Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1874-01-01
The Vile du Havre-HOw the Steame
Went Down.

went DOWN.
From the London Times Account of the Disasterl
The following is the narrative of one
of the seamen belonging to the Vile du
Havre
81 think it was about twenty minutes
to 2 o'clock when / felt the shock of the
collision. / had been on the sick-list
for some days, and was then sleeping in
my berth. The first thing heard after
our ship was struck was a call for all
hands to come on deck. I rushed I'D
the gangway at once, and then I saw
Immediately what had happened. We
that is, myself and some of my mates
tried to get one of the boats ready,
but the panic was so great that we could
not do it. The passengers were crying,
shrieking and calling out, Help helpp
They made a rush at the boat, and I
don't believe you could have kept them
back-no, not even if you had threat
ened to shoot them.
Didn't we see the Loeb Earn COM
ing? We'll, yes, [ believe somebody
must have seen her, for there were twen-
ty men or more on deck. / heard that
the second officer saw her fifteen min
utes before she struck us, but of course
L can't say. The Captain came out Of
his berth just as her libboom was COM
in over our bulwarks, and he says to
the Quartermaster: why didn't you
call me?' He blew the whistle, but it
was too late then. She was down on us
with crash like a thunderclap, and the
water came pouring III terrifically.
Don't say anything against the Captain,
for he had been three days and nights
keeping watch, and only laid himself
down that night on the sofa about half
past IL.
"When she was struck, the passen-
gers, as l said, came rushing up from
below and began to fill the boats. There
were about fifty of them in one of the
long-boats when the mainmast fell bang
ON it /; and oh, / shall never forget that
scene Some of them were killed right
OFT, some had their heads smashed,
others had their arms and their legs
broken. The screaming of the women
but there / can't tell how awful it
was. The mast struck me across the
| forehead as it fell, and the boatswain
was killed by my side. Some of the
sailors L picked up with their legs
broken but all we could do was just to
move them out of the way, poor fellows.
The mainmast brought down the mizzen-
mast along with it, and that too smashed
boat with fifty or sixty people in it. /
think everybody In that boat was either
killed or injured. Could not we have
got some of the others into the boats
Lor' bless you, sir ! they were too fright
ened and excited. If they had been
quiet and waited bit, We might have
saved some of them; but there was no
order-not bit. But there it's al
ways so. I've been shipwrecked three
times myself, and nobody knows what
such scenes are that don't go through
them. The Loeb Earn smashed two OF
the boats with her spars and rigging,
and when the two long ones had been
broken up by the falling masts, there
were only four others left, and two OF
them were small. 1t was the masts,
however, that did all the mischief after
ward. If they had not fallen, and If we
only could have kept the passengers
quiet a bit, 1 don't believe twenty OF
them would have been lost.
"Why did they not Jump on the Loeb
Earns bow? There wasn't time for
| thai, sir. She was going at twelve Knots
and half, and We were doing twelve,
so that she bounded back and was gone
from us directly. Our Captain re-
NAMED on his bridge all the time, CIV
ing orders, and was on it when she went
down below the water. i went down
with her tool should think twenty or
thirty fathoms deep. On coming to the
surface again, 1 looked round, and saw
a great many poor struggling creatures
| in the water. There was a boat near
me, and 1 held on to the keel until
could get inside. / pulled in three or
four women-leastways 1 gave them
hold on to the boat until they could be
dragged in, Then pulled off some of
my clothes, and jumped into the water
and swan to the Loeb Earn. Three or
four lines were thrown out 70 me, and
at last I was hauled ON board"