Wilmington daily gazette., 1873-04-11
rhe Torr0rs o. the Wreck.

A New York Herald reporter has been down on
the wreck of the Atlantic in q diving suit, and
gives horrible picture Of the dead that arc heapsd
in msass IN that ill-ialed vessel He says:
The cargo has broken bulk and lays heaped up
in q confused mass; bodies Of men and women,
bruised and torn, were iammed among the cases
and crates, II is horrible sight 70 look UPON,
and the magnifying power Of the crbs through
which gaze upon Il renders it all the more hoI-
able. Fishes swim in and out among the bodies
and boxes, fessting upon the bodies OF the dead.
Limbs are streWn around, having broken of nom
the body from the continual action Of the waters,
which, whenf tRted, driveagAinst the ugly pitess
Of the broken null that stick up here and render
my mofements very hazardous. Having seen
enough Of this part of the sunken horroF, pr .
ceed towards one Of the steerage cabins, the one
where all the women and children were drowned
as they lay in their hunks. Scrambling along tho
ieck, guided by the rope from above, and assisted
By one Of the divers who has undertaken 10 con-
iuct me through the wreck, reach the compan-
ION way If the sight in the hold among the cargo
was horrible, the one that now met my gaze was
ten times more SO. There, lying in an immense
heap, were a hundred or more bodies. They looked
or all the world as II they we're alive, with arms
iislocatcd eyes staring wildly, faces grinning as
it were at you and moving backward and forward
with the under-current; some were dressed, many
were half nude. Children were cling to their
mothers, and stout men were clasping their wives
ana seeming as IA theg uet ehoAA AaeS Win SAA u
q signati0n.
No description of the bodies brought to the
surface could convey an idea of the horfid
sight in That cabin. / close my eyes and
motion TO my conductor my readiness to leave.
have seen enough in that carnal-house, the
recollection Of which will never fade. Ny
conductor motions me towards the steeraRe
cabin. where the men were by themselves and
where there was such rush for the compan-
ion way Peering down into that cabin saw
a similar picture Of death. Bodies of stalNArt
men, old and young, were hustled together on
the stairway, giving-from their distended
nOStrils, gaping mouths and staring, CLASSY
eyee-sOme conception Of the terror which
seized them as they Vainly struggled to reach
the deck, but were prevented by the waves
which swept over the ship as she keeled over
and filed the cabin. From another part OF
the vessel / obtained view Of the sleeping
apartment.
Here, piled up in heaps on the port side,
were numbers of bodies Of men, and StreWn
among them bed clothing of one kind and
another. From continual knocking against
the stanchiOns and sharp, jagged woodwork
which is splintered and broken from the
Innings of the hunks, the faces and limbs of
these dead are more ghastly than any have
ever seen. Imagination cannot picture any
thing more terrible than what was In this
compartment. The flesh is torn from the
faces of many of the dead others again are
bruised and battered about their heads and
faces, which are red and bloody, and In strik-
ing contrast TO the pale, llVid features Of
others which the action Of the waters has not
disturbed.