Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1879-10-21
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A Terrible Voyage.

l
A Terrible Voyage.
The steamship Montana, of the Gui,n lire.
left Liverpool for Now York on tho 4th Of O,
tobcr, and reached there on Wednesday night.
| after encounteIog a storm of very uuusus!
severity. The ship was 10 psrilous position
| for short time, and there was great alarm aud
excitement among tho passengers. Two lives
were loss-one of passenger and the other a
member of the crew. The men wero washed
overheard and drowned. A narrative of tho
terrible storm BY a passenger will be found b,-
low:
we left Liverpool on the 4sh of October"
said ons of the passengers to reporter, "in
westerly wind, the breezs bsiog fresh aud fac.
We bad fogs and it was cold, but all went we'll
until Friday, the l0sh. On the 9:h, however,
there was q s.ropg trsezs from the sou,he ,st
1t WAS cloudy and it was evident that storm
was coming up. On Friday, the 10sh-ao uu-
lucky dsy. indeed On this oco2Soa-the wiod
continued ssroDg and there was heavy scu.t-
erly swell. This YVES the beginning, as We
afterwards found. of one of the most terrible
storms ever experienced in the Atlantic at this
time of year. All Friday night it was very
rough, and when VIC tu.Ded cut next d,y we
found the gale lnNoaslng to CO awful extent. 1t
was almGst mirioln that enabled the ship to
live through it. On Saturday morniog her
position was in latitude 45 deg. "a miu., loo,
gitude so deg. Sc min. rbe wind had shifted
to tho northeast and Vas blOwiog hurricane.
1t was almost impossible to have breakfast or
to get about the chip. The sea WAS ruaciug
mountain high and the wiad was bloHiOg with
terrific force
Il aud five Others Whoveutured on deck we're
able to get to the smoking room by hanging on
to the rails. From there We c,uld watch the
storm BY holding fast to stationary objscs. The
captain tai been obliged to put the ship before
tie wind as measure Of safety. Shs was
fairly flying over the waves. but seemed to ride
beautifully snd safely over them. managed
to get up on the bridge with the second ofictr,
and while holding on for dear life could not
but wonder at tho terrible fury of the storm.
One moment the shin would be lifted up by
gigantic wave, and the next We would drop
down into the trough Ct the sea- imprisoned by
walls Of water % ell sides. Every few mo-
msuts tariff, wave would stake us with
st ok that made The vessel tremble from
stem to stern. After ruuoiag before the gallo
for como time snd 6udiug it incrolse the o,p
tain decided upon solrg atout and heaving to.
10 q few words he warned the sailors to look
out for t5eirsl olives. He ordered the eogiaes
stopped, and then cau.ed the wheel to bo put
hard down. Thsu tns engines wero started
slowly, and to turn the ship about was 10 60
directly in the teeth of lhs guile. As the sos
struck us the great ship course Was changed,
aud IS sho Wor, around she careeaed over 81
that her beam cuds were under. They tell ms
that even ths captain held his breath as tao
ship went through the trough OF tho ssa. The
position at this critical Interval Was ss daoge.
rous as it could be. and had heavy sea ruek
US at this time we would probably have gone to
destruction. At this time and three other.
were in the smoking room, aud We thought it
was all over.
"Io the saloon terrible sosne was taxing
plac.. Panic It ioken passspeors were crying
aud screaming and ladies w,r, faiotiug To
make matters worse s,a wsa shipped inso the
engine room, which sent puff Of steam Toto the
saloons with bissing sound. This caused 40
alarm of fire, and for short time there was
terrible exoitemsnt. Heavy seas continued 10
| break over Us, and at quarter pas; one d
gigauIc wave washed away large ifsboat,
| crushing il into thousand pisc,s Lat on,
ctners we're damaged, until Only ons s:aworthy
| boat was left.
"At tho tim, the frat boat was crushed the
| frs. loss of IFS occurred. Two storage pa:s,n.
gers were stardlng near the funnel. The samo
wave which smashed the boat swept them
away. One of them managed to grasp tho raj /.
lust IS be was going ever. Hs was quickly
rescued, but bis ,oOnpsoion was never 60
agsin. l do not koow bis name, bus he was
travelling alone. He lived 10 Pennsylvania.
Shortly after this. while the sailors ware trying
to secure tie foresai. another heavS ssa
dashed over us. Gao of the sailors was swept
overheard and drowued, aud snother was badly
hurt. At s p, N. the fury of the hurricane
had in nouiso abated. The sails had been cut
| or blown away. ons Of the funuels dismart'ed.
and the wheelm an place On the bridge broken
up. During tie night thero was not much
sleep among tho passengers. The, ships bell
kept toIlipg With the pitching Of the ship. and
the fcaue was dismal ore, The engine bad
| been kept going Just enough to keep the chip 8
| hesd 10 the right position. By next morning
tho fury of the gale had considerably abated.
and the steamer resnhed her destination Hltk'
out further trouble wgiI.