Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1879-07-26


Capt. James C. Luce, IS years ago
commander of the Inflated steamship
Arctic of the Collins Line, died early
yesterday morning al his residence, in
New Rochelle, af,er q brief illness. He
was born at Rochester, Mass, April
II, 1905, and had reached the iipe old
age Of over "A years. In his boyhood
he had strong passion for the sea, and
rose 10 be master of foreign trading
vessel at the age Of 10. He command
ed the Argus, Constellation and other
vessels that sailed out of Boston Har-
Dor, and early in the existence of the
Collins Steamship Company was given
charge of one of their best vessels. He
was tall, athletic, thorough going sea-
man, of pleasant and popular manners,
and one in whom his employers placed
the most unlimited confidence. He
took command of the Arctic after she
was launched, followed her fortunes for
years, and went down with her in the
end The loss of this vessel with over
200 lives on board made the most pro-
found sensation Of any marine disaster
that had happened up 10 that time. 1t
brought sorrow and mourning TO many
households throughout the land, and
especially TO the home and heart of the
cnterprising mall who established the
line of steamers TO which the Arctic be-
longed-Commodore L X. Collins, who
lost his wife and two children in that
appalling disaster. Captain Luce lost
his son, boy of nine years, to whom
kx. a Akad
of whom he never ceased to think till
the day of his death. The news of the
wreck created the most intense excite
ment in all the seaboard cities, and
the gallant conduct of the Cap
tain, along with the thrilling
narrative of his escape, with few 9TH
ers, from a watery grave, were the
themes of every tongue and made Luce
the hero of the hour. But the popular
applause had little soiace for him. The
terrible scenes he had passed through
and the loss of his idolized boy made
him resolve never TO go TO sea again, a
resolution he kept to the end. He be-
came attached to the Great Western
Marine Insurance Company, in the Ca
pacity of inspector, and continued in
this employment til he died. The
great feature of his life was of course
his connection with the wreck of the
Arctic, for otherwise his days were de-
void of incident. The story is an alb
sorbing one:
The Arctic, of the Collins Line, sailed
from Liverpool September 20, 1854,
with 2SS passengers and about $50 of a
crew. Nothing of special note occurred
during the passage until Wednesday,
September %, when she was on the
banks. The weather had been foggy
during the day. Generally distance
of half to three-qnarters Of a mile could
be seen, but at intervals of few min
utes very dense fog followed, and it
was impossible to see 100 yards ahead.
At noon of that day Capt Luce, who
had left the deck for the purpose of
working out the position of the ship, |
heard the cry of Hard starboard!"
from above, and, rushing on deck, was
just in time TO feel a crash forward and |
see steamer under his starboard bow |
The next moment she struck the Arc
ties guards and passed astern. The
bows of the strange vessel seemed to |
Capt. Luce 10 be literally cut off some
ten feet, and seeing that she must prob
ably sink in few minutes, and, taking
a hasty glance at his own ship, believ-
ing that he was comparatively uninjur-
ed, his first impulse WAS 10 endeavor to
save the lives of those on board the
sinking vessel. The boats were clear
ed, and the first officer and six men left
with one boat, and then it was discov-
cred that the Arctic herself was leaking
The engineers were set TO work to pnt
on the steam pumps, and the four deck
pumps were worked by the passengers
and crew. The ship was headed for
he land, which was thought to be so
miles away. Several Intellectual at