Morning journal and courier., 1880-09-06
l News by Telegraph
 FROM ALL QUARTERS. The Lost Steamer. FOundering of the City of
 Vera Cruz. GOING DOWN IN A HURRICANE. Nearly Every Soul on Board Lost.
 Thrilling Scenes on Board. Passengers Assembling to Ex-
 change Last FareweIIs. LifebOatS Dashed to Pieces. Graphic Description of the Awful Disaster.
Lifeboats Dashed to Pieces.
Graphic Description of the Awful
 Disaster.
SUNK IN A HURRICANE.

SUNK IN A HURRICANE.
 l Shortly After Daybreak-Passenxers Awakin& to Death--Brave General l Torbert-Like a Sunbeam Among the 1 Passengers-A Distraeted Father-Anx- 1 ious Only For His Little Son-Lifeboats | Crushed Into AtOms-Scenes Amid the | Storm-Thri1ling Tales of the Survi- 1 vOrs-DetaiIs of the Disaster SIS Gath l cred From Their Lips.
 | NEW YORK, Sept 5.-Au doubts as to the
 fate of the steamship City of Vera Cruz whose supposed loss has been already chron- l icled have been set at rest The steamer | Water Lily arrived at Jacksonville, Fla, yes- l terday afternoon, having on board A. R. Owen, civil engineer living in Chester, Pa, and four seamen, survivors of the terrible disaster. MT. Owen made @ graphic state | ment of his experience, and of what took place during the awful days of the hurricane, ] and his account of the terrible disaster is thrilling. After giving list of the passen- gers, which is the same as that previously published, and description of the cargo, he comes to the evening of the disaster. CThe vessel foundered about 6 a. m. Sun day, August 29th. He says: During the evening three skyIghts in the main saloon were carried away and the waves
 poured considerable water into the saloon and staterooms, setting all adrift. By mid night the passengers were generally sitting upon or lying on the floor of the saloon con versing with and assisting each other, yet
 good cheer was the rule, and many were the exchanges of wit and humor between them
 all. Major General Torbert, United States
 Army, had been washed out of his stateroom
 (No. 5, which was the first on the port bow
 early Saturday evening. He then came to
 me in the saloon room No. 27. He had been
 thrown against table in the afternoon and had cut his right cheek, which troubled him
 considerably, as it bled freely, but he was in his best and kindest humor, speaking cheer ing word here, assisting a man there and attending to the women and chil- dren everywhere. He lay on the saloon floor for part of the night, but was flooded out, and then came and laid with me, bring ing his waterproof, which we threw over us to protect us from the water dripping in from the top and sides. At one o'clock D. m. the engine room was dry. The drag was put on, but it reversed and was useless. It was not gotten ready until this time and was too small for service, even if in proper order. At two p. m. the ship took heavy sea and the water put the fires out, immediately stop ping the engines The donkey engine was started and was going when the ship sank. The purser came hurriedly below, calling for General Torbert, and said that the captain had sent him to tell the passengers to come and assist the crew or the vessel would go down. We immediately got up. I went to the deck and to the floor of the engine room, where assisted to pass the buckets for an hour. Captain Van Sice was in line near the top passing water while was there. It was of no use. The sea was continually break
 
 quantities between decks. The donkey en- zine was working, but not to any purpose. After this I went to the saloon and told Gen. eral Torbert that we were going to pieces and fast filling, and nothing remained but for us to get life preservers upon the women. General Torbert's face hurt him so that he did not go to pass buckets.
 There was no such thing as excitement on board-even the children were quiet and req sonable. Each assisted the other in arrang- ing life preservers, and General Torbert was like sunbeam, laughing and joking with all while he assisted them. The storm at this time was most terrific. Such waves, wind and rain can never be described. The ship listed to her beam ends at every wave, and it was just possible to crawl from one place to the other. The storm was thick that we could not see one hundred yards ahead, and the roar of the wind and the beating of the rain was like the rattle of musketry. General Torbert and myself were lying in my berth talking and quietly awaiting the worst, when, at ten minutes past a. m., a sea broke into the engine room and through the saloon, making a crash like battery of artillery and striking terror for an instant into every one, dashing saloon passengers tables, doors and loose furniture together and into water knee deep. The General came to me immediately after this with Master Wallendge, about nine years old, and said, ''Romeo, you and must take this little boy and care for him between oIIo hot ba To1 h51f mi, utes to live and argued that it would be mercy to let the little fellow go down with the ship, but the General kindly insisted and said, "I cannot leave this little fellow be- hind. You and I must save him. Take him until come back" The next minute the came into the saloon more terri6cally than ever, filling it waist deep in water and smashing the most of the port side. The little fellow and myself were rolled over among the chairs and tables and lost him, but he was picked up and brought to his father. I called to General Torbert to come to the deck with me. He said, II will go aft and meet you above" I never saw General Torbert again alive.
 The passengers now crowded into the social hall, which was at the top of the saloon steps Here they said farewell to each other. We adjusted their life preservers and extended sympathy one to the other. Never before, perhaps, was set of passengers 50 quiet and
 
 Mir. Alexander Wallendge brought his little 1 boy to me and said, MT. Owen, will give you $1 1000 in gold if you will take my son and get him to land" I said no, l did not expect to live five minutes after the ship went l down. I told him 1t would be mercy to 1 himself and his son to go down SIS quickly l as possible I told him Ieould see nothing | to hope for in storm like this. I said, | Let us look at it as if our characters on the 1 worlds stage were about ended.' Miss Sadie 1 1-- .k1s.L | kz1-z care of her. but I said to her and to the oth- l CTS that there was nothing to be done but to 1 stick to the ship until we were washed from | her. and then to cling to the fragments as long as possible, and this plan was carried out | by every passenger. The captain was | seen just before the sea smashed ID the port l side of the upper decks at twelve minutes | past f o. m but whether he got excited and | jumped overheard or was swept away is not | known to any of Mir. Paris, first off | cer the second mate and one or two more of the crew took to the starboard bow boat l and were killed before the boat could be got | free. MT. Miller and his engineers stood by | the ship till she sunk. The quRrtermaster, l William O,Neal and sailor, name unknown, | stood at the wheel until the ship sunk. The | captain never came near the paAsengers dur ing the storm, nor did he send to inquire in-i to their condition, and 1t may be sincerely 1 hoped that no other passengers may be left to 50 thouohtless and indifferent man. It | was 6 o'clock 8. m. that the ship went down, breaking in the middle and filling the sea with fragments of stores, trunks and mer- | chandise. Tosay there were ten million pieces of wrecked stores clashing together five min utes after the ship went to pieces would be gross exaggeration, but even with such statement no idea could be conceived as to the state of the case Men, women, chil- dren. horses, cats and rats mixed in and went in, through and over this mass. The waves were fifty feet high, not in swells and ridges, but in peaks like sugar loaves. Four peaks we went up on one it was not to go down on