The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1873-12-11
Fearful Collision at Sea and Loss Of Life.

lhe steamship v lie Qu 1aYTe anu sup LOCH
Earn came in collision on the morning of the
23rd of November: The first named vessel was
lost and the second badly damaged.
! Two hundred and twenty-six ofthe persons
on the steamship lost their lives.
Eighty-seven souls were saved from the
steamship including SO frst-class passengers,
10 Of. whom are ladies, 20 fremen and boys,
and 25 of the crew, including the Captain and
FIVE of his officers: 4s~s, -
The purser of the ill-fated steamship gives
the following narrative: "We were seven days
out on Saturday night. was sleeping in my
berth when the collision occurred Rushing
on deck I deserted sailing ship, and three
minutes later gained the fearful conviction
that the steamship was going down by the bow.
Thirty or forty passengers managed to get into
the longboat and life grew strong within them
when they were freed from the sinking vessel;
but, suddenly, the mizenmast fell and left the
side of the vessel, killing or wounding nearly
all of them. Immediately afterwards the main
mast fell on the deck, killing and wounding
more. The water was rushing down the wind
pipe with fearful velocity. The vessel was
sinking. jumped overheard, with another,
and commenced swimming towards the Loch
Earn, which was half mile off. Looking
around I saw the steamer disappear, without
reeling, going down head foremost For mo-
mcnt mighty shrek rent the air-the last
outbreak of agony. A dcathlike calm sue
ceeded the noise and tumult. The Captain re-
mained on the bridge during the whole scene.
He was rescued one hour later Six officers
out of fifteen were saved, all by swimming for
life with the exception of tho First Lieuten-
ant who went in boat to the Loch Earn"
The Purser here added s. touching narrative
of the conduct of French priest, his calmness
on deck, where he remained dispensing his
blessings to the people, and continued:
''The boats cruised until ten o'clock next
morning, engaged in the hopeless task of pick
ing up others Of the survivors. remained on
board the British ship until three o'clock and
was then transferred to the American ship Tri-
mountain, Captain Urquhart"
Captain Urquhart gives the following nara,
| tive: "On Saturday morning saw vessel
on the weather bow, with bowsprit gone, and
i sails flowing, which proved to be the Loeb
i Earn. of Glasgow, bound for New York. The
i CAPTAIN asked to transfer the passengers and
\ crew of the steamer Vile du Havre, which
was sunk at two O'Clock that morning. All
/ except two, French priest and another per-
SON. remained to nurse the wounded. 1t WAS a
= pitiful sight to behold human beings huddled
torether in small cabin, heart broken and
destitute of clothing, but still thankful for
the hospitality which they received on the
Loeb Earn.
"Nany of them were hurt by fragments of
the wreck.
'sI cruised around till nearly dark. and then
proceeded on my voyage for Bristol. Not
vestige of the ship, or of man, woman or child,
was discovered.
"There was rather a heavy sea, but little
wind, when the disaster occurred.
"The shock was fearful. The rapidity of the
steamer going down prevented launching more
than whaleboat and the captains gig. In II
minutes after being struck the ship went down.
The terror which prevailed among the passen-
gers paralyzed the efforts to save many. Many
never omitted their state rooms, whole families
meeting death together"
LONDON, Dec. l, 1873
The following additional particulars of the
loss of the Vile du Havre have been gathered
from officers and passengers ct Cardiff
The Vile du Havre experienced thick fog
until the 10Th. At the time of the collision
: the weather was clear. Little wind was blow
ing. but there was heavy sea- The Captain
had lust retired and the Second Officer was in
charge. The lights on the steamer were all
right The collision was wholly unexpected.
Tie Loeb Earn struck the steamer amidshps,
and made chasm - feet deep and from 25 to
80 feet wide The exact position of the Vile
du Havre at the time was latitude AZ deg. 81
.min., longitude IS deg. 81 min. Panic took
possession of the passengers. Five minutes
after the collision the main and mizen masrs
fell across two large boats, which were filled
with people and ready for launching. The
boats were crushed to pieces and many OF their
occupants killed and injured.
In the brief interval between the collision
IL. roft oOtoo fha
: able to launch only whale boat and the Cap
. tain's gig. The Loeb Earn went mile before
stopping. She then got out four boats to pick
up the people struggling in the water. Mean
while the whale boat, under the command of
the Second Lieutenant of the Vile du Havre,
picked ND one load of those who were clinging
to planks, spars, &C., and took them to the
Loch Earn. She returned to the scene and
rescued another load Captain Surmont, who
remained on deck to the last, was rescued by
this boat three quarters of an hour after the
collision. One of his officers swum mile to
the Loeb Earn, and was hauled on board with
a rope. The boats continued to search the
waters in tile vicinity of the disaster until
there was no hope of saving more lives. The
cold was intense. Many Of che survivors were
immersed two hours, and were almost liteless
when rescued.
The ship Trmountain sighted the Loeb Earn
at eight o'clock a. n., six hou-s after the sink
ing Of the steamer, and received the survivors
as before reported.
The saved speak in the highest terms of the
kindness of Capt Urquhart, her commander:
There we're six stowaways on board the Vile
du Havre.
INCREASE OF THE PUBLIC DEBT.-The "off
wear" in politics seems to be bad year for the
liquidation of our public indebtedness AL
though the month of September showed re-
duction of about two MILLIONS in the national
debt, the month of October exhibited an in
crease of over three millions, and now the
official statement for the past month of No
vember presents an increse of over nine mil
lions, making the total debt, less cash i'll the