Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1880-06-17

landed on the beach in their night clothes.
to the humber of some three or four hundred.
IL is reported that the Narragansett caught
| FIRE after the collision, but no details have
| been received.
| A private despatch TO New York about
the collision says quite a number Of lives
was lost, The collision occurred near the
| Connecticut river. No information can he
obtained from the office Of the line in New
York
A New York despatch dated 1850 A. m.
saws the steamer Narragansett. which left
New York las, evening for S;onington. and
her companion the Stonington which LEFT
| Stoning;on for New York, collided OF Con
neeticu, river in the dense fog abou, Ills
Friday night. The former took FIRE and
sank in eight fathoms Of water. The pas
sengers Of both steamers were transferred TO
the City Of New York. which arrived in
New York at l0l5 Saturday morning. |, is
| Impossible to ascertain the loss Of life Thus
far only two bodies have been recovered
A Providence Journal reporter secures
| the followiog story from passenger on the
steamer NMraganseu;
J. II. Wilcox. resident Of Chicago. gives
the following story of his remarkable escape
| and the incidents observed: He had retired
TO his s;atcroom, No. Us. which was abou;
| amidship.. and was awakened by a crash of
| glass and Immediately became aware By the
wrench and groan Of ,imbers ,ha, the vessel
| had either been struck or run upon. Wilcox
has had the misfortune to lose leg and in
stantly feared he should bc pinned into hi.
staieroom by the fastening OF the door II b.
did no, Immediately &c, out; So without,
| dressing himself. without his cru,ch and with
making but one feeble grab for his peck
et-book containing 400. which he had lcf,
under his pillow. he made hi. way oa, into
the aisle with his coat and trousers in his
hand BY this time the boa, had taken FIRE
| from the blazing gas, and ther. scene
Of the utmos; terror and confusion. 4
woman flung herself upon him, screaming
Save mel and my ehila :" But OF course
Wilcox could do nothing in his helpless
condition. lie managed 10 drcs. himself
and struggle on deck. when there va.
scene Of equally mad confusion. disorder
and frantic fear. 4 dense fog prey allied 80
tina; nothing could be seen on the water.
and only the whistle and bell Of the Ston-
ington gave token Of her presence not far
of. There ~NsA cry for llfe boat. and one
was cut loose from amIdships from near
where Wilcox .as standing lie thrr~
safely within it. Others follow ed. uclud.
ing a woman Who burned him beneath her
~cight Some ono Gu, loo.. or united
rope. and the boat pushed of from the
burning steamer. To avoid being .~amped
b. passengers. sho ~crr swimming in the
water supported by life prc<cr1cr, or pirces
Of furniture. and filing the air ~iih er,e. for
help. the boat pulled out and ~ihin a
.ha -.
flames. leaving total darkness on the va
,er.. The boa, remained on, for VIA, Mr.
Wilcox Judged TO be Abou. three hour.
when feeling apprehension OF the coming
storm Of Wind and rain be urged them TO
pull for the sound Of the steamer, ~hich "A.
s,ill blowing her whistle. a. the only hope to
eseapc being ovcr.ci. They did 40 and ar
riSca safely on board the Sionington. The
boai's load including WILCOX. numbered
thirteen. none Of whose names be learned,
but three Of whom he think. uere q the
err- Of the Narragan.cti.
The ~ork Of pick ia4 up survivors eontin-
ued until daylight Over three hundred
being taken on board Some Of the .ur,i
,ors ~crc greatly exhausted from the long
exposure in the water. and man and wom-
an died after being taken oa board, IN spite
Of every effort The steamer City Of Ne~
York. Of the Norw.oh line. came up ahd as
sisted in rrseuing the passenger, oonsid
erablr number Of whom we're taken 20 New
YORK. Il ~As estimated that the loss u life :,
will no: exceed hfiy.
TN arriving 4; S;onington the people Of
the town showed the greatest generosity and
kindness. A great number Of passenger.
we're rescued with only their nighi clothes,
and we're abundan,ly supplied. The weak
were taken into house. and ever comfort
and convenience supplied to them. Most Of
the passengers belonging IN Providence AZ
ri,-d on the eleven O'Clock train from Ston-
ington.
Among the victims il Rev Mr. lockwood.
Methodist minister Of New York city,
xhose body i. a, Stonington. Also that Of
lady, unknown. A dispatch from the
/ clerk Of the steamer Narrag snsett estimates
the loss Of life at thirty
A Stonington dispatch saws the Sioning
ton arrived az $50 A. VI. With about fifty
survivors from the Narraganse,t. The boz
Of the steamer vas stove IN three feet at Of
the stem nearly Ia the water line. She
struck the Nauagansett AZ 80 on the star
board SIDE forward Of the " heel house. The
shock burst the gas tank and IN tifteen min
| utes the Narragansett was on tire. She sunk
in four fa;hom. Of wafer. The New York
and Providence came 10 the assistance, and
all the boats and life RATS Of the four steam
ers were lowered and put into service two
| hours before the last passenger VAS picked
/ up, mos; Of whom were transferred 10 the
| City Of New York. The passengers SAY that
the officers and crew of the Narragansett
behaved with grea; GOODNESS and nerve.
| On arrival Of the Sioningion the village vas
aroused, and men and women fastened with
clothing and assistance. Twenty five wom-
en- were on board in their night clothes, one
Of whom died before reaching her, from the
shock. She has no, vet been identified.
One man also died, 7. b. lockwood Of the
6sth street Methodist church, New York,
who was on his frs, trip across. Mos, Of
the eastern bound passengers Jeff on spec
iAl train. Everything was done for their
comfort No estimate can be made here Of
the loss Of life. 1t is believed TO be less
than first supposed.
Henry L. Higgins, of Yves, Eden, Maine,
a passenger on the NarragansettA makes the
| following statement:
had no staieroom. At the time OF the col
iision l was lying with my clothes on on
bench. i heard tremendous crash and MAS
knocked Cd the bench. On getting TO my feet
I ] found all the lights were exiingushed. Men,
women aud children were screaming and run
ming in all directions. / followed number Of
men and jumped into the wAier, and believing
| the boat about TO sink. started To swim to the
steamer that had coliided with US. young
naval cadet accompanied me, and think we
swan about one mile when picked up,
+. ". Forward, another passenger, who
jumped overheard with preseryer in COM
pany with several others with life preservers,
says he saw young man shoe, himself
through the head.
THE LOSS ESTIMATED AT PRON 20 TO lOO-A
PARTIAL LIST OF THE DEAD.
The purser of the Narrgansett stated that
there were not more than 800 passengers on
his boat, and the loss cannot exceed so, as
il is known more than 200 were brought to
New York in the steamer City of New York,
and large numbers were taken back to Ston-
ington on the steamer Stenington. A
schooner which came up sent out beats and
picked up several people, though j, is not
known exactly who or how many there were.
Many Of the passengers rescued we're bad
" scalded. They we're half naked. Pas