Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1878-10-31


oeraey Of - gallant ca On the occasion.
Isss efths Express.
weremsnsher no event ~ securing within our
newspaper experiences which has cast deeper and
idsrgiOominour communily than thaawhich has
been occasionsd By the los ofthe steamer Express
in the terrible Storm on he Chesapeake On Wei
ncsday morning of last week. The Steamer LEFT
her wharf In Baltimore af the usual boar on Tues
day evenine, thongh storm signals are reported
70 have been firing from ell prominent pOints IN
The city. In all the sad details, we end Moth
ing to end hult with In Capt. Barker, except in
his disregard Of this warning, and 1t present
writing, we don't know that the criminal cupid
fly Of the boats owners IS not more sssponsible
for this than the Captain. However this may
be, the steamer proceeded down the bay without
encountering any serious diiieulty until about
midnight. She was then OF Patnxens river, and
sOOn after, struck high east wind which, By
O'Clock Wednesday, had changed 70 Southeast
and increased to q hurricane. AZ this point OF
time, Barker locates the position Of the Steamer
"a between Point-no-Poinf and Barren leland
Finding that the strain on the vessel would be
fatal and that il would Be impossible either 10
weather the gaIeor make the PotOmac, be headed
for the Eastern Shore, which was the nearest Al
hand. The sea, the Captain states, boarded the
steamer by the forward gang plank and ran clear
aft to the wheelhouse, badly sraining the joiness
work and filing the fire and coal rooms. The
immense amount Of water shipped caused the
vessel 70 tilt TO the star board Finding her get
ting lower and lower as she eareencd, the freight
was thrown over and an attempt was made to
get her up by letting go the anchors. Even this
proved unavailing. At $50 O'Clock the hurri-
cane deck was wrenched away aud the saloon
went TO pieces. Mr. Francis J. Stone, ptrssr OF
the lost steamer supplies the following thrilling
particulars Of the final catastrophe -
aEvery man in the crew stood at his post to
the last and not Que instance OF hnching OF pan
ie was seen. The Officers and men stayed below,
throwing over cargo to tighten the steamer, and
were assisted by several passengers until the fur
mace fires were put out aud IL was then known
70 be useless to try TO save the boat. The lady
passengers we're calm and resigned. Not one cry
OF terror was heard. The ladies assisted each
other to put on liie-preserveFs. These prepara-
tons were silently made for that hight TOR lie
which all saw was inevitable. An audibly ut
tered prayer here and there, q moan Of suppressed
emotion from one or another Of the passengers IN
the saloon were all the outward evidences given
Of the intense feeling which possessed the breasts
Of all on board In the meantime the Express
was falling over as each wave struck her, and
she could not recover from the successive shock.
The people helped each other up the now perpen-
dicuiar side where the steamer rested but q brief
s.1 mw1 s7aa ga en- I'd
Nv over. The upper work parted from the hull,
and an who were not Immediately drowned were
floated of on whatever pieces Of wreck they
could grasp Mr.. Ullman, two colored female
passengers and Mrs. Tarleton and child did not,
SO far as Mr.. Stone knows, get clear Of the boat.
lie thinks they went under when the vessel
turned bottom upward. When those who were
swept of cleared the hull about two minutes
were allowed for every one TO do all the good nc
could. Mr. Stone had on his underclothes only,
having stripped for the struggle, except that ne
was caught with his overcoat, the climax having
come SO quickly that he had not time TO throw II
aside Ore Of the officers helped him TO get nd OF
the coat in the water and his limbs werefreed. An
attempt was made TO get Mrs. Bacon and Mrs
Jones into a yawI, bu: no boat could live in such
n sea. and both ladies were drowned. While for 9
short time the peoplein the water were to the lee
ward ofthe wreck ihey wercsheltered from the gale
and could help themselves aud each other in select
ing pieces of timber, planks, etc. The darkness
and the emergency required prompt action.
When the RATS drilled clear Of the hull and were
struck by the waves helping ono another was cut
Of the question. DR.. Burch held on 10 the ran
as long as he could, and three times was saved
by others when his hold was breaking, but nj
last he was swept away and lost. Mr. Stone
could nj first trace out each group on every raft
Hawkins a fireman on the Express, had stood
at his post on the steamer until waist deep ~
water. On the raft he was equally cool and
courageous. Willie Barker, the lad, on another
raft, was at srst demoralized, and one Of the men
held on to him manfully, besides taking care o
himself When the boats from the Shirley came
TO the resrue all hands on the rGft were benumbed
and well-nigh exhausted. Mr.. Stone does not
believe that any Of the female passengers Of the
Express were saved. Mrs. Isaaes, chambermaid,
was seen on q mattress, and she had n life pre-
server on, but was swamped in the debris around
her. The two colored women passengers were
never seen after the saloon parted from the bull
and broke In pieces. The three ladies were al
most instantly drowned within few minutes az
ter the disaster. Mr. Stone thinks the two Car
ringtons were carried into Hungary river, and
that they and perhaps others may be saved.
There were on board the ilI-siared boat ut the
time Of the disaster, besides the officers and crew
which consisted Of 81 persons, eleven passengers
making thirty-two in all, aud ofthe whole mum.
Der, about sixteen are believed TO have beer
saved. We give below the names Of such Of thu
lost as are Of special interest 10 our readers =
Mrs. N. A. Jones, wife Of Capt. Randolph Jones'
Mrs. " A. Bacon, relict Of the late DIR. Bacon
Mrs. Pinkney TarIton and son, aged years
Dr. D. G. Bsrch; Leonard J. Howard, first Officer
Of the Steamer; Henry Ullman, well known herr
IS q cattle buyer. II is believed there Eere sons
coIored people belonging to the county also lost
but we have as yet been unable to ascertain theiI
names. -Four Of the bodies Of the drowned haS'
been recovered. Two are those Of ladies, Proba
bly, Mrs. Bacon and Mrs. Jones from the deseriP
ton given Of them, and the others are bodies o
men, both white. The body believed to be tina
Of Mrs. Jones IS buried on Adams Island and
the other three on Long Island. All Ofthese had
life preserveEs attached.