Smyrna times., 1875-05-12
A Terrible Calamity.

HE steamship NIs'Htf. flom New. Ork
for Hamburg. was totally wrecked on the
N,iiiv Islands. near the entrance Of the
British Channel. between England and
France. last Friday night. She had ON
board about 800 persons. OF whom Dot were
passengers. and. as far as can be gathered
from the dispatches. more than 300 oftho .
whole number pcri~hed Among her cabin
passengers We're seven persons from Philadtl- .
phia. only one of whom. Mr.. Leo We~tc. i ,
reported saved. The SETTLER was a tirSt-class
iron steamship. of 5000 tons burthen. a
little more than one year old She took
out miscellaneous cargo and $3O0.O)O in
specie.
\ correspondent Of the New York Htl,,lj
trlc-ralhs the following particulars from
London. The telegram i dated May 9Th,
and reads thus
All day long details of the .NLtHer calamity
have been coming in. Unfortunately no
more persons are reported to be saved.
Bodies are constantly being picked up.
Altogether twenty-four bodies have been
found The total number Of lives lost IS
3Il. Mr.. Pul.man. the second officer of
the S-LHr, and Henry Stein a.d Mr..
Frahm, tirst-clasS passengers. have been
interviewed. and from their narratives We
gather that the voyage was moderately
good until May +. The last three DAYS it
was impossible to take observations The
ship was out of her course half mile at the
time of the catastrophe. Capt Thomas
was on deck night and day for four entire
day>. At seven o'clock on the evening of
the 1th there was a dense fog. the sails
wrr" taken in. the engines put on half
speed. and the fog bells used Bishops
li@ht was unseen. though only half a mile
distant. At 10 o'clock we struck on the
reef and after four bumps the steamer
settled down. There was violent sea and
the tide was rising. The darkness was
intense. Most Of the male passengers were
awake and there was the usual rush for
the boats. but nearly all the boats were
stove. one boat with few sailors left the
ship cCwardly. refusing aid. Two boat
We're saved. The captain cndeavOrcd tc
compel obedience by firing a revolver over
their heads. During two hours six cannon
shots were fired as a signal Of distress whcl
the powder dampcncd. Distres, signals
rockets and blue light, were unanswered
At midnight the fog lifted minute. reveal
Ing the lighthouse. The waves were sweep
ing the decks and carrying away number
Of victims. At two o'clock the deck house
in which were the women and children
was swept away. The cries and shric<~ o
the victims were heartrendine and thcl
followed a ghastlv silence. The smoke
stack fell. crushing some Of the boats an
two others We're carricdawav. The remain
der followed til" captain to the forwar'
bridge. Each succeeding wave took frcsl
victims. Some l,crS0u- sought refuge OI
the mainmast and some on the foremost
At three o'clock the captain and two othc
officers were on the bridge The captai
descended for a moment 10 rendcr asst,
tancc and was swept away. Thus Tcri~hc
g brave man. says Mr.. Stein. Al this tim
about ten persons were clingng To- the ri.
ging Of the manma,t and thirty to that
the forcIna>t. The ship had carccncd. he
yards touching the water. and til" tide va
rising. At , o'clock the fD9 lifted. TI
survivors shouted but their cries wei
unavaiin@. At 1-o'rlock tn" mninmae
and at 80 the fnrcna.t. both of iron, fel
Then two Of the St. Agnes boats came an
rescued a few who had managed to kce
afloat. 1t was reported Yesterday that the,
were l03 women on board. The survivor. we
taken today from Pcnzanc" to Plvlnout
whence they will hc sent forwards to Han
burg, whore the greatest cxcitrmrI
prevails Il is asserted that lifr-saviI
belts were issued to til" women: it is ccrta
that most OF the passengers found non
An order was given that the first bn
should take the women and children b
this boat carsizcd. Policeman says that yev
boats were launced, and only two live
The Others were stove and swanpcd INN
diatelv. The cries for help lasted un
three o'clock. Tho last voice heard v
that Of little child in the cabin. 1t IL !
probable the boats could have lived if til
had been successfully filled. The VIII
number saved is forty-four. Forty bod
have been recovered.