Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1880-06-19
Terrible Collision i'm Long Island

On the night of June 18th coll
lision occurred in Long Island
Sound, off the mouth of the Con-
'necticut river, which is nearly I'M
paralleled in its horrors.
The two steamers Stonington and
Narragansett both belong to the
"Old reliable Stonington line," and
ply between New York and Ston-
ington, Conn.
The Narragansett was upon her
regular trip from New York to
Stonington, the Stonington on the
return trip. The Stonington struck
the Narragansett on the starboard
side, forward of the wheel-house;
the gas tank was broken by the
shock, the gas ignited, and in fifteen
minutes the Narragansett was on
fire and a few minutes afterwards
sank. The Stonington was badly
injured in the bows, but made her
way to Stonington with about fifty
of the passengers of the Narragan-
sett a larger number were saved
by the steamers New York and
Providence, and conveyed back to
New York.
The number of persons on board
the Narragansett has been variously
estimated at from 400 to 500, and as
there are not yet 800 accounted for,
the destruction of life must have
been frightful, many having been
doubtless burned to death. Nearly
all the passengers had retired to
sleep, and those who were saved
were in their night-clothes, most Of
the children being entirely naked.
Two young men are known to have
shot themselves or one another; be-
ing unable to swim, they chose a
sudden death in preference to the
torments of fire.
The collision took place in a thick
fog, in twenty-four feet of water,
and some accuse the officers of the
Narragansett of carelessness before
the accident and selfish cowardice
after it, though Others give lauda-
bic account of their conduct. OF
course the public judgment will be
suspended till an investigation has
taken place. The shrieks of the
drowning and burning around the
fated vessel are described as appall-
ing beyond description. We cut
some of the incidents from the nor
thern papers: FL
Mrs. E. M. SOule, of Boston, was
heard to say to her child: "Nellie,
if ] jump, will you follow me 2" to
which the child replied: 81 will,
mamma" Both were saved.
Charlie Clair, boy, was placed
on a raft by his father and saved,
but the father was drowned.
None of the Narragansett's books
or papers were saved, but her cap
tain estimates the number of passen-
gers leaving New York at 300.
MIS- TIGucIICh a. CtIlISOIl, OI AL
lanta, Ga, awakened by the noise,
ran to her brother-in-law's state
room, and called to him. When
they went back into the saloon
where her two little children were
asleep the smoke was so sitting they
could not go in and save them. A
moment afterward the flames pre-
vented all possibility of saving the
children. Mrs. StillsOn lost sight
of her brother-in-law in the struggle
for life, but both were saved.
Edward MulhOlland and wife lost
their only child, a boy two years
old.
ONE OF THE sADDEST EVENTS
connected with the horrible GALLANT
ity is the case of Mrs. A. p. Dix, of
Brooklyn, wife of the broker of the
firm of Dix & Pheaff. Mrs. Dix
was on the Narragansett with her
three children and nurse. All are
lost but Mrs. Dix herself. They
were all helped into a life-boat.
Men tried to lower the boat, water
poured in and capsized it, and when
the life-boat righted again some of
the women were carried away and
the men abandoned the boat. Mrs.
Dix, her nurse, baby, little boy and
girl chung to the boat, but the boat
was turned over in some way three
times and Mrs. Dix saw her baby,
her nurse and her little boy and girl
washed away. Her diamond rings
are imbedded in swollen flesh. The
skin had been torn off her fingers,
hands and wrists by the boat sides
and ropes to which she had chung
for life. AS soon as the City of New
York arrived word was sent to Mr..
Dix and he rushed to the pier and
found his wife. The meeting of the
father and mother, who had lost
their entire family, brought tears to
the eyes of everyone. Other surviv-
Ors, who had not met with so great
a loss, forgot their own misery for
the moment in sympathizing with
the unfortunate man and wife whose
children were drowned.
A SURVIVORS STORY
given to the reporters of the Boston
Evening Transcript says there were
between 500 and 600 passengers on
the Narragansett, berths and state
rooms all being occupied, and the
cabin floors covered with mattresses.
He thinks all the passengers were
asleep at the time, and believes not |
more than half were saved. Sever |
al dead bodies were taken on board |
the StOningtOn.
When the City of New York with
the survivors arrived here, the |
scenes on board and on the pier
were of the most heart-rending
character. Women who had lost |
children or husbands were sobbing
and some of the men, who
had been in the water for hours,
had scarcely enough strength to sit
up; little girls and little boys were
crying and looking for parents.
a survivor was clad in
\ - T. I L 4