The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1877-01-11
AN AWFUL WRECK.
PARTICULARS OF THE Loss OF THE SHIP
CIRCAssIAN ON THE LONG ISLAND
COAST.
Nrw YnpR Dec /:

,
NEW YORK, Dec. 81.
The second wreck of the ship Circas-
sian is the most disastrous which hes oc-
Cured on the Long Island coast since
the wreck of the John Milton, fifteen,
years ago. She ran ashore in binding
snow storm, and all on board, thirty per-
sons, were lost. The crew Of the Milton
were frozen stiff in the rigging, their
arms standing straight out in front of
them. The men on board the Circassian
had finished on Friday night all the
necessary preliminaries for attaching a.
hawser, with which she was to be drawn
off. During the esrly hours of the night
the wind frcshened little, and the nea
began to run very high, until at about
six o'clock it began to break clear over
her. The men, experimenting danger,
went into the f"re-rigging, where they
were ordered for greater safety. All on
board, thirty-two souls all told, remained
thus exposed until early in the morning,
when it was deemed advisable to shift the
quarters, as the falling of the top hamper,
caused by the rolling of the vessel, made
it difficult to hold On. The crew Was
safely transferred to the mizzen rigging,
where signals of distress were shown.
All this time the shore was plain in
sight. The moon was shining brightly,
and the fires built by the crew Of the
life saving station showed plainly the fig
ures of the crowd on the beach hurrying
to and fro in the vain endeavor to aid the
men in the rigging. 1t was an awful
suspense for the poor fellows lashed to
the mast and yards of the ship. They
saw attempt after attempt made to estab-
lish communication with them fail, and
each failure seemed to measure their pur-
chase upon life.
Every effort to get boat of shore
proved futile. AS often rs it was at
tempted the sea drove it high and dry on
the beach. Captain Henry Hunting, of
the ife-saving station No. 10, now
brought mortar into service, and several
balls with rope attached were thrown
out to the ship. But one of the cords
reached the ship. Its hold was not very
secure, and it presently fell of, and the
slender thread upon which thirty-two
human lives depended was snapped for
ever.
The station-men, all the while these
endeavors were being made, could see the
men in the rigging quite plainly, and
hear their cries for help. Many of the
wcathcr-beaten heroes on shore, who
have been wrecking vessels and saving
lives since boyhood, were moved to tears
by the piteous opportunities of the
wretched men off shore. The violence of
their efforts to save mitigated the sus-
pense they would otherwise have felt du-
ring the early hours, but when the last
charge was shot of, and nothing else pos
sible to human effort or bravery remained
to be done, they became unnamed, and
many of them wept
The nervous excitement and sudden
inactivity utterly incapacitated them for
any duty. They could not leave the spot,
and it only remained for them to remain
inactive and see their fellows perish be-
fore their eyes. To leave the beach
would only add to the terrors of the death
that stared its victims in the face, and to
remain inactive, would probably give
cause for unjust reproach from the poor,
helpless walters on the wreck. Superin-
tendent Hunting and his men remained,
and tried to answer the calls from the
wreck, but nothing that was said on
shore was heard on the ship, on account
of the direction of the wind.
In terror and suspense the morning
wore on, the wind having veered around
in the meantime to west southwest. Du.
ring the early part of the night, before
the men went into the rigging, the cables
were Stacked, but the ship moved only
short distance, and continued through
;he night to strike the bottom. Every
tinlr she struck the men thought she
would lose her mast, to which they had
| lashed themselves while conscious of the.
great danger, and the utter impossibility
of saving themselves if the mast should
20 by the board, it being of iron, they
were unable 10 slscken the lashing.
Some Of them, with more self.possession
than Others, had taken this contingency
into their calculations and had not Sc
curely lashed themselves, and among
these were the only four saved from the
wreck. At 4.S0 o. m, the long.dreaded
crisis came, and the mizzenmast went by
the board with a crash, carrying the
mainmast with it.
A tremendous swell had struck the
Circassian aft and raised her very high.
When it receded, she thumped heavily,
and the terrific jar threw the mast over
the side. The masts, being iron, went to
the bottom Immediately, carrying with
them twenty-eight souls.
STATEMENT OF THE cusToaHoUsE OF
FICER.
The customhouse officer detailed to
superintend the landing of the cargo, in
bis description Of the terrible scene,
says:
This ship was lying about six hundred
feet off shore. Amid the bowling of the
tempest and the roar of the waves, there
was borne to our ears the voices of our
poor fellows in the rigging, singing
hymns and praying in chorus to God.
There was hardly a dry eye on shore.
among us, as we heard these thrilling
and supreme appeals made to Cod.
Among those on the wreck were ten.
Shennec Indians, who, as rule, are very
good men. During this agonizing scene,