The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1874-01-10

| ing down the TnlZZenmaSt also with 1t.
| These two masts fell upon the two long
boats and killed number of the passen-
gems and injured many others. The terror
| prevented great many of the passengers
from making any attempt to save their
lives. Some of them, in paroxysm of de-
spair threw themselves on the deck in ear
| nest prayer. Although there were eight
| boats altogether belonging TO the ship,
owing to the brief time in which she sank
| the!crew were only ableto getthe captains
gig and whaleboat into the water. The
whaleboat was launched by the second
| lieutenant, who. with several of the crew
and two or three passengers, succeeded
in getting into it just in time to escape GO
ing down with the ship. Some Others got
into the captains gig, and the few lives
saved in these two boats and some others
picked up afterward by the Loeb Earn
were all that escaped out of the 3l3 souls
on board the Vile du Havre when she
was struck. The Loeb Erne, after clear
ing away from the sinking vessel, put off
to adistance of about half mile, where
she hove to, and sent her boats to pick up
anyof the passengers and crew that might
happen to be floating on the sea.
SOME were found on pieces of plank, some
clinging to portions of the broken spars,
others on life-buoys, casks, and various
other remnants of the wreck. Nota 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 fioated for three-quarters
nf oa, hour xxrban oxr xsra,o 11iaLyad IN nv
the iYhaleboat The mental anguish of
some of the fortunate few whose lives were
saved was heartrending in the extreme.
One lady Mrs. Spafford, Of Chicago) had
lost four children, and another Mrs. Buck
levi had lost three. A gentleman, 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 parallel
in that of parents who were lamenting the
loss of their children, and children the loss
of their parents. Never can | forget the
harrbwing scene which [ witnessed on
deck of the Loeb Earn-a scene surpassed
in agony only by that had beheld just be-
fore Eon deck of the Inflated Vile du Havre.
Ladies and gentlemen, who before had
never known single pIivation, were
stantling there shiyering and destitute, and
officers and seanlen whose lives, perhaps,
had been spent in travelling the ocean, sud-
denly found themselves helpless, and de-
prived, in some cases, of everything they
had possessed. About o'clock we sighted
the EAmerican ship Trimountain, bound
from New York for Bristol, and upon our
signaling her she hove to and bore down
alongside of US. We were then all trans
ferred to that vessel, on board of which we
were treated with the utmost kindness and
consideration both by Captain Urquhart
and his officers and men. Thanks TO their
kind attention, in two or three days nearly
all the survivors had to a great extent re-
covered from the serious effects of their iin-
meraion in the sea"
STATEMENT OF CAPTAIN ROBERTSON OF THE
LoCH ERNE.
Following is the official statement of the
collision between the Loch Erne and the
Villd du Hayre, taken from the log-book
of the Loeb Erne:
November .. 2. a. M, latitude AS de-
grees "a minutes north, longitude 3S de
grees 6 minutes west. Wind S. 5. W.,
true.j Ship braced up on the port tack,
heading by standard compass n. w. by
w. or w. !. A steamers masthead was
seen from one to two points on the port
bow Our side-ights out and burning
brightly. Shortly after saw the steamers
three lights. She was coming straight for
us almost Immediately. She showed
only! her port and masthead lights, and
was steering apparently to pass under our
stern. After a short time we rang our
bell and ported helm, as we thought she
was coming too near, the steamer still
showing only her port light. When close
to the bow the steamers helm was star
board and she was across our bow. A
oh oriua
to back our afterwards, but before the
braces could be let go the two vessels came
in collision, the Lock Erne striking the
steamer amidships. The ships immediate
ly separated. We threw our afteryards
backI Half the crew then shortened sail
and the remainder cleared away the port
life-boat. The carpenter being at the
pumps, reported that the ship was making
no water, and then went forward and
found the bowsprit gone and the bow
smashed completely in by the collision.
The bulllhead was apparently uninjured.
A boht from the Vile du Hayre then came
alongside containing an officer and four
men. | asked If the steamer was much IN
jured. He said she was injured, but did
not say she wanted assistance. AS no sig
nails Of distress were made by the steamer.
l Thought at the time the boat was sent
TO F61u6f us dSSlSldicG, Dub Wi1uC ettlh-
ing To the officer j saw the steamer ap-
parehtly settling down, and lowered the
port life-boat at once in charge OF the
second officer and four men, who made
towards the sinking ship. Our cutter
and starboard life-boat were then cleared
away and ia few minutes dispatched to
the scene of the catastrophe, their only
guide being the cries of the drowning peo-
pie, the steamer having disappeared. We
keptour boats out till daylight, till every
one floating among the wreck was picked
cd. We succeeded in saving eighty-four
persons out of three hundred and Ska
large proportion having gone down with
the steamer. The Vile du Havre only
floated about fifteen minutes after being
struck"
Captain Robertson then proceeds to give
an account of his falling in with the Tri-
mountain, and transferring the steamer S
passengers and crew to her, with the ex-
ceptiDn of Messrs. Cook and Weiss and
49, Il In