Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1875-11-17
Steamship Disasters.

to have been more terrible disaster than
at first reported. The loss of life is now
estimated at between 200 and $50. Henry
F. jelly, who was a cabin passenger, and
was picked up on the 9th by the ship Mes
| senger, was ut first supposed t" be the
only man rescued He tells the story of
his escape:
six women it, tried the boat Of: but could
the Ts5 des had edf
e ee hsm hG n aogt an h1p b naT ba s
nas the water was N that boat and GU, oSs
f 3 after h the fell and 20 sr Telk n nl
boat and the steamer sank think about al al the wD
M & IN our boat and tnfy weTe an c1 IN
the evening" the night not dark n"r the sea very
the bottom OF the boat and with another climbed
we got some lite preservers floating near the house
saw three RATS the nrst had man on It, the next
third raft s ai to t ee Except 9 there
Pene on II think were 30 or 40 miles south Of Cape
rattoosh Island between and o'clock in the
Of rSs nn aa Hss On he s as ' et h
s %as m H..e and cae
to her heard persons Oh other RATS callnt bmt
but little wind until morning When the wind and
sea rose was then within mule Of shore OF Hancom-
which passed me: about 10 o'clock on Saturday
ing the Messenger picked me up
Monday morning the Sth. the revenue
cutter Oliver Wolcott, picked up Il man
near the Straits of Fuca. The man PROV
ed TO be Neal OIaley. quarter-master
Of the Pacific, and on recovering from his
exhaustion he told his story. He states
that there were about $50 people on board
the steamer at the time of the disaster, but
| handful of them, at the most, were saved.
O'IIaley tells the following story Of the
| disaster:
1t was ahont soclock in the evening when went be
low, ard az the tine everything was All right and the
about hour later. ran deck and found every
IN m a RI h s M of the
trough of the sea- and saw large vessel under sail
vreen light distinctly the passengers crowded into
TIE hats aEast {f of the 9rfrs VIII
ward INTO the water and got Is women and INTO
ant at nome h sy n p5 ted
myself by hrohen sky light for about Is minutes and
eight others on looking for the steamer found She
bodies srreas Tor help Mere fearful but whish
s ana we Mere alone s O." the c t and Ih herr
M linn nfd %s lads front AT the sn the
~hcs we lad athed onrsevts Abomt W XXI the
ses washed Evtrh"ard th~ captain second mate the
lady AMI anqther pas +e!e,r APoutsA NJ the second
and saw land Is miles distant a, and rrce Of wreck
died and the ileAt morning another lawn, me
ll%nt IT. 1 Of the second day laFe emy
and slept SQUAD that NIGHT for several hours ON the
snrronded y ii atm, keir or H sea Wed Will mad
the water smooth. 1t continued calm all day and
by the Gutter
OIIaley states that while on the raft the
second mate told him that the chief mate
with eight of the crew got clear in one of
the steamer small boats, and this is the
only hope of any being saved beyond the
two already rescued, Jelly and O'Naley.
Steamers and tugs cruising in the neigh
borhood Of the disaster. have recovered
several dead bodies. O'Ialev says that
Capt. Howell WAS the last mpn to leave
the Pacific.
At first it was believed that Jelly's no
ton Of collision was Il llallucination. but
the remarkable part of the story is that not
only was he right, but that while the
steamer sank almost immediately, the ship
with which she colliled escaped with COM
parativcly Slight injuries, only to be
wrecked two days later. on a sunken rock
tional particulars are furnished by Capt,
Sawyer Of the Orpheus, the colliding ship,
who, with lis officers and crew. Were
found, Friday, ut an Indian camp up Bar
: Ill, II. b,-, I,
enuc cutter, Wolco!t, while out searching
for survivors and dead bodies of the Pacf-
ic disaster. Capt. Sawyer gives the fol
lowing account of the disaster and of the
subsequent wrecking of his own ship:
0n f. atpi III TaH syTnS ; H. %hs III
about nth west with fresh south east hrre7e m,
tn. port bow and mmeiiatey after stralIht ahead
make ont which direction she was coming Put my
helm starbari and a. the likht came nearer cnntln
around, aud the sails fat abatk The steamer b>
after, her bow strick my slp Just ataft the
igrerhanS .rasns N the rail ara breakln, the
ed ALONGSIDE my ship, striking and Eratin-, alos the
and the rstit, on that side ais" the foT"r mas
hat It, the y T by ana SENT T S 1T , lh @ ID
my shiE 70 b. m slmknf T1'dloll, but no ,i,r
steamers deck. She drlited or steam ed away conl!
| 1 i
winch took for signal aud thought that they had
heard IN! hail and would lay by me. but sa" her 1t
iicn lay t." he reisder Of than 1T and
then got under way al,ain and made for land Soon
after dark made light that took for Cape FlatteTy
not knowing that there light the coast further
north. Iallowed i've miles clearance Of Duncan rock
f fnta hat at oF sa tarTE fn%
ship sGraed over reef and 3 msqty atter sum
mstook for Flattery cape Beale at the
Barclay sound, 81 miles north OF the former.
Capt. Sawyer got all the valuabes, etc
he could out of his ship. and with
, his wife, officers and crew cncampct
9 on the shore in tents made OF
sails. lie had hired Il canoe from the In
, dians and started his mate to Victoria fol
: help. but the weather was so bad that tn,
f Indians would not venture out on the vov
age SO they We're found when the revenu,
, cutter, Wolcott arrived, and were all taker
y on board of that vessel with the most val
liable portions Of their goods, and wer,
, landed, Friday, at Port Townshend, say,
! the third mate of the OrpheuS, who wa
, left in charge of the wreck till the owner
can be consulted Nothing was heard o
0 or seen in Barclay sound of anything pc I
+ tanning to the Pacific, and there is no hop,
of rescuing any more of those on board
| the lost steamer Capt. Iiarwood and the
G Pilot, Peter Thompson, of the revenue cut
D ter, Wolcott, went to the wreck of the Or
n pheus and examined it carefully. The,
say that the ship WAS undoubtedly strucl
by the steamer just abaft the forward rio
k ging. The Orpheus registered 10G6 tons
It and at the time of the collision with th
: Pacific was on her way to Departure ba
5 for coal, having sailed from San FransiSc
i on the 39th ult
J. The Pacific is the fifth steamer that h..
Il been wrecked between San Francisco an,
re Victoria during 10 years, and in these dis
: ;lsters many passengers have been lost IN,
J., 4 vast amount Of treasure Ten years ar