Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1873-12-18

down with one plunge forward. For a
moment the shrieks were terrible: then
all was silent; it was the silence of death.
The captain remained on the bridge of
the Vile du Havre during the whole time,
and went down with the ship. He was
picked up an hour afterward All the
officers who were rescued were saved in a
similar manner, except the first lieutenant,
whom the captain sent to the Locherne
to see if she were able to receive the pas
sengers of the Vile du Havre. | swan
half an hour and finally reached the
Locherne, but missed the ropes thrown to
me. | remained in the water another
quarter OF an hour, but was eventually
rescued by the Locherne.
Among the passengers on the deck of
the Vile du Hare was French gentleman
OF remarkable GOODNESS and presence of
mind He comforted many by his words.
priest asked: care you Roman Cath
olic?" "Yes, " was the answer Repent,
then" said the priest, "and | forgive your
sins" With these last words the priest
sank in the waves. The penitent was
saved.
The boats crossed and recrossed the
scene Of the disaster, searching for sur.
vivors, until 10 a. NJ Furtherefforts were
then abandoned as hopeless. The sur.
vivors remained on the Locherne until 3
p. NJ, when they were transported to the
Trimontain
Among the lost were Judge r. w Peck
ham of the New York Court of Appeals,
and the four children of H. G. Spatford,
Esq, of Chicago. Eleven of the victims
resided in the latter city.
LONDON. December Z.
The account of the Vile du Havre dis
aster given by the rescued crew represents
that the Captain and Second Mate of the
steamer came on board the Loeb Erne
shortly after the collision, and did not as
sist in saving any of the passengers, and
that the majority Of the French crew ex-
hibted lamentable cowardice.
The Captain of the Loeb Erne makes
the following statement of the circum-
stances attending the collision with the
steamer: After first sighting the steamer,
and seeing that she was coming danger
ously near, the Captain of the Loeb Erne
rang the ships bell and ported his helm.
The helm OF the steamer was put to star
board, but the steamer came right across
the Loeb Erne's bow. The people in the
first boat from the French steamer did
not say she was sinking, but the Captain
of the Loeb Erne, observing that the
steamer was settling down, sent out his
boats
Neither the first French boat nor Sec
ond, which arrived shortly atterward,
bringing the first and second officers OF
the Vile du Havre, attempted to return,
but, in spite of the expostulations of all
the crew which were left on board the
Loeb Erne, and the threats of her mates
to fire upon them, remained alongside the
Loeb Erne. The clothing of the French
officers who reached the deck of the Loeb
Erne was dry, showing no signs of their
having been in the water, Finally, some
Englishmen seized and manned one of
the French boats, and went to the rescue
of those struggling in the sea. Only one
of the French boats crews assisted in the
rescue.
The Captain of the Loeb Erne considers
that the great loss of life resulted from
the fact that his vessel dritted such a long
distance from the steamer after the COLI
sion before il was possible to shorten sail,
from the hardness of the steamer in show
ing signals of distress, and from the mis-
conduct of the French crew.