The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1875-06-24

Ali Ocean Steamship Lost, with Fifty
Lives Sacriflced-A Terrible
Disaster.


Disaster.
A steamer arrived at New York on
the 10th inst. with five survivors of the
lost steamship Vicksburg, which sunk
among the icebergs while enroute from
Montreal to Liverpool The following
is the statement of an officer of the
steamer who is among the saved:
We left Quebec ON Thursday morn
ing, May ~, with ships crew of
sixty men, all told, and eight saloon
passengers, five gentleman and three
ladies, and about twenty in the steer
age, of whom four were females. The
weather was fine until o'clock SUNDAY
evening, May 80, when we fell in with
field OF ice and were soon surrounded
with it. The ship was stopped until
daylight when We proceeded again with
but little ice in sight.
At $50 P. NJ, Monday, all lands
were called to shorten sail. The shi D
was stopped amongst heavy ice and
headed south. when we proceeded at
full speed to get clear of the ice. At
II o'clock half speed, we struck the
ice. The engines were Immediately
reversed.
The ship struck heavily aft on the
port quarter, carrying away the fans of
the propeller, and hole was knocked
through the plates on that quarter,
through which the ship made a great
deal of water. We got the sails over
and stopped the hole up SO that but
little water came III.
All hands were Employed in heaving
the cargo overheard. The second
officer and myself were taken from the
cargo to clear away the boats. This was
about six o'clock in the morning of
Tuesday, June /.
The Captain ordered the forward
wells to be sounded, and six inches of
water was found, the after steerage then
being full of water. The main hold
wells were also sounded and five feet
and a-half of water was found. The
Captain called me upon the bridge, and
told me not to mind the boats, and then
called everybody aft, and told them to
have no fears, as he could take the ship
to ST. Johns, n. f.
1t was then discovered that the fires
in the engine-room were drowned out.
The Captain then gave orders to launch
the boats with their respective
crews. and told them to mind that
the distance from st. Johns was
40 miles northwest. l proceeded to
launch No. l, which was my boat, and
it was capsized in lowering, losing the
thermometer watch, charts, rudder and
part of the provisions. She was full of
wafer, and O'Brien and / baled her
partly out, when Grogan, Wilkinson
and Williams jumped in. We could
not hang on to the ship, owing to the
sea on and ice about us. O'Brien saw
The Captain on the bridge beckoning
the boat back, we having drifted about
| $50 yards from the ship.
We saw the second officers boat low
cred all clear, with nine hands and him
self IN her. She came around the bow
and pulled to windward about sixty
yards.
The ship sunk about 10 o'clock, float
ing the boat No. 2 from her checks.
with the chief officer and about thirty
people in her. She got clear and pull
ed to windward.
O'Brien, after the ship went down,
saw the captain and some persons float
ing on bale of hay among the wreck
age. We tried all we could to pick
them up, but owing to the boat being
half full of water and ice, we were not
able to do SO.
We shipped our mast, kept company
with the other boats for about two
hours, and then lost sight of them to
the windward.
We decided then to steer south to get
clear of the ice, and hove the boat toe
with an oar and bucket as drag till
daylight on Wednesday morning.
We had in the boat about three gal
ions of water, forty pounds of raw beef,
fourteen pounds of bread, wet with salt
water, and compass, which did not fall
out when the boat capsized. Again we
| put sail on the boat and steered south,
the wind blowing from the northward
and eastward all throughout the scene,
and bitterly cold. About 4 o'clock P.
NJ, we hauled the boats head to the
north asst till Thursday morning, and
then tackled to westward, till about 3
o'clock in the afternoon, and again lay
TO with the drag till 8 o'clock in the
evening, when we took in the drag, and
made sail and stood to northwest till
Friday morning. At daylight we tackled
to the southwest till midday and then
tackled again to the northwest till morn
ing.
About half past 10 o'clock we sighted
your ship. We then got our oars and
pulled away dead to windward till you
picked rs up.
[ think that forty odd people with the
Captain went down with the ship. We
had blankets on our boat for the three
ladies and the stewardess, which were
lost when the boat capsized. We saw
no ladies IN the chief. or second officer S