Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1879-01-22
New York Herald.

The particulars Of the loss of the i'll
| fated steamer EnailyB B. Sender were fur
nished vest erday by two of the crew, the
sole survivors, SO, far as known, of the
wreck, who arrived at this port about
noon on the steamer alias, from Kings
ton, jamaica. They told their story on
the dock at the foot Of Christopher
street, in the very clothes in which they
had succeeded in effecting their miracu-
lous escape from a watery grave. Theo-
dore Steinhardt one Of these survivors,
was quartermaster of the Souder, and
Alfred e. Anderson, the other, a Swede
| by birth, was a seaman.
l. " On Sunday afternoon, December 81
said Steinhardt eve left New York, and
nothing extraordinary occurred until
the Emily b. Souder was opposite Cape
Hatteras. On Tuesday morning we en-
countered a rough, heavy sea. while the
wind blew hard from the southeast.
About s o'clock we found the ship leak
ing. The pumps were manned. Every
officer and every sailor was at his post
of duty, but, notwithstanding almost
superhuman efforts, the water gained
on us, first slowly and at last rapidly.
At 5 o'clock in the afternoon the mel
anchOly news spread that the fires had
gone out, but no one was discouraged.
We began to throw the cargo and bag
gage overheard, passengers as well as
crew engaged IN tightening the vessel
as much rs possible. But. the water
gained upon Us, ard soon made cxis-
tence below decks impossible. ..,,.....
s"NOthing was left now but to look to
our lifeboats. The command to I'M
loosen them was quickly communicated
to the crew, and, one of the boats hay
ing been launched, was placed under
command of the first mate Including
the latter, there were ten persons in the
boat, among whom were four lady pas
sengers. Every one was provided with
life preserver, some even having two
The boat had only gone few yards
from the Soalder when she capsized, and
men and women were screaming in the
water for the help which no one could
render. -
The steamer was sinking steadily,
and tremendous efforts were being made
to launch the second boat. All of us then
on the vessel helped to get this boat
clear, and we.fnally succeeded in plac-
ing ten persons in it. As none of the
officers would leave the vessel while
single plank remained of her, one of the
crew took command Of the boat. For
tunately she got clear of the wreck, but
what became of her afterward has yet
to be known.
"The purser Of the Sovder was now
called upon to take charge of the third
liieboat, IN which were ten persons, but
he did so reluctantly, as he preferred to
remain on the sinking vessel with his
commanding officer. All this time it
was evident5to those on the Souder that
but few minutes, perhaps seconds,
were left to make whatever prepara-
tons could be devised to save life An
derson and myself were fastening our
selves to the BOBBY hatch (hatch COW
err, An elderly gentleman Of about SO
years was there, and we induced him to
join us. While trying to make the
booty hatch float a tremendous sea
came along and carried it out upon the
waves. At that moment the captain
was endeavoring to make a raft for
himself and that was the last we saw
Of him.
Everybody had now to look out for
himself, and while on the hatch cover
we saw the ship sink beside u.s. In less
than five minutes after the vessel went
down the ife-raft, 81 fortunately,
came alongside Of the BOBBY hatch,
and, though it was in miserable condi-
ton, Anderson and myself sprang upon
it, We urged the old gentleman who
was on the 'booby' hatch with us to
come on the little raft. We entreated
him to join us, but he seemed para
lyzed with fear and did not stir. Poor
fellow! He must have gone down soon
after.
eve stuck to the life-raft the best
way we could, hoping against hope, but
still with full faith in a speedy rescue.
For more than forty-eight hours we
were tossed about on the ocean, and our
sufferings during that period can be
imagined better than described. We
were almost exhausted from exposure,
hunger and thirst, but in this extremity
we found tossing about on the waves
some canned oysters which had foated
from the Souder and which gave us
great relief.
Con the third day we were sighted by
the schooner Herbert Deuereou, from
Boston for Kingston, Jamaica, and
picked up. l should add that the first
night we We're on the life-raft was ex-
eeedingly dark. We could not see any
thing, and soon lost track of the wreck
debris that surrounded us in early part
of the evening. While on the raft
we suffered severely. Half of our
bodies being in the warm water Of the
Gulf Stream were constantly kept in a
sort Of warm glow, while the other half
exposed tothe cold winds, felt the effects
of the severe weather most terribly.
When the Deuere0u came in sight she
hove right alongside, and we were actu-
ally dragged on board of her, by the
warm-hearted crew in their haste to
succor us. The raft was subsequently
taken on:aboard the schooner also. The
Deueyeau has that life-raft on board yet.
We were three days on the schooner
before we could use our lower limbs,
so terribly had they been weakened by
exposure. During fourteen days we re-
manned on the Deuereau, where we were