Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1879-09-14
A Long Island shipwreck Of Forty Years
Ago-Eight Persons Saved and One Hun
dred and Sixteen Lost. /.

al interest and horror. AS the only sur
vivOr of those who went to the rescue of
the ship, Gopher Smith was sought by
Herald writer on Saturday, and the old
man, who is now in hiss seventy-fourth
year, gave wonderfully vivid picture of
the disaster. Finding him at his home
late in the evening, the reporter was in
vited to seat on the porch of the Smith
farmhouse. Before beginning his nara
tive Capt. Smith introduced his daughter,
Mrs. Philips, and she, full of pride at the
part her father had taken in gallant
attempt at saving human life, brought
out for inspection photograph of an old
woodcut of the scene. The woodcut, too,
was produced, and beneath it was the
following inscriptions:
Dreadful wreck of the Mexico on
Hampstead beach, January 2, 1887, as
now exhibiting at Havington's Diorama.
The picture was drawn on the spot by
H. Siebert
ibid you ever hear of him?' the old
man asked.
The reporter answered in the negative.
"Neither did l." he said; but he.was a
young man who came down from New
York, and it is correct in every particu-
lar"
"You may not think much of it," Mrs.
Phillips interposed, speaking to the re-
porter, "but we prize it very highly"
SMITHS TO THE RESCUE!
The names of the crew of the life-boat
were next produced. 1t will be observed
that as among the inhabitants Of Free
port to-day the Smiths predominated.
The crew was as follows: Capt. Raynor
r. Smith, Gopher Smith, Samuel Raynor,
Willet Smith, James Smith, Oliver R.
Smith, Oliver G. Smith. Zcpher and
Oliver r. Smith were brothers, as were
also James and Oliver G. Smith, the two
former being sons of Raynor r. Smith,
and the two latter their cousins. Samuel
Raynor was also relative, though dis
tant one.
MY father was the captain and I the
mate, you may say" Gopher Smith said,
beginning his narrative. We were fisher
men and carried on the farm here as WE'LL
''There were no oysters then?" the re-
porter said interrogatively.
''There were no oysters and no life sta
tions on the beach. Everything was diff
ferent from what it is now; but it was
the custom of the people living near the
beach to cast their eyes along the coast
every morning to see if anything was
ashore. The Mexico was first seen in the
morning. Word came to me on horse
There was great rush to see the wreck,
although it was cold-trcmenjous cold.
The recollection of that morning SEEM
ed to come back to the old mans mind
with wonderful distlnctness.
"Tre-men;jous cold," he repeated,
dwelling on each syllable with strong en-
phasis. "It was so cold that some Of our
men froze their cheeks as big as dol
lar"
"Were you the first to reach the beach?"
"Oh, no; we warn't the first boat by
several.''
The ship lay about two hundred yards
from shore on her beam ends, bow on.
The sea ran very high, and in addition to
the cold, a terrible north wind was dash
ing the spray over the vessel and her
passengers. For miles along the shore
the beach was almost impossible on ac-
count of the ice, 50 that it was with great
difficulty that the fishermen were able to
carry their boats to the surf. At first the
Smiths were not able to get near enough
to distinguish her. :
II thought she was brig" Gopher
Smith said, "but as looked, I cried,
Hello! her mast is gone overheard I
then saw she was bark-ship."
Some Of the men who had got nearer to
the vessel now returned to where the
Smiths were with their boat, and one of
them said, cit is wonderful sight, she
has cut away all her masts but her main
mast"
Another exclaimed, addressing the
elder Smith, 'Now, Raynor, you've got
the best boat; let's take her there"
They vent to work with will and
dragged the boat over the ice to the
surf, but it was nearly noon before this
was accomplished.
''It was then betwixt eleven and twelve
O'clock Gopher Smith says. "There the
ship lay, the waves dashing over her.
No man had boarded her; no man had
come from her; there was no news from
her. She appeared to be full of people,
but 1t seemed impossible to get to her.
We built fire and stayed there and
looked at her. Every man had some
thing to say, but nobody made an at
tempt to go to her."
DETERMINED TO ACT. ..-
The afternoon was spent in this way
until the sun was only about two hours
high. Then Gopher Smith became i'm
patient and went to his father, determin-
ed either to do something at once or no.
| thing at all.
"Father, if you are going to that ship,
| now is the time" If you don't go now
am going home," he said, "for am sure
you will not 60 after dark
"Let's make the trial. replied Raynor
Smith" Now then, we want a volunteer
crew-no more talking, no more arguing,
but every man willing"
"Were many men willing to go?" the
reporter asked, interruptlng the flow OF
the old mans talk. &
"I'll guarantee there warn't," he an
swered. THAT warn't the crew that
went with us to the beach,
The boat was launched and succeeded
in reaching the ship.
"When we got there" Gopher contin-
ued, "there was everything to do and we
could do nothing"
The old man gasped and seemed to
live over again that terrible hour.
"You must find words to describe it,
Mr.. Reporter" he said, recovering, II
can't"
"Your own words, as you have just ut
tered them, are the best possible descrip-
ton, the reporter answered. $50 on"
"The only place where we could 1--we