The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1874-01-01
The Disaster at Sea.
A Passengers Account of the Accident

A Passengers Account of the Accident.
The following story of the disaster
to the Vile du Havre is related by Mr..
@. b. Waite, of New York
The awful rapidity with which the
ship went down after she was struck
is scarcely credible. We were sleeping
TRANQUILITY in our berths when dread
ful crash and the shivering of the ves-
sci awoke lis in n moment. The pas
sengers-men, women, and children
rushed on deck, some of them half
dressed, others in their night-dresses.
AT once we saw the extent of the acci-
dent which had occurred. There were
the bows of large sailing vessel pro-
jecting over the deck, and there, too,
was frightful hole in the side of our
steamer, through which the water was
rushing furiously in. The crew, under
the orders of the captain, were man"
ming the two long boats and helping
passengers into them as fast as possible
under the excitement of those terrible
moments. While they did so, however,
the mainmast fell with an awful crash,
bringing down the mizzen- mast also
with it. These two masts fell upon the
longboats and killed number of the
pas sengers and wounded many others.
The terror which prevailed among them
at this time prevented n great many of
the passengers from making any at
tempt to save their lives. Some of
them, in paroxysm of despair, threw
themselves on the deck IN earnest
prayer. Although there were eight
boats altogether belonging to the ship,
owing to the brief time in which she
sank the crew were only able to get the
captains gig and whaleboat into the
water. The whaleboat was launched by
the second lieutenant, who, with sew
eral OF the crew and two or three pas
sengers, succeeded in getting into it
lust IN time to escape going down with
the ship. Some others got into the
captains gig, and the few lives saved
i'll these two boats and some others
picked up afterwards by the Loch Earn
were all that escaped out of the 313
FOULS on board theVille du Havre when
she was struck. The Loch Earn, after
clearing away from the sinking vessel,
put off to distance of about half
mile, where she hove to, and sent the
boats to pick up any of the passengers
and crew who might happen to be float
ing on the sea. Some were found on
pieces of plank, some clinging to por-
tions of the broken spars, others on
life buoys, casks, and various other
remnants of the wreck. Not a single
person was saved from the deck, the
panic being SO great and the time SO
short before all was over. The captain
and second officer behaved with great
courage through this scene of agony
and despair. They both remained on
deck to the last, and went down with
the steamer, but came to the surface
and hoated for three quarters of an
hour, when they were picked up by the
whaleboat. The mental anguish of some
of the fortunate few whose lives were
saved was heartrending in the extreme.
One lady (Mrs. Spatford, of Chicago
had lost her four child Ell, and another
Mrs. Buckley had lost three. A gen.
tleman, who was taking his sister to
France for the benefit of her health,
was among the saved, and his grief on
finding that his sister had gone down
in the vessel found q parallel only in
that of parents who were lamenting the
loss of their children, and children the
loss of their parents. Nor can I forget
| thO IdlloMluS sctue WHICH l. Witnessed
on the deck of the Loch Earn-a scene
surpassed in agony only by that L had
beheld Just before on the deck of the
ill-fated Vile du Havre. Ladies and
gentlemen who before had never known
a single privation wore standing there
shivering and destitute, and officers and
seamen whose lives perhaps had beer
spent in travelling the ocean, suddenly
found themselves helpless and deprived
in some cases of everything they hat
possessed. Abont eight o'clock We
sighted the American ship Trimoun
tain, bound from New York for Bristol
and upon our signalling her she hove
to and bore down alongside of us. W.
were then all transferree to that vessel
on board of which we were treated Will
the utmost kindness and consideration
both by Captain Urquhart and hi
officers and men. Thanks to thei
kind attention, in two or three day.
nearly all the survivors had to grea
extent recovered from the serious
effects of their immersion in the sea.