The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1873-04-10

/ vessel Dy Z rope 10 tue foth- Inc Col,
was 50 intense that some of them, be-
ing benumbed, were unable TO hold on
to the rope, and they let 90, and we were
/ unable 10 render them any assistance.
/ The rock that we were on was COW
/ cred with seaweed, which made il
very dangerous to stand upon, and
I the edges Of the rock We're round. All
! On the rock with ourselves being
/ soaking wet and cold, were unable %
I render any assistance to those who
were in the greatest peril. 4 number
I OF them were washed off the wreck
and drowned and = number who were
| trying to get from the rock to the
I Island by the line were also washed
I ffOm it and drowned. We could see
people falling from the ships side and
l rigging. Several persons who became
completely exhausted laid down on
! the rock and died.
THE CAUSE OF THE DISASTER.
HALIFAX, April 2.-The following
/ is the substance of an interview be-
tween q reporter and Capt. Williams,
OF the Atlantic
RepOrter-TO what cause do you
aseribe the disaster? d?
Capt. can hardly say unless it was
because We had overrun our distance.
thought we were going about eleven
knots, but the speed must have been
greater or we could never have got so
far out Of our course.
The Captain was serious and COM
posed, yet at intervals, when some
particularly narrowing incident was
| being mentioned, he broke down and
seemed overwhelmed with sorrow.
( Once he said to the reporter to think
that while hundreds of men were
saved, every woman should have per-
ished. 1t is horrible. If 1 had been
able to save even one woman, / could
bear the disaster, but to lose all is ter
rible. He seemed to fully realize that
the world would hold him to a strict
account for the disaster, and that
whether he was blameless or culpable,
ne would be by many held respOnsi-
bic.
The company says the catastrophe
was caused by mistaking the lights
on the coast, and that they do not at
tGch blame to the officers of the vessel;
that Capt. Williams was an eXper-
fenced and excellent seaman. He was
about Il years in the transatlantic
trade, and with the White Star Line
since its organization.
ANOTHER OFFICERS ACCOUNT.
J. w. Firth, chief officer of the At
lantic, made q statement in substance
as follows:
Ny watch ended at u O'Clock Mon
day night. The second and fourth
officers took charge, and l went to
my berth. | was aroused with the
shock of the vessel striking. The
second officer came down to my room
and said the ship was ashore, and he
was afraid she was gone. l put on a
few articles Of clothing, got an oar,
and went on deck to clear the boats.
The ship had careeEed over before |
reached the deck. [ cleared two star
board boats. Just then a heavy sea
swept the boats away. l was holding
fast to the miZzen mast rigging and
now climbed higher for safety. The
night was dark, and the spray blew 50
thickly that we could not see well
what was going on around US. L saw
men on the rocks, but did not know
how they got there. All who were
alive on board were in the rigging.
When day light came counted thir-
ty-twO persons in the miZZen mast
rigging with me, including one wo-
man, When these saw that there
were lines between the ship and shore,
many of them attempted to go for
ward to the lines, and the tishermen's
boats rescued many more.
At last all had either been washed
off or rescued except myself, the wo-
man, and a boy. The sea had become
so rough, that boats could not ven
ture near us. Soon the boy was wash
&c off, but he swan gallantly and
reached one of the boats in safety. l
got firm hold of the woman and Sc
cured her in the rigging. l could see
people on shore and in the boats, and
could hail them, but they were unable
to help US.
HEROIC CONDUCT OF A CLERGYMAN.
Att O'Clock in the afternoon, after
we had been in the rigging ten hours,
the Rev. Mr.. Ancient, a church Of
England clergyman, whose noble
coLduIOt can never forget while L
live, got q Crew of four men to row
him out to the wreck. He got into
the main rigging and procured a line,
then advanced as far as he could to-
ward me, and threw it to me, I
caught it, made it fast around nay bO-
dy, and then jumped clear. y sea
swept me off the wreck, but Mr.. An
cient held fast to the line, pulled me
bach, and got me safely on the boat. l
was then so exhausted and benumbed
that was hardly able to do anything
for myself, and but for the clergy
mans gallant conduct 1 must have
persisted soon. The woman after
bearing up with remarkable strength
under her great trials, had died two
hours before Mr.. Ancient arrived.
Her half nude body was still fast in
the rigging, her eyes prOtruding, her
mouth foaming-a terribly CHASTITY
spectacle, rendered more CHASTITY by
contrast with the numerous jewels
which sparkIed on her hand. We
had to leave her body there, and it is
probably there yet.
The scene at the wreck was an awful
one, such as 1 had never before wit
messed, and hope never to witness
again. Comparatively few bodies
drifted ashore. Most of them, with
such articles as came out Of the ship
while I was on her, were carried out
to sea.