The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1873-04-11
THE .AY,LANTTC DISASTER.
SCENE OF THE GREAT CALAMITY-wRECKs
OF TIE PAST.

Cane Prospect. situated on the Atlantic
coast of Nova Scotia, about twenty miles
from Halifax. near the entrance to the har-
Dor of that town, and to be hencetorIl -
memorable as the scene Of the late teri lo'o
steamship disaster, is strctch OF II lSIi oIo-
ken land extending into the sea. Inc ap-
,7earance of this whole coast Is rugged and
Uneven. and of hight in some places OF
900 feet. and is composed mainly Of granite
and primary rocks. From the contgura-
ton of this coast and the peril that would
necessarily attach to any vessel driven, as
was the Atlantic, upon it in such gale as
was prevailing at the time that vessel went
ashore at Meaghei's Head, the intelligence
that ship had thus been hurled by Wihd
and wave upon its inhospitable shore ""uld
almost certainly imply as well that her
wreck was complete. SO has 1t too fatally
proven in the case of the Atlantic, OF winch
probably scarcely a vcstige VIII remain
atioat bv the time these lines meet the eyes
of our readers
The dispatches rCcounting the story Ol
the loss of the Atlantic informs us that that,
vessel, at the time Of her destruction, was
cndcavoring to make the port of HalltaX,
which town lies some fifteen miles inland
from the outer Atlantic coast, on the west
side Of deep inlet call,d Halifax llarbor
1t is the capital and chief seaport of Nova
Scotia, and is the principal naval station
for the British American colonies. The
harbor is one of the finest in the world,
and could float the entire shipping of the
world. Ice rarely obstIucts it, and hence
its great advantages at all seasons OF the
wear. The town, including the suburbs,
is two and 4 half miles long and nearly
one mile wide, with spacious streets that
cross at right angles. The houses are
mainly built of wood plastcrcd and stuc-
coed, but there are also many handsome
dwellings, constructed of stone. 1t pos
sesses a splendid dock-yard covering four
teen acres. humorous wharvcs line the
waters edge, whore ships discharge their
c(rgocs. Strong forts and batteries de
feud the approach to the town. There IS
n lighthouse at Sambro Island, at the
southwest side of the harbor, I'D fcctabovc
the level of the sea, and another farther
up on Mangcr's Beach, called Sherbrookc
tower, which displays a light tifty-cight
feet above the level of the sea.
TIE WRECKS OF THE PAST.
An idea of the comparative magnitude
of the disaster may be obtained from the
following statement of the prominent ma
rine accidents since 1910: In the month of
March, 1S41, the steamer President sailed
from the port of New York with large
number of passengers when two days out
she is supposed to have encountered ter
Tiblc gale, and was never again heard from
On the 2Sth of April, 1S41, the EXmouth,
an emigrant ship from Londonderry, was
wrecked, and nearly 24O lives lost. y still
more disastrous wreck was that Of the Royal
Adelaide, which occurred on the Tongue
Sands, of Margatc, ON which occasion 400
lives were lost. In September, 1850, the
Edmond was lost On the western coast of
Ireland, and more than half of the 200 pas
scngers persisted. Upon the occasion of
the less of the troOp-ship Bnkenhead, in
Simon's Bay, South Africa, i'll February,
1S52'4J4 of the crew and soldiers perished
Again, in 1853, just a year after this, the
Independence took fire on the coast Of
Lower California, ard 40 persons were
consumed by the flames or drowned by the
sea. In May of the same year 40 lives
were lost by the wreck Of the William and
Mary near the Bahamas and five months
aftcrward 34S persons, mainly emigrant
passengers, on the Annie Jane, of Liver
yool, perishcd on the west shore Of Scot
land, where the vessel was bcached. The
Favoritc, on her way from Bremen to Bal
tmore, in April, 1854, ran into the bark
ITcsper, ana POI lives were sacrificed. In
May Of the same year 400 officers and sol
diers were lost Will. the Lady Nugcnt, 4
troop ship, which foundcrcd in a hurricane,
and in the succeeding fail the United
States mail steamer Arctic came i'll contact,
during a fog, with the French steamer
Vcsta, and loss of 800 lives was the re
suit, an accident whi.h still rings in the
memory of many. The steamer City OF
Glasgow disappeared also before the close
uf thi, disastrous year with 4SO persons on
board. In 1879 the only serious marine
accident was the loss of the George Can
ming. near the mouth of the Elbe, with 9t
passengers on board. In 1850 the John, n
Gnll8 NtSt'l, WIS w ltt>SNl btl NAi
Rocks, off Falmouth, ON which occasion
200 lives were lost. On the 22d of Fcbru
airy Of the succeeding year the wclLknowl
Collins steamer Pacific left Liverpool 70
New York frcightcd with 1SG souls, an'
was never again heard of. During tn
summer Of 1851 the clipper ship Dunba
was wrecked near Sydney, and out of -
persons on board only one was saved. Il
september Of the same ycar the stcamc
Central America founderCd at sea with -
passengers; only 152 were rescued. Q
the 18th Of September of the same year 81
Chinese cmigrants lost their lives III cons,
quence of the wreck of The st. Paul q
the island of Rosscl OF the 40 pcrsoI
ON the Pomona, which was lost on Blacl
water Bank, April 2S, 1879. only 24 we