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

our assistance, and | went to a house
with them and procured line, and then
retraced my steps to the beach, where |
saw lot of passengers and crew upon
the rock. Speakman, quartermaster,
swan towards me with line from the
rock, and | hove my line and caught him
and pulled him ashore. As soon as
had done so we hauled in the line which
he had from the rock, and made fast the
end of my line to it, 50 as to make it
stronger
As soon as l got the line made fast
told those who were on the rock to come
on shore, one by one, as | would save
them. The first man saved in this way,
don't know, but the second one was
| Brady, the third officer. | saved in this
manner about twenty, or as near as | re-
member. In some instances, as the line
was some distance overhead, and persons
too exhausted had to reach down and
pull them up. Some had to go into
the water for, which was out of my
depth, with line around my waist In
these cases two old men would drag me
and the man l rescued ashore. | re-
manned there from four till nine o'clock,
when | fell down through exhaustion.
One of the stewards and somebody else
came and relieved me, and was carried
away to a house where | was kindly
cared for. As soon as l recovered suf-
ticient strength, | was conveyed in boat
to the main land, and went to Ryan's,
the magistrate, where ] was kindly
treated and attended to, as | had a
cramp. The chief steward and another
man, who threw his arms around the
stewards neck when coming ashore ON
the rope, were drowned at my feet. The
reason that | couldn't render assistance
in this case was that the two old men
went away with a man that | had
rescued, as they feared he would perish;
therefore there was no one present to
haul me ashore, if had jumped off the
rocks after them.
PASSENGER.
HALIFAX, April 4.
James McAllister, passenger belong
ing to Glasgow, says Twas sleeping
in my berth when the vessel struck.
was in the forward steerage, IN the
three tiers of which there We're some
three hundred persons. every one of
whom appeared to have been awakened
by the first shock. \ fearful rush was
made for the saloon deck, which was
gained by many, but others were forced
back and perished where they stood.
About ten minutes after. | gained the
saloon deck. The steamer careened
over and sunk, and those who had not
grasped the bulwarks and rigging were
washed overheard, and the frozen corp
ses could be seen drifting in every di-
rection. A few women, not more than
half dozen managed to reach the deck,
but none were saved. One woman was
lashed to the mizzen rigging by her hus-
band. Her name is not known, but she
perished where she was, and her frozen
body afterwards dropped down and was
washed away.
TERRIBLE SIGHTS AND SCENES.
| was ON the steamer from the time she
struck till about o'clock, when l
managed TO reach the rock by aid of the
line taken out by Quartz rmasters Speak
man and Owen and third officer Brady.
The rock, not large one, was crowded
with men, and one man, a passenger,
persisted from exposure. We remained
on the rock nearly six hours, and we
were resc ued by small boats from the
shore. Many who attempted to reach
the rock were lost" The scene about
the steamer was fearful. The lifeless
body of the pnrser could be seen hang
ing over the side of the steamer, his head
iammed in between the rails, and the sea
causing the trunk and legs TO keep in
continual motion Hundreds of other
bodies could be seen in similar positions.
Among the heart-rending scenes, one or
two were particularly sad. One'gentle-
man, Albert Sumner, of San Francisco,
COMMITTED SUICIDE.
by jumping from the rigging into the
water, first taking off his coat Others
who were near him endeavore to dis
suade him, but they were too much be-
numbed to prevent him. He said,
''There is no hope of rescue, and its
useless to remain here and suffer-" and
then he jumped overheard. One lady,
a saloon passenger, was heard to say to
her husband, ''Leave me and save your
self You can't save both" But he re-
fused, and they went down together,
clasped in each others arms. 1t was the
occasion of much remark, that with very
few exceptions, the married men all
perished When they found it impossi-
BILE to save their wives and little ones,
| they preferred to die with them to de-
serting them. Many instances are known
where the men could have escaped
alone, but refused to do so. This was
especially noticeable among the German
emigrants and Americans.
DEAD BODIES RECOVERED.
The bodies of John II. Price, II. S.
Hewett and Mr. Merritt, all of New
York, Mr.. Albert Sumner, of San Fran
cisco, and second officer Metcalf have
been recovered and are now in boxes
awaiting metallic coffins. As soon as
the divers can get at work it is hoped to
recover the bodies of the remainder of
the cabin passengers. The bodies of
steerage passengers and crew are pro-
vided for, They receive burial here.
The body of Mrs. G. NJ. Fisher is not
yet found.
LATER Caring FOR THE BODIES.
HALIFAX, April 4.
Every effort is made to recover the
| folloXUipo bOdips Mr. O. M Fisher