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

a sister or a brother, recognized one of
the unfortunate men whom they deemed
lost, the scene was heartrending. The
men gave way entirely, and the women
either swooned or screamed from joy.
Even outside of the gates men and
women who were gathered in groups
sobbed and cried bitterly
FEAsTIEG THE UNFORTCNATEs - THEIR
OPINION OF THE CAPTAIN AND CREW.
After a short time splendid break
fast was laid, consisting of coffee, boiled
eggs, tongue, ham, white bread and
butter, and boiled beef, of which the
starving men partook plentifully.
During the day they seemed to become
more reconciled to their fate.
At 9 p. IN. a snmptuously prepared
dinner was served, Of soup, roast beef,
corncd beef potatoes, bread, pie and
cake
About one hundred of them left to-
night, on the Erie line. at seven o'clock,
for their destination, and the remainder
will leave in few days.
The majority of the men speak dis
paragingly Of the captain and crew. and
complain that, after being two or three
DAYS at sea, their food was cut short
Commissioners Lynch and Forrest and
their entire staff were present nearly all
day, and left nothing undone to make
the unfortunates comfortable.
TESTIMONY OF THE FIRST OFFICER AT THE
INVESTIGATION.
HALIFAX, April 6,
Jno. William Firth. chief officer OF
the Atlantic, testified: At II O'Clock
noon, on Monday, the captain and |
took observations by separate chronome-
tiers and agreed very closely. The lati-
tude was 63-55, longitude Al 80, A con
sutation Of tn. officers was held as to
the propricty of turning round to Hall
fax for coal and we unanimously agreed
to do it as the safest proceedings. At
1 O'Clock the ship was headed for Hall
fax. the course being north "a east. The
speed was then about nine knots. |
ed to the deck. My watch was from
four to six No alteration was made i'll
| the course | WAS below from 6 to 8.
At 8 o'clock there had been change of
weather and several showers of rain. |
remained on deck till 10 This course
was not changed There had been some
I dark Clouds but they had passed and it
was then clear. About 11.30 the quar-
! termaster told me the speed was twelve
| knots. Al so the captain came on
| the bridge. where | was, and inquired
/ for the third officer, Brady, as he wished
to have the distance run by the ship
/ from / D. m, to midnight. Officer
| Brady was at the time on his rounds of
the ship. The captain afterward came
on the bridge and told me that he had
/ placed the ship four miles south of Sam
bro. | then went below. The captains
! orders were to keep good lookout for
! loose ice and on the event of seeing a
| light, if a fixed light, to get two points
! on the port bow and call him immedi-
! ately, and under and under any circum-
! stances to call him not later than 3
1 o'clock. These orders | conveyed to
the second officer The lead was not
thrown over at ALL The lead was ready
on the bridge | was aroused by the
shock when the ship struck. | went on
deck and found a number of men trying
to clear away No. life boat. 1t was
inst clear when the sea came and swept
it away. No. : life boat was then
cleared and also washed away, the sea
then making a clean breach over the
fore part of the ship. She had keeled
over to windward and seward, the pas
sengers taking to the rigging. There
were thirty-two, including one woman,
in the muzzen rigging with me at day
light. | remained until about 2 o'clock
D. M, when / was rescued by a boats
crew under command of Rev. Mr.. An
Gent Many who left the rigging to
try to reach the rock were washed
away. | was unable to swim and was
the last man that left the wreck.
have had twenty -seven years expert
ence at sea, with great many masters,
and found Captain Williams all that
could be expected of one in. his position
] have been ship master myself, largely
in the India trade. There couldnot have
been any attempt made to keep the
steerage passengers below. The COM
panionways were open. | can't give
any opinion as to the quantity of coal
she had. whether it was enough or not.
I governed the steamer In the morning
and left few hours later. A person
might be told that there were 900 tons
of coal on board, but that would not
prove it. Too often short quantity of
coal is put in ships. considered there
was not the slightest risk when | went
to bed at IL O'clock in the morning. The
course it was intended to take was about
five miles east of Sambro Light. The
noint at Which she struck is, learn,
seven miles west of the light. | can &C
count for the disaster in no other way
than that there was strong set to the
northwest, which we did not know OF.
The log was hove regularly every two
hours. On two or three days during the
passage, when we had no observations,
our dead reckoning was found correct.
The chief steward had reported short