St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1877-10-12
A Fearful Night.
THE WRECK OF A SOUND STEAMER, AND
PROVIDENTIAL ESCAPE OF IT'S PAS
SENGERS

THE WRECK OF A SOUND STEAMER, AND
PROVIDENTIAL ESCAPE OF IT'S PAS
sENGERs.
The storm Thursday night was fear
ful in many parts of the land. The
steamer Massachusetts of the Provi-
dence line ran on a ledge five miles from
Horizons Point, Long Island, The
Journal has a special despatch from
StOnington, dated Saturday morning,
saying the steamer Frances Just arrived
with about $50 passengers from the
steamer Massachusetts. The passengers
left the wreck about one O'clock. At
that hour the Massachusetts was hard
on rock just off the village of East
Marion, on Long Island. The water
was nearly up to the main deck, and in
the opinion of the passengers the boat
must go to pieces. Capt. Waldron, who
went out on the Frances, however,
thinks that the boat may not be dam
aged as much as is supposed, and that
she will be got off in "A day OF two. No
lives were lost nor any of the passen-
gers injured. The passengers agree
pretty well upon the following story 4:
The Massachusetts left New York at
five o'clock on Thursday afternoon with
about $50 passengers on board and a
large cargo of freight. The day had
been stormy, and the violence of the
storm increased as the boat went down
the Sound. By IL o'clock terrible
gale was blowing, and it is reported
that the captain said he had lost his
lights. The fog was so thick that moth
ing could be seen, and the whistle was
blowing incessantly. About half-past
eleven the passengers report that the
engines were stopped for few minutes !;
then the boat went ahead slowly for a
few minutes, and then the engine stop
ped again. In half minute more there
was terrible crash, quickly followed
by two more. Some of the passengers
were thrown from their berths by the
shock, while all were terribly frighten-
rooms as if they felt their time was
short, and in five minutes almost every
passenger had on life-preserver and
was waiting for the worst. There was,
however, no confusion and no outcries.
Two or three women are reported to
have tainted, but this report is en-
phatically denied. The officers of the
boat told the passengers that the boat
was aground, and that there was no
danger at present in the sheltered posi-
tion in which the boat then lay. The
violence of the gale was less severely
felt, and, reassured by the comforting
words of the officers, most of the pas
seDgers took off the life -preservers and
some of the cooler ones went to bed.
This was about one o'clock. Half an
hour later the wind, which had been
blowing from the southeast, suddenly
changed to northwest and beat upon
the stranded boat with terrific force
The steamer, which lay quite steadily,
began to thump heavily upon the rocks.
Every sea would raise her in the air,
and she would come down with awful
force upon the rocks and writhe and
grind until it seemed she must go to
pieces. One of the passengers describes
the motion of the boat as being like
that of toy serpent when set on fire.
The alarm, which had partially sub
sided, broke out afresh. The passen-
gers who had gone down to bed got up
again in haste. The life-preservers
were once more put on, and there was
general expectation that the boat
would Immediately break up. Still the
officers and passengers preserved ad-
mirable cOmposure, although there was
excuse for fear. No one knew where
she was ; it was so dark that absolutely
nothing could be seen. The wind
howled so that conversation was almost
inaudible, while above all, was the in
cessant thump and the sound of heavy