Morning journal and courier., 1880-06-14
News by Telegraph FROM ALL QUARTERS. APPALLING SCENES, A Terrible Crash on the
 Sound. THE NARRAGANSETT IN FLAMES. Terror Stricken Passengers
 Leaping Overheard. STORIES OF THE SURVIVORS. A Fearful Tale of Death and
 Panic.
A TERRIBLE DISASTER.

timS-Stories of the Survfvors-Heart
 Bending Scenes of Suffering and Dis
 tress.
 SroN1NGToN, June 13.-One of the mos
 terrible disasters that ever occurred on tn,
 Sound was the result of collision, abou
 midnight Friday night, of Saybrook betwee1
 the steamers Narragansett and Stonington, O.
 the Stonington line. A dense fog prevailed
 at the time. Both steamers were loaded witt
 passengers, and soon all was confusion an6
 consternation on board the Narragansett
 which was found to be in sinking condition
 This vessel was struck amidships and rakec
 clear to the wheelhouse. The Stonington
 although badly crushed at the stem, remained
 afoat. A flood of water poured into the Mar
 ragansett and swamped the steamer. In less
 than five minutes she sank to the main decl
 and grounded. Shortly after fire broke out
 from the explosion of the gas tank, it is be
 lieved, and in a few moments wrapped the
 whole boat in flames. Soon all who could
 escape were struggling in the water. The
 Stonington sent out boats and rescued mum
 Der. The steamer City of New York also as- sisted materially in saving life.
 The first intimation that anything had hap.
 pened to the Narragansett was caused by the delay in her arrival at the pier. The usual hour for her arrival is 2:3O a. m., but the
 watchman at the pier waited in vain for he1 appearance yesterday morning. At three o'clock he aroused the officers, who, however felt no serious alarm over the delay. At six o'clock the Stonington, which had left for New York at ten o'clock the previous night, ar rived with the first news of the disaster. A general alarm was at once sent through the town, and preparations were at once be- gun to receive the rescued passengers that had been brought on the Stonington. Every body who could go went at once to the steamboat landing, and there was no lack of clothing. The steamboat company could do little, but that little was done promptly Such of the rescued people as wished to con- tinue on their way East were sent on special train that left here at nine a. m., and those who preferred to go to New York were sent thither in the regular train, leaving here at eleven a. m. With them went an official of the company to see that whatever could be done for them should be done. One import ant thing, however, was neglected. There was no list taken of the people who were res cued by the Stonington, though it would have been an easy thing to take it. While the peo- pie were here however, they were cared for in the houses of the people, and were made as comfortable as possible. When they ar rived they were naked or nearly so. Men and women were either naked or wrapped up in blankets and sheets for most of them when the collision occurred had been in bed and had been rescued only partly dressed Many of them were almost distracted with fear lest their relatives or friends who had been with them, but who were separated from them in the excitement on the steamer or af- terward in the water, had been lost.
 One of the officers of the Stonington said that just. before the collision occurred the was running at about twelve knots an hour, but that moment before she struck the Narragansett the steam had been shut of. If she had been going at her regu- lar speed nothing could have saved either boat. Owing to the fog she was being run slowly. The spot where the collision occurred he could not fix any more definitely than to say that it was about fifteen minutes run from Cornfeld Point, and that the Stonington was on her regular course. The Narragan- sett, he thought, had gone too far south and was probably trying to find the Cornfeld Point light, near which the boats pass It is certain that soon after the Narragansett was struck she was afire, and that the flames spread with marvellous rapidity until the sa- loon was swept clean and great portion of the upper part of the boat was destroyed. She then sank, but luckily in very shallow water so that she is not even now totally The utmost that could be done from this end of the line was to engage wreckers and divers from New London and this was done as soon as possible by MT. Giles F. Ward the assistant superintendent of the line. He gave orders by telegraph to send whatever tugboats could be had in New Lon don to the scene.
 Mir. John Kiernan, the purser of the steam er put the whole number on board at three gentleman who arrived by the City of New York said, in his opinion, there were not less than six hundred persons on the steamer. All the staterooms were engaged, he said. Some of thenl-no doubt the great CT part-were occupied by two persons, and numbers slept on the floor. The steerage was crammed with men and women. How many persons there were on board that steamer and how many were lost, he said, no one will ever know. Foreign going steamers keep list on which is entered the name of each person on board the vessel, and that list is preserved in the office of the company but this is not done on American steamers sailing
 
 arrive on the dock of the Stonington line yes terday morning was a Mir. Jamieson. He said that the Narragansett was not quite full, but there certainly were over six hundred on board Mir. Julius Smith, of Elizabeth, said, in the presence of a crowd on the dock, that he saw seventy-fve women and children in the water. and in his judgment not five of them had been rescued.
 The General Burnside was sent to the
 fo- !, L with two dead bodies. The Electra, the boat of the Metis, wrecked in 1872, was lying here, and she was also sent to the wreck and returned with one dead body. The Stonington had brought three together with the rescued passengers in the morning, and the six were taken in charge by the com Dany. One body was recognized before it ar- lived here It was that of the Rev. E. B. Lockwood, the pastor of the Sixty eighth street Methodist Episcopal church in New York city He was on his first trip to the East and had engaged to preach in Westerly, R. l., to-day. The body was taken to New York The other bodies have not been iden- flied. Six bodies were also picked up of Mantle, one of them being recognized as E. !. Horton, of Attleboro, Mass. Two men, whose names are unknown, shot themselves through the head in their frenzy.
 Thrilling accounts of the disaster have been given by passengers on board both ooats Mr. Munford, who was on the Ston- neton, had not retired to his berth when the collision occurred but was lying on the ounpe in the captains room. He heard the hree whistles of the approaching steamer, which sounded as if they were right over his lead. and in an instant the collision occurred The Narragansett was struck amidships, near Ter wheelhouse, and the Stonington full upon he bow The Narragansett backed off from he spot and lay to about quarter of mile way Hardly had the examination of what damage had been done to the Stonington commenced when the alarm was given that he Narragansett was on fire. Immediate preparations were made for the rescue, and he Stonington was moved toward the burn ng steamer, which hlazed up so rapidly and iercely that the passengers were compelled o leap from even the hurricane deck into the water, and were seen in every direction cling ng to seats and life preservers, which in this ase did most effectual service. The best of liscipline prevailed on board the Stonington, nd everybody took hand in manning the ifeboats and life rafts. About forty minutes fter the collision the Narragansett sank, and was in total darkness with the ex- eption of the lights on the Stonington, the og being of great density.
 Cornelius Henry, of Boston, says that at he time the Narragansett (upon which he ook passage from New York; left that city here were between four and five hundred messengers on board that at that time all the ,erths and staterooms were engaged My ha ok sl-l.s-