit, We might have saved
some Of .bem; but there was no order. not BIT.
times myself and nobody knows what them scenes are
that don't 90 through them. The Loeb Earn smashed
the two long Dad been broken up by the falling
masts there only four others left and two OF them
were small IL them masts, however that did all
tns mischief afterward. II they mad not fell and II
wo only could have kept the passengers quiet bit
halt. On nf ham
why did not they Jump the Loeb Earns bows ! |
There time for that, Sir She was going at u,
knots, and were doing ~, 40 that she bounded |
back and was gone from almost directly. Our cap
tain remained on his bridge al the time giving wi orders
went down with her, too; L should think 20 OF ~
round and saw many poor struggling creature in the
water Then there was boat near me ana held on 70
four women; loastways, gave them a hold on to the
boat until they could be dragged IN Then pulled on
aer yOe a6d % SWAIN to the Loch Earn Three or four lines
we're thrown out TO me and at last ! was hauied on
should Just like TO say word two about our cap
tain. He always very careful AMI in the fogs
was the last the bridge and remained there till
the last moment. The second officer was very
good officer but it's my belief the captain had good
deal OF suspicion OF him and used to watch him close
don't like to say much about them IA he is gone, but
think he might called the captain sooner than
he did
A STEWARDS ACcoUSr-THE INTENSE EXCITEMENT |
WHEN THE STEAMER WAS STRUCK.
Acide Lalauze, one of the stewards on the |
Vile du Hayre. gives the following description:
The Vile du Havre left New-York about o'clock in |
the afternoon OF Nov. IS. The weather fine then
but day two sfterward IL became very hazy, and
for four five days dense fogs prevailed On the second
day after leaving NewYork lost blade of'our pro-
peler and consequently Obliged to be careful
TO put full speed for fear OF breaking the Others,
The night Of Friday the 21st was clear and starlight.
but there moon shining. We had sails |
and topsails set, and going before the wind
about IL knots hour. i went 10 bed that nj igbt |
at about $3.50 and aw0ke by the collision. Imme-
diately rushed deck, saw the Loeb Earn OF
us, and heard some one call out thai sinking.
went back to my bunk for Tho purpose Of putting
pair OF pants. and found il already up TO my |